Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Thomas Wilk is joined by Chris van den Belt and Berend Booms of Ultimo , an IFS company, for a conversation on the rise of agentic AI in enterprise asset management. The discussion explores how AI is moving beyond traditional copilots to become autonomous digital coworkers that enhance safety, streamline maintenance, and support frontline...

Fastenal's Ryan Tucker and Sara Weaver share how the company has transformed and grown their workplace safety program over the past 12 years and what they’re focusing on next. A preview of Safety Leadership Conference 2025, held Oct. 20-22 in Phoenix: www.safetyleadershipconference.com

There's more than a little bit of Tesla talk in Ford's announcement on Aug. 11, that it would invest $2 billion to retrofit its Louisville Assembly Plant to make a small electric pickup in 2027. It's a bold, ambitious plan that's equal parts going after Chinese competition, heating up leftover Tesla ideas and taking advantage of the scale of a massive global automaker.  Pieces of the plan touch on...

When a forged part is labeled “capable of ASTM A388,” what does that really mean? And more importantly, what does it not mean? In this episode, we break down the difference between a part that could theoretically pass ultrasonic testing and one that’s actually been tested. We’ll look at why that difference matters in industries where safety and reliability are critical, explore common internal def...

Joe Kuhn , CMRP, former plant manager, engineer, and global reliability consultant, is now president of Lean Driven Reliability LLC. He is the author of the book “Zero to Hero: How to Jumpstart Your Reliability Journey Given Today’s Business Challenges” and the creator of the Joe Kuhn YouTube Channel , which offers content on starting your reliability journey and achieving financial independence....

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Robert Brooks explores three key developments in non-ferrous metallurgy that promise to reshape industrial manufacturing. The discussion highlights breakthrough research from the Pacific Northwest and Ames National Laboratories, including advances in solid-phase alloying of aluminum scrap and the discovery of a new multi-element alloy for...

Rocky Rowlett, vice president of safety, and Alyssa Kwasny, wellness program director, explain how their energy and construction firm, Faith Technologies Inc. , has become an exemplar of world-class safety excellence by developing a culture of care.

The problem sounds so simple: Manufacturers need large numbers of new employees to replace retiring Baby Boomers. Lots of Millennial and Gen Z young people want good jobs One reason why the sides aren't connecting, workforce watchers say, is that young people are often unaware of the opportunities being offered in factories and job shops nationwide. At least one plant is addressing that.  I nterna...

Industry 4.0 is still a vague term to many in manufacturing. To some, it’s projects that fit the strict standards of the German consortium that developed the term. For others, it’s synonymous with Industrial Internet of Things connectivity – systems that draw data from machines to optimize processes. Most agree, however, that it’s a tech thing. Industry 4.0 advocates talk about the need to manage...

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Thomas Wilk, chief editor of Plant Services, sits down for a roundtable discussion with: Chris Hallum, UE Systems operations manager for North Europe Chad Coleman, Amazon senior reliability engineer Pat Caron, Amazon reliability engineering manager Jeremy Bey, UE Systems strategic accounts leader.  The discussion explores the evolution fr...

Joining Smart Industry’s Scott Achelpohl for this episode is Rajeev Shah, co-founder and CEO of Celona, who helps explain how manufacturers can overcome “legacy” infrastructure challenges—particularly their older OT—to harness the potential of AI-driven operations.

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Rosemary Coates, executive director of the Reshoring Institute, shares insights on how companies are navigating the changing business environment and reshoring trends in 2025.

In this “in case you missed it” podcast, you'll learn why Travis S. McConnell, a construction attorney with Ready Legal, believes that implementing a comprehensive safety program is essential to preventing injuries and complying with OSHA’s standards.  You can also read the full article here.

Armstrong World Industries set a goal, nearly a decade ago, to be an outlier, the kind of company that maintains 5% profit growth for five or more years. Those efforts have paid off with the ceiling-tile and architectural components making landing No. 2 in IndustryWeek’s annual IW U.S. 50 Best Manufacturers list . Vic Grizzle, CEO of Armstrong, sat down with IndustryWeek’s Robert Schoenberger to d...

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Thomas Wilk, chief editor of Plant Services, is joined by Blair Fraser, the VP of technology at UE Systems to discuss how ultrasound tools are evolving. Many maintenance technicians use machine condition monitoring technologies for two related goals: detect a problem, and diagnose the root cause. However, Fraser argues that these technolo...

David Brown, vice president and CTO of Transportation Solutions at TE Connectivity, shares how AI is driving faster product design, smarter factories, and a better-trained workforce. From generative design to predictive maintenance, learn how TE's AI strategy keeps them ahead in a rapidly evolving industry. Visit  te.com  for more information. Read TE’s 2025 Industrial Technology Index  here .

Joe Kuhn , CMRP, former plant manager, engineer, and global reliability consultant, is now president of Lean Driven Reliability LLC. He is the author of the book “Zero to Hero: How to Jumpstart Your Reliability Journey Given Today’s Business Challenges” and the creator of the Joe Kuhn YouTube Channel , which offers content on starting your reliability journey and achieving financial independence....

In this episode, American Machinist editor in chief Robert Brooks analyzes the current state of the additive manufacturing (AM) sector, after several years of organizational turmoil among the top suppliers of AM systems. Brooks argues that this turmoil had virtually nothing to do with AM processes or technology developments, arguing that investors have been impatient with the rate of worldwide AM...

Chris Williams, executive director of the Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association (VPPPA), offers a preview of the upcoming Safety+ Symposium , to be held August 11-14 in St. Louis. This annual event provides attendees with the opportunity to see safety from all angles and better understand its role in the modern workplace. EHS Today's Safety Leadership Conference is an official me...

In this sponsored episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Thomas Wilk, chief editor of Plant Services, is joined by Maureen Gribble, North American sales enablement leader for UE Systems, and John Gould, director for global business development for condition monitoring at Flir. Ultrasound and infrared thermography tools are increasingly used together by maintenance teams that want to g...

Fluid sealing is critical to the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of industrial equipment across industries like oil and gas, petrochemical, power generation, and manufacturing. In this podcast, we’ll explore how fluid sealing practices have evolved to meet modern demands for environmental compliance, equipment longevity, and cost-effectiveness. We’ll discuss the latest material advancement...

Cam Mackey, president & CEO of the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA), explains why every heat-related death in the workplace is preventable, and offers some tips on how to best protect workers from heat stress.    https://www.osha.gov/emergency-preparedness/guides/heat-stress

The Eastern half of the United States is experiencing record high temperatures. It's summer and all, so some heat is to be expected, but that doesn't make it any easier for the workers in factories or the people trying to maintain the national power grid. Discussing worker safety and power availability in the hot summer are: Dave Blanchard, editor-in-chief of EHS Today Robert Schoenberger, editor-...

The company’s chief engineer and transformation leader Bradly Walker joins Smart Industry’s Scott Achelpohl and IndustryWeek’s Dennis Scimeca to chat about Texas Pride’s technology renaissance and how it’s helped the manufacturer evolve its sales, warranty, and production processes from legacy Excel spreadsheets and paper-based systems.

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Thomas Wilk , chief editor of Plant Services , is joined by Brian Hronchek, principal trainer and consultant with Eruditio, to discuss a topic in the air these days: PM optimization. These efforts start with the question, “What is the outcome that you want?” And that outcome is for the seasoned technician and the new technician to be able...