Iowa Manufacturing Podcast

The Iowa Business Council, representing Iowa's largest employers dig deep into the annual competitiveness dashboard to gain insights on challenges and opportunities for improvement to maintain Iowa's robust economy. Joe Murphy gets into the good, the bad and the ugly. While our greatest challenge remains a lack of people, we can hang our hat on many other successful initiatives that are helping ma...

Iowans often believe that the economy in our state is driven solely by agriculture. Interestingly, it is the confluence of manufacturing and agriculture that is the true driving force behind our thriving economy. Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig, discusses the synergies between departments at the state that are working together for greatness to recruit, retain and create amazing products in Iow...

Pro-union or not, it's great to have a resource that can manage the conversations, communicate effectively without bias and a full understanding of all the nuances necessary. While Iowa is a "right to work" state, several unions operate here productively and effectively.  Terry Welker, PhD, Executive Coach and all around HR guru, offers his insights on where unions have productive roles in the wor...

This honest, forthright conversation with two amazing manufacturing leaders transforming their operation through intentional restructuring, leading to goal setting, accountability and a leadership team equipped to focus on growth and market opportunity. Jim Steinke and Kadee Miller discuss how Ag Express's wire harnesses can be used in applications in limitless industries and situations. The new f...

By all counts, Kreg Tool innovates. Not only in their products and market development, but also in their HR efforts. This episode will lead you through their recent journey from corporate headquarter relocation to post-Covid marketing strategies and current recruitment efforts that have transformed the operation. Karee Vernon, VP of HR has spent a lot of time listening to the employees and develop...

Imagine 3D printing going from a niche hobbyist tool to a game-changer for manufacturers. That's exactly what's been happening in the last five years. 3D printers have become more affordable, user-friendly, and capable of producing high-quality parts. Brandon Hart, with Hart Smart Products talks about 3D printing joining the manufacturing big leagues.  Full show notes available here: https://iowap...

During their century of protecting inventors' rights, the attorneys with McKee, Vorhees & Sease attorneys have filed and defended hundreds of patents that have improved lives across the globe. Their service, to innovation, has persisted through World Wars, the Great Depression, the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, 9/11 attacks, the pandemic, and 17 presidents. Groundbreaking innovations have been...

In this episode, Kemin production team members Guillermo Garcia and Jeff Grenier talk about Kemin's plans for a $28M expansion at its global headquarters, how they are recruiting globally to meet demands in their Des Moines headquarters and globally to become Kemin's largest pet food manufacturing plant in South America and its acquisition of GLF Ingredienti Alimentari to strengthen its position i...

Manufacturing is a complex industry with so many moving parts. It can be difficult to create the appropriate margin within the workday to look up and out. The issues are equally complex, touching multiple industries and with diverse needs across different manufacturing sectors, involving everything from "right to work,"  workers' compensation and unemployment compensation laws to R&D tax credits,...

Having spent summers traveling and fishing with his grandfather, Jason Andringa got to spend quality time learning just what made him tick. Following in the footsteps of Gary Vermeer and Mary Andringa as former leaders of one of the largest manufacturing companies in Iowa isn't easy. Yet Jason, who in 2015 took the reins at Vermeer as President and CEO, is more than up to the task, and his MS in a...

Many people look at plastics manufacturing as a complex and difficult industry, which it is, with a lot of moving parts, which it does. So what drew Ryan Gruhn, the owner of Hawkeye Molding in Roland, Iowa, full throttle into the world of their custom molding and injection molding capabilities?  Ryan and Leisa Fox sit down and talk about his journey in manufacturing from lottery ticket displays to...

DEI is not dead. But it has become a divisive term. Regardless of its intentions, society has turned it into a way to divide people rather than uniting them. This is leading some to question the movement, with roots that can be traced to the 1960s, the start of workplace diversity training, equal employment laws and affirmative action.  Listen to Sailu Timbo with Creative Planning Business Service...

Since Covid, the amount of double brokering and scamming in the freight industry has reached an all-time high. How do you protect your manufactured products from ill-reputed companies and intermediary brokers? Listen to this podcast as Leisa Fox interviews Craig Feller, with Toggle, about this frightening issue.  Toggle, The Iowa Manufacturing Podcast's first sponsor, can help your organization st...

Achieving success isn't only about profit margins and market share. It can in many cases be more about creating a coveted work-life balance where owners, employees, and customers are aligned and moving deliberately in the same direction. This goes beyond just finding the right "fit."  Rob Taylor continues this week with Leisa Fox, hosting the Iowa Manufacturing Podcast and presenting our second in...

The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is a set of simple concepts and practical tools used by more than 257,000 companies worldwide to clarify, simplify, and achieve their vision. Rob Taylor, EOS Implementer and the owner of Taylor Management Systems, cut his teeth as an early adopter of EOS frameworks and has years of relevant experience in manufacturing.  What does "Nirvana" look like in ma...

Data analytics can be extremely complex and invaluable, even for a food manufacturer trying to figure out how to leverage 300 data points for a single block of cheese. A source of truth, or sources of truth, are central to data analytics, and to establishing an authoritative repository where everyone in an organization can access accurate, up-to-date information. When more than one or multiple sou...

The need for a manufacturing workforce equipped with practical education and real-world experiences has never been more crucial. Horizon Science Academy in Des Moines is breaking new ground in early STEM education. With applied learning, technology, and personalized learning, students are getting a leg up in learning skills that build careers that are critical to today's economy. With an emphasis...

Understanding the nuances and undercurrents in the workforce can be vital in building workforce development momentum, retaining employees and creating a culture that breeds innovation, efficiently. Workplace surveys and focus groups come in many shapes and sizes. However, asking the right questions, and eliminating biases, are hard to achieve. Reworc delivers an industry-leading workforce and work...

Dive into Iowa manufacturing with Dee Zee, where passion for truck and SUV accessories meets state-of-the-art facilities. Troy Wirtz, Director of Aftermarket Sales, discusses aftermarket and OEM market segments built on decades of innovative engineering, high-volume production and workforce development. Full show details are at https://iowapodcast.com/troy-wirtz-manufacturing                      ...

In June of 2022, Renewable Energy Group was acquired by Chevron, a global energy company. The roots of Renewable Energy Group go back more than two decades when the company operated under the umbrella of West Central Cooperative in Ralston, Iowa. The biodiesel industry was still in its early stages when the company produced its first batch of biodiesel in 1996.  Coupling REG's deep roots in renewa...

Housed in what once served as the heart of John Deere's Waterloo Tractor Works, UNI's TechWorks Campus is where high-tech advances in AI and metallurgy are becoming an invaluable resource not only for Iowa manufacturers, but any company dependent on metallurgy in the world. UNI's research is being used to help worldwide companies improve processes and decrease waste. While manufacturers are workin...

SEA Manufacturing, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, finds its North American Manufacturing Hub right here in Central Iowa.  Availability of capable project engineers from Iowa State and other Midwest schools coupled with the supply chain benefits in being in close proximity to other world class manufacturers like Vermeer and John Deere made the decision a no-brainer.  Whether "up-fitting" ex...

After years of tiptoeing around the edges of fully integrating Salesforce into all facets of the operation, Jayson Schwienebart is making the big leap.  With the help of Julie Brandt with Salesforce, they will be applying the technology to annual budgeting, sales planning, contact management and even their quoting processes. Aligning internal resources can be a huge barrier to entry.  Jayson says...

To take advantage of workforce, ease of transportation and other resources, manufacturers and distributors in rural Iowa are co-locating facilities in the Des Moines Metro.   Bill Wright, Managing Director of CBRE/Hubbell explains the phenomenon, identifies tax benefits, discusses trends in amenities and digs into why Central Iowa has been "found" by regional and national developers like OPUS, Van...

A fascinating conversation about Tony's journey in manufacturing, starting as a coop student in Deere's Waterlooworks, to management, sales and marketing and finally leadership in their precision ag facility, developing technology for autonomous ag equipment.  Precision ag gets to the millimeter detection of weeds to spray ONLY the weeds.  The saving on herbicide costs, environmental benefit and c...