Manufacturing Happy Hour

What can a former Navy SEAL teach us about upskilling and manufacturing business acquisition? It turns out, a whole lot!   Bill Berrien, CEO of Pindel Global Precision, joins episode 160 of Manufacturing Happy Hour, to share his thoughts on upskilling your team and his journey from the Navy to manufacturing business leader. We hear why he chose to acquire Pindel and how he was lucky enou...

Whether it’s on the job or in a traditional academic setting, education is essential to building a strong manufacturing function.   But this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour homes in on one specific aspect of learning – career and technical education (CTE) – and explores how it’s helping teams make better decisions and better products.  Amatrol’s career and technical training sol...

Curiosity is at the heart of this guest’s leadership style, and it manifests in the projects he is involved in.   But what does it mean to “let curiosity lead”? And how can manufacturing leaders take this advice on board?  Joining this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour is Walker Mattox, CEO of Gray Solutions, one of the top 20 largest full-service systems integrators in the U.S. H...

Our guest this week is Robert Goldsmith, the Founder and President of Northern Edge Advisors, a boutique investment bank offering M&A expertise and advising for owners of private businesses. As the US experiences a manufacturing renaissance and the next generation starts to enter the manufacturing workforce, buying and selling manufacturing companies is an in vogue topic. In this episode, Bob...

Today, we're exploring the future of skilled trades and we're doing this largely by speaking to the next generation of skilled tradespeople and the folks that our training and enabling them. From students to instructors, this episode includes a series of 5 interviews with folks that are part of 3M's upcoming series Clash of the Grinders: Student Edition , a high-stakes grinding and welding competi...

Here's an oldie but a goodie! While Chris was on holiday in Munich for this year's Oktoberfest, that was no excuse not to give you an episode this week. We're diving back in the archives for this episode with Craig Francisco where he shares some of his best mindset, productivity, and podcasting tips from one of his old podcasts: 8 Keys of Sales Excellence. Enjoy the throwback!

Spending time on the plant floor gives you direct communication with your customers. But what’s the best way to gather their feedback and bring it to market quickly?  In this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, we are joined by Vatsal Shah, Founder and CEO of Litmus, a unified platform for industrial IoT. Vatsal provides down-to-earth digital transformation advice, tips on how to bring custo...

Women have been advancing in the manufacturing workforce for some time, but what actions can leaders in the industry take to continue that trend?  In this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, we are joined by Allison Grealis, President and Founder of Women in Manufacturing (WIM), a 20,000+ member global trade association that is committed to supporting, promoting and inspiring women who choos...

Why don’t more young people want to get into manufacturing?  This week’s Manufacturing Happy Hour guest, Terry Iverson, President & CEO of Iverson & Company, is the author of two fantastic books on the subject. His latest one, Inspiring Champions in Advanced Manufacturing, aims to encourage both students and their parents to give manufacturing a shot.  We had a great in-person co...

In the Navy, every minute of every day is measured and that measurement is called Speed of Advance. In layman’s terms, it means, “I've got a plan and where am I at in that plan?” But how does that relate to manufacturing?   In this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, we’re joined by Marty Groover, operational technology expert, partner at C5MI and the author of Speed of Advance. He talk...

There’s no escaping AI and automation! But what’s the best way to integrate them into technical college curriculums and provide the next generation of manufacturing professionals with the education they need?  Who better to answer that question than Richard Barnhouse, President of Waukesha County Technical College?  Richard joins this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour to share his insi...

Manufacturing professionals have been talking about the skills gap for a long time now – but when will it finally close? While we don’t have a crystal ball on Manufacturing Happy Hour, we have a guest who comes close.   Ann Wyatt, President and Agency Owner of Ann Wyatt Recruiting joins the show to share some great insights, advice, and predictions for the future of the industry. Ann’s a...

Artificial intelligence is THE hot topic at the moment – no matter what industry you’re in. For manufacturers, it could be a game-changer if you have a great strategy.  But how do you get started with AI? Well, you’re in luck with this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour with Jeff Winter, Sr. Director of Industry Strategy & Manufacturing.   Jeff breaks down some of the best stra...

We know what you’re thinking…this episode title is against everything we stand for! But hear us out…  “Manufacturing should be boring” may sound like the antithesis of this podcast but, as you listen, you’ll understand what this guest means.  On this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, we are joined by St. Louis Makes Executive Director, Marc Bowers. St. Louis Makes is a non-profit help...

What do golf, beer caps, and face masks have in common? It turns out this week’s guests on Manufacturing Happy Hour!  Tether Golf Co-Founders Jesse Darley and Randy Koplin join the show to talk about their innovative new golf-inspired game and what it takes to get a product like that to market.   Both Jesse and Randy are no strangers to product businesses, having launched products f...

You just can’t find the people these days, right?  Anyone in the manufacturing, engineering, or construction industries knows that the top challenge right now is finding talent. There’s a shortage of willing and able workers in the U.S. – and immigration policies make it difficult to bring in talent from overseas.   In this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, we head to Washington...

More and more voices are being heard as the manufacturing community grows online. And while this can only be a good thing, it does make it tougher for individuals to be heard above the noise.  In this episode, we welcomed James Soto, CEO of Industrial Strength Marketing, to talk about his tactics for getting his message across and building trust in the community.   James explains wh...

What does it mean to have an experience mindset ?  Tiffani Bova, keynote speaker, author and Growth and Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce, joins Manufacturing Happy Hour to explain how manufacturing leaders can prioritize employee experience while still keeping customer experience front of mind, using research found for her book The Experience Mindset .  When Chris saw Tiffani speak on...

This just might be our biggest episodes ever. Today's episode is a recap of the 2023 Celebration of Construction Equipment on the Nation Mall, hosted by AEM, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. You'll hear from a ton of folks from the big names in equipment manufacturing as we discuss topics impacting the construction industry and beyond. In fact, seeing as how this is a manufacturing-cent...

This is a branding, marketing, and sales focused episode…but everyone needs to hear this!  Our guest this week is Emily Wilkins, Founder & President of Marketing Metal, a company focused on helping radical job shops make big profits by creating a killer brand and building out a stupid simple marketing machine. Given this very loud mission statement, there's no better person than Emily to...

John Dyck, CEO of CESMII, is making his long-awaited debut on Manufacturing Happy Hour. CESMII is a non-profit institute in the United States dedicated to smart manufacturing. Simply put, they’re democratizing the tools and technologies needed to bring smarter manufacturing operations to life.  Smart manufacturing operations result in reduced costs, less complexity, and quicker time-to-value....

Additive manufacturing won’t solve your problems, but as our guest explains, it can make life easier.  We’re back to our traditional format at Manufacturing Happy Hour and, on this episode, we are joined by Lisa D. Block, Chief Revenue Officer at Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies.  Lisa explains her path into the industry, shares her experiences and busts some myths around additive manuf...

How can your company achieve a complete, enterprise-wide digital transformation? In our first ever throwback episode, Bob Murphy - a former Senior Vice President at Rockwell Automation - provides some of the most down-to-earth advice for leading a transformation journey. We recorded this episode in May 2020, but even 3 years later, there are still some major lessons to be learned during this episo...

From self-awareness to consistency, from personal branding to trust-building, there are more than a few ways that manufacturers can break through the noise on social media. In this bonus episode, your host Chris Luecke explores how manufacturers can cut through the noise by creating engaging, insightful content so that you can build trust with your ideal customer audience. While this brand-buildin...

From diversity to digital transformation, innovation and best practices, this episode is packed with expert insights on taking your manufacturing leadership game up a gear.  Tim Dickson, Chief Innovation Officer at Generac, joins Manufacturing Happy Hour to discuss misconceptions around the job title, what his role actually entails and how he aims to improve his leadership qualities every sin...