Manufacturing Happy Hour

How can composite manufacturing help you level-up as a runner? Well, this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour will reveal all. Riley Reese, CEO and Co-Founder of Arris, is on the show this week to talk about the power of composite manufacturing in footwear and its potential in industries such as aerospace, sportscars, skiing equipment, and many more. As an avid runner himself, we break down some o...

It's Thanksgiving week here in the US, and since so many of you are based here, we're bringing you a shorter bonus episode this week as we try something new. First, you'll get a general update from Manufacturing Happy Hour, including our new newsletter - 5 Quick Manufacturing Insights - as well as partnership opportunities. Then, we'll highlight one of the most helpful moments from the show in the...

We’ve got a bit of a different Manufacturing Happy Hour episode this time – it’s one of our first long-form episode at a trade show. Joined by co-host Jake Hall, The Manufacturing Millennial, we recorded this at the 2022 The Vision Show AMR & Logistics Conference in Boston.   Our guest is Malachi Greb, Owner of Elite Automation – a frequent trade show attendee with the goal of leadin...

We’re back for Part 2 of our bonus episodes with KUKA from IMTS 2022. We’ll be jumping back into our partnership conversations while taking an even deeper dive into additive manufacturing in these last 5 interviews of our short series. Stick around until the end to get a full recap on what characterizes great industrial manufacturing partnerships. Make sure to visit ManufacturingHappyHour.com/KUKA...

This week on Manufacturing Happy Hour, we’re exploring what makes an industrial partnership great. Is it the tech? Is it the company culture? Is it the size of the company? Today’s podcast answers all of these questions in the context of a global robotics company, KUKA, and all of their partners. We spent an entire day at IMTS 2022 exploring applications from 3D printing to machining to launching...

Can you really make a business work if you have no experience? Cody Lee, the President and Owner of Everyday Technologies, made that very leap when he took over the business. While his experience was limited, he’s had some fantastic advice from his father and father-in-law, which has helped Cody thrive in his new venture. Cody joins this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour to share where it all be...

What does it take to launch a manufacturing startup? And how do you finally walk away from it when it’s time? Nick Pinkston, CEO and Founder of Volition, is back on the show for round three of our three-part series. In this episode, we take a closer look at Nick’s previous ventures, including Plethora, to get an idea of what it’s like to build a company and then close the door to it. Nick shares t...

What does the future hold for hardware manufacturing? We welcome back Nick Pinkston, CEO and Founder of Volition, for round two of a special three-part episode where we dig into all things hardware manufacturing. In this episode, Nick explores the world of hardware startups, VC investment, and the future of the industry. He also breaks down his thoughts on rising trends like 3D printing and AI, an...

Welcome to our first ever “mega episode” here on Manufacturing Happy Hour, a 3-part interview with Nick Pinkston, one of the more fascinating people in the manufacturing world. If you're not already familiar with Nick, he’s has a great track record of leading hardware and manufacturing startups, while much of the rest of the world was preoccupied with the software side of the tech world. Currently...

Having employees with strong personal brands is a great asset for any business, manufacturing or otherwise. In this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, we talk to Daniel Murray, marketing ops leader and the founder of podcast and marketing community, Marketing Millennials. Daniel discusses his career so far, how he simplifies marketing for marketers and the benefits of building personal brands. H...

Marketing, manufacturing, and remote work – we cover a lot of ground in this episode featuring Adar Hay, Co-Founder and CEO of Jiga.io. Jiga helps manufacturing companies centralize their supplier sourcing, and Adar explains how the idea for the company first came about. We hear how Jiga has a refreshingly modern approach to marketing and why Adar decided to start a podcast to learn more about pot...

We’ve not covered medical device manufacturing on the show, so we thought this would be a great time to delve into it. In this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, we talk to Natalia Mendez, VP Head of Manufacturing Medical Devices at Philips. Natalia has lots of great insights into her industry and provides expert advice for both those in the medical space and manufacturers in general. Natalia ex...

There’s a good chance you already have a tool from the Stanley Black & Decker family in your toolkit. They’re household names, quality, reliable tools, and we wanted to hear more about the manufacturing process behind them. Antonio Hill, Head of Manufacturing Digital Solutions, Global Supply Chain at Stanley Black & Decker, joins Manufacturing Happy Hour to talk about his career, the chall...

“A platform for communities to invest in their best and brightest” …that’s how this week’s guest describes the company he works for. Sounds great, right? We invited Cole Shearer, Vice President – Skills Accelerator at gener8tor, to join Manufacturing Happy Hour this week. In this episode, he outlines his career to date, what he does at gener8tor, and provides some top tips for startup founders. Co...

We haven’t covered imaging and vision much on Manufacturing Happy Hour, so we thought it was time that changed. This week, we are talking to Greg Hollows, Vice President, Product Strategy at Edmund Optics, who discusses his various roles at Edmund Optics, where he has worked for over two decades. He also looks at the ways imaging has changed since he got started and provides some unmissable advice...

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of robots and what they can bring to the manufacturing world here on Manufacturing Happy Hour. So, we invited fellow robot enthusiast Nate Brazelle, VP of Sales and Marketing at KUKA, onto the show to share his predictions on robots in the future of the industry, where they fit in now, and why they could be the answer to the labor shortage. Nate explains how he f...

If you already thought that the 5-day work week was one day too long, then this episode will rock your boat. This week, we’re chatting with Joe Sanok, author of Thursday is the New Friday, and he offers a practical breakdown of how the 4-day work week would fit into a manufacturing setting. Before we dive into all that, Joe tells us about his professional background and then offers a brief but det...

The worlds of robotics and automation have been picking up speed for some time now. But the pandemic has only fast-tracked the need for the next generation of talent to wield these tools. Organizations such as Illuminate STEM are leading the way for young blood to gain knowledge and fly the flag for robotics for decades to come. Terrence Southern, Founder, CEO & Executive Director at Illuminat...

It’s not every day you get to record a podcast episode in Berlin, so when Florian Pestoni told me he’d be in Berlin at the same time as me, we had to meet up to record an interview. In this special live episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, we step out of the studio and into the beer garden to discuss what chronic care for robots looks like. Florian is the Co-Founder & CEO of InOrbit, a Silicon...

We're taking a break this week for summer vacation! Sort of. Actually, we have a bonus episode for you that's all about a summer vacation-esque topic: Industrial Tourism. Until this week, I thought "industrial tourism" was a term I made up, but it turns out it's actually a well-documented practice. From brewery tours to visiting upcycled, decommissioned factories, industrial tourism actually cover...

Brennen Dugger is the President & Founder of Blue Collar Automation, specializing in industrial automation, controls integration, and robotics. Brennen and I recently met at A3's Automate conference when the robot at his booth served me a beer. Obviously, he was perfect for Manufacturing Happy Hour! In this episode, Brennen explains the motivation behind his move from the factory floor to the...

We’ve just hit our milestone episode! The big 100, so it makes perfect sense to mark the occasion with a special episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour. While Manufacturing Happy Hour has been around for over 5 years, over the course of 75+ videos and over 130 episodes, we’re choosing to label this one Episode 100 (even if it is closer to 200 episodes at this point). In this episode, we’ll recount 10...

If you’re in the manufacturing industry or just an avid social media user, then you’ve probably come across Loupe and some of the amazing feats they’ve been pulling off. Loupe is a Portland, Oregon-based jack-of-all-trades automation outfit that’s responsible for some amazing unboxing videos and viral videos of their robotic dog Spot from Boston Dynamics. They are definitely a group that’s dialed...

Recently, we had an opportunity to attend an extremely unique manufacturing event in Columbus, NE. Columbus is a small, rural town and it's the exact type of spot where manufacturing events should be taking place. Communities like this across the Great Plains, the Midwest, and the United States in general, are where manufacturing and manufacturing jobs can change people's lives. This event was cal...

Our guests this week are Kathy Miller and Shannon Karels. Both of these women have racked up decades of experience in manufacturing and operations, and now they're the duo that leads OPSisters where they focus on advising operations through coaching, training, and speaking. Beyond that, they've also distilled some of the best lessons in their book "Steel Toes and Stilettos," and we're going to be...