Manufacturing Talks

Send us Fan Mail Episode 138 features longtime manufacturing hand Mush Khan. He co-founded an industrial consultancy called Alchemy Industrial, and he's got an encyclopedic knowledge of the world of manufacturing, the state of industrial affairs these days, and what it takes for producers to succeed. And he's here to share it with all of you! Here are some highlights. Chapters: 00:00 - I...

Send us Fan Mail Entytle co-founder and CEO Vivek Joshi joined us for Episode 137 to talk about how his company can help you use big data and AI to do all the above. Here are the highlights: Chapters 00:00 - Intro 03:30 - Why he founded Entytle 07:00 - The Installed Base Intelligence Platform 07:45 - Where equipment data comes from: ERP and CRM 10:00 - Baby boomer retirements and the tribal knowle...

Send us Fan Mail Today's manufacturers have to tackle a lot of challenges: lack of skilled labor (or any labor, for that matter!), product differentiation, business direction, where to invest capital, and on and on. It's been a while since we had a thorough dive into all things manufacturing, so it was great fun to have Chuck Coxhead join us to offer his views. Chuck is General Manager a...

Send us Fan Mail #manufacturing erp #erp software #best erp for manufacturing She's back! Joining us once again for Episode 135 is Kerrie Jordan from Epicor. She gives us all the latest on ERP software custom-built for manufacturers, along with some big news for the Epicor business. Here are the highlights: Chapters: 0:00 - show intro 2:15 - Kerrie's start in manufacturing at Oakley 5:00...

Send us Fan Mail It's a Manufacturing Talks first: two family members on successive episodes! Last week we had nuclear expert Dan Malburg, and this week we've got his nephew Mark Malburg to tell us all about measuring surfaces. Mark is President at Digital Metrology Solutions, and he's here to explain why a total geek-o-rama subject like surface metrology is actually vitally importa...

Send us Fan Mail It's pretty clear we need to change course when it comes to our energy policy. Dan Malburg, who has worked in the nuclear energy field for a good long time, and who now serves as Senior Maintenance Instructor for nuclear power plants, joined us to explain why nuclear is our answer. Here are some highlights: 3:00 - reasons nuclear is important: reliability, availability, and f...

Send us Fan Mail Here's some more excellent expert input on confronting the manufacturing workforce challenge! Jeannine Kunz, Chief Workforce Development Officer at SME (formerly the Society of Manufacturing Engineers) joined us to talk about the nature of the problem and how companies can get ahead of the game. Here are some highlights: 2:15 - SME history and focus - advancing technology and...

Send us Fan Mail Unless you've been hiding under a rock for a few years, you know we're facing a big problem getting the talent we need. And industry is in a particularly dire state. That's why it was so valuable to have Colin Dowd join us for Episode 131. He heads up strategy for manufacturing and distribution at Armanino, one of the 20 largest independent accounting and business c...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 130 features the Senior Vice President Services - Americas Hub at ABB, Pedro Robredo, who heads up all things electrification for that technology giant. Pedro talks about new technologies to help manufacturers with electrical reliability and cost effectiveness, as well as new business models like assets as services to assist industry with needed equipment upgrades. Here ar...

Send us Fan Mail Simeon Wallis and Adam Beckerman join us once again from their advisory and accounting firm Aprio for Episode 129 to bring us up to speed on how industry and the country stand economically. They cover all the ups and downs - interest rate changes, sentiment among their clients and in the manufacturing marketplace, the state of supply chains, and oh so much more! Here are some high...

Send us Fan Mail Ian Peterman founded his own design firm out in Los Angeles to demonstrate his philosophy of designing products and systems for sustainability (a.k.a., The Peterman Method). He joined us for Episode 128 to tell us all about that and more. Ian is not just the CEO of Peterman Design Firm - he's also host of the Conscious Design Podcast, has a book he wrote with his wife Jessica...

Send us Fan Mail Semiconductor manufacturing is its own little special corner in the vast manufacturing edifice. It was definitely informative to hear from Gloria Kee, VP of product management at Model N, part of Vista Equity Partners and a revenue optimization and compliance advisory firm serving pharmaceutical, medtech, and high-tech innovators. She brought us the latest and greatest of the hist...

Send us Fan Mail Mark is one of the manufacturing executives our host interviewed for his recent Forbes article on hiring the formerly incarcerated. Mark's company, specialty butter producer Butterball Farms in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been doing second chance hiring for almost three decades now, and Mark had lots of lessons to share about that. He also shared his broader philosophy on how...

Send us Fan Mail It should come as no surprise that manufacturers are struggling to get the workers they need, especially when it comes to skilled trades. Taylor Evans, President of Rust Belt Recruiting in Cleveland, Ohio, is right in the thick of things. He's now using the methods recruiters have previously reserved for the professional classes to got after these highly sought-after workers....

Send us Fan Mail There are two distinct stories in this episode featuring the CEO of Sticker Mule. The first one is about how Anthony and his business partners built a successful business making and selling stickers (and now a whole lot more!) It's a great tale of launching an Internet business on a wing and prayer, and lots of hard work. The second one is about how Anthony sent an email to h...

Send us Fan Mail There are a lot of stories out there about the companies that have blessedly tackled the desperate need for a pathway back to gainful employment and a meaningful career for those who've served time in prison. But you don't hear too many stories from the other side, from the people who have successfully made the transition back from the world of incarceration. So it was a...

Send us Fan Mail You may have heard a bit about AI, am I right? But have you heard about how to whether a specific AI business is a good economic opportunity? Mikhail Taver is here to help. He founded his own investment company, Taver Capital Partners, that was focused on AI back before the big hype took off, and he joined us to talk about how he tells a good bet from a bad one. Now he's laun...

Send us Fan Mail We don't often delve into the world of advertising here, but how can you succeed as a manufacturer without it? Fortunately for Episode 121 we connected with one of the best ever, Adman Emeritus John Bowman from Admeritus. John's now mostly retired, but he regaled us with absolutely fascinating stories from his career working with great consumer products companies like Fo...

Send us Fan Mail Too many emissions reduction-driven or otherwise environmentally friendly new methods of manufacturing simply cost too much and require too much new equipment and plant disruption, so they rarely fly without big dollops of government pork. That's why it was such a great time chatting with Ryan Gilliam for Episode 120. His company, Fortera Corporation, has a modified way to ma...

Send us Fan Mail We don't talk about the steel industry near enough around here. Yet it's the fundamental form of manufacturing, a precursor to so much other production! So it was a true pleasure to be joined for Episode 119 by Anna Frounfelker. She's cut her teeth in the industry with several different companies over her nearly ten years of experience. She's currently the Insi...

Send us Fan Mail Polymath Mark Mills joins us again for a rousing discussion of what's ailing America when it comes to ensuring affordable and reliable energy. Mark is putting the finishing touches on his new outfit - he's now the  Executive Director of the National Center for Energy Analytics. He joined us for Episode 118 to tell us about their first paper coming out about the deleterio...

Send us Fan Mail Adam Gluck was a founding engineer on Uber's engineering strategy team, where got an early education in development and operations (DevOps). He quickly learned how industrial coding errors and cybersecurity breaches are increasingly a very costly Achilles heel for manufacturers. He founded Copia Automation to help tackle the problem, so it was extremely educational to have hi...

Send us Fan Mail Model No. produces high-end light fixtures and furniture with a new end in mind: elevating the experience while eliminating the waste. They collaborate with architects and designers along with industry partners to use regenerative and biodegradable materials. It was a treat to have Phillip Raub, CEO of Model No., and Rahul Kasat, VP at 3D Systems, to talk about the methods the com...

Send us Fan Mail There have been countless breathless reports about the ongoing "boom" in American manufacturing. After all, look at the countless billions of dollars being spent to build plants! Good times are back! Except they aren't. Actual manufacturing activity is down, and has been in contraction mode for a long time. Tune in and learn from your host why pork-fueled spending l...

Send us Fan Mail It was fascinating speaking with Nick Haase, who co-founded MaintainX to bring modern tech solutions to manufacturing maintenance. You'd think that's a pretty niche application, and yet almost every central element of his platform he brought up also proved to be a fundamental good business practice. Here are the highlights: 2:40 - the MaintainX story 7:00 - the importanc...