Manufacturing Happy Hour
- Episodios
- 375
- Se publica
- cada semana
- Último episodio
- 10 Nov 2026
Sobre el podcast
Welcome to Manufacturing Happy Hour, the podcast where we get real about the latest trends and technologies impacting modern manufacturers. Hosted by industry veteran Chris Luecke, each week, we interview makers, founders, and other manufacturing leaders that are at the top of their game and give you the tools, tactics, and strategies you need to take your career and your business to the next level. We go beyond the buzzwords and dissect real-life applications and success stories so that you can tackle your biggest manufacturing challenges and turn them into profitable opportunities. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
Episodios 375
310: The Automation Skills Gap: Why Manufacturers Need to Train the Workforce They Already Have
Five years ago, many companies treated training as optional. That’s changing.Joining Chris is Christelle Keefer, Director of Training and Certification at the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), back for …
Notas del episodio
Five years ago, many companies treated training as optional. That’s changing.
Joining Chris is Christelle Keefer, Director of Training and Certification at the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), back for a second visit. Before she started at A3, she spent years at a robotics OEM working with schools, instructors, and customers worldwide. And if she had her way, this conversation would be happening at a punk rock show.
They discuss what automation training should include and what certifications look like for different roles. Christelle also talks about how manufacturers can prepare the existing workforce for new opportunities, and how educators can help students connect with automation.
In this episode, find out:
- How stackable credentials let working adults build their skills without taking years away from work
- Why hands-on equipment time and simulation still matter as more training moves online
- How manufacturers can upskill the workers they already have, and why tying training to a pay increase or promotion matters
- How colleges work with local employers to shape their programs, and where apprenticeships fit into the picture
- What A3 is doing to connect students with manufacturing through competitions, mentorship and the Education Pavilion at Automate
- What Christelle hopes the future of automation will look like, and why she sees a national strategy as part of the picture
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “Nothing beats hands-on training and actually getting your hands onto the software and onto the equipment.” - Christelle Keefer, Director of Training and Certification at the Association for Advancing Automation
- “Teachers who are bold and brave with technology learn with their students. They make mistakes with their students.” - Christelle Keefer, Director of Training and Certification at the Association for Advancing Automation
- “Training tied to one brand doesn’t always transfer when someone changes jobs.” - Christelle Keefer, Director of Training and Certification at the Association for Advancing Automation
Links & mentions:
- Association for Advancing Automation (A3) is North America’s largest automation trade association, representing more than 1,500 organizations involved in robotics, AI, machine vision, motion control and related technologies.
- Automate is A3’s automation show, with an education pavilion, student robotics competitions, and a list of employers hiring on the floor.
- Fathom Digital Manufacturing offers more than 25 advanced manufacturing technologies under one roof, from CNC machining to injection molding.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
Capítulos (10)
309: How Physical AI Is Changing What's Possible in Warehouse Automation
In a factory, work in progress is a problem. In a warehouse, it’s the whole job.Chris takes the show inside the warehouse with Josh Cloer, General Manager, North America at Nomagic, and Onur Uranli, Director …
Notas del episodio
In a factory, work in progress is a problem. In a warehouse, it’s the whole job.
Chris takes the show inside the warehouse with Josh Cloer, General Manager, North America at Nomagic, and Onur Uranli, Director, Enterprise Business Development & Strategic Growth at Intelligrated. It’s an adjacent topic, but every product a factory makes ends up in one.
Josh, back after first joining the show in 2022, explains what physical AI means for a robot that must work out what went wrong. Onur asks whether the pallets arriving at a warehouse are ready for the automation built to receive them. Together they look at why warehouses are playing catch-up with factories, and why the answer starts with Henry Ford.
In this episode, find out:
- Why most warehouses are still manual, and where automation investment has gone so far
- What the “forgotten middle” of warehouse automation looks like
- How physical AI helps a robot work out what went wrong and recover from downtime
- Why the same item can look different by the time it reaches the warehouse
- Where warehouse automation is catching up to the factory, and what each side can learn from the other
- How MHI’s Robotics Group helps automation vendors work together
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “It’s hard to build a company that can be all things to all people in a big market like warehouse automation.” - Josh Cloer, General Manager, North America at Nomagic
- “Doing that point solution business case is a really hard problem after the fact. And it should be something that you’re thinking from the beginning.” - Josh Cloer, General Manager, North America at Nomagic
- “This is not a really pallet problem. It’s a system problem.” - Onur Uranli, Director, Enterprise Business Development & Strategic Growth at Intelligrated
Links & mentions:
- Nomagic is a physical AI company that builds robotic item picking for end-to-end warehouse automation.
- Intelligrated is a warehouse automation provider that designs, builds, integrates and supports end-to-end systems for distribution centers, including conveyors, robotics and warehouse software.
- MHI is the material handling and supply chain association whose Robotics Group focuses on robotics and automation.
- PTC’s Industrial Newsletter is a quick hit of clarity on how design, manufacturing, and service data can work together for manufacturing leaders looking to modernize.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
Capítulos (11)
308: From Prototype to Production: Inside Chicago’s Hardtech Innovation Engine with mHUB's Bill Fienup and Kim Blomquist
How do you explain mHUB? Chris asks the people behind it, over coffee instead of beer.Recorded in Chicago’s West Loop, Chris sits down with mHUB’s Bill Fienup, Co-Founder and VP of Innovation Services, and Kim …
Notas del episodio
How do you explain mHUB? Chris asks the people behind it, over coffee instead of beer.
Recorded in Chicago’s West Loop, Chris sits down with mHUB’s Bill Fienup, Co-Founder and VP of Innovation Services, and Kim Blomquist, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, to explore how the company helps hardtech startups move from prototype to production.
Bill and Kim cover the labs and the accelerator, and how a startup gets its first 10 to 100 units built before it finds a manufacturing partner. They also discuss why investors are paying more attention to hardtech.
In this episode, find out:
- What a platform like mHUB gives hardtech startups beyond a building and a maker space
- Why having labs on site speeds up product development
- How the accelerator funds early-stage startups
- How startups find the right manufacturing partner as they scale
- Why hardware is harder to build than software
- How HAAS Alert brought production home after tariffs hit
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “In hardware, you’re manufacturing something that takes much longer and much more capital, and so it’s so important to get that first part right.” - Bill Fienup, Co-Founder and VP of Innovation Services at mHUB
- “We’re in the business of building new businesses. But we also want to retain them, we want them to stay here.” - Kim Blomquist, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at mHUB
- “You need to be creative about how you can extend your runway, how you can raise enough money to cover not only the development, but the manufacturing.” - Bill Fienup, Co-Founder and VP of Innovation Services at mHUB
Links & mentions:
- mHUB is a Chicago hardtech and manufacturing innovation center that gives startups a machine shop, mentors, a manufacturing network and capital.
- HAAS Alert is a Chicago safety technology company whose Safety Cloud platform sends real-time alerts to drivers when emergency vehicles approach.
- Zenblen is a Chicago food robotics company that builds fully automated smoothie kiosks.
- PTC’s Industrial Newsletter is a quick hit of clarity on how design, manufacturing, and service data can work together for manufacturing leaders looking to modernize.
- MaintainX is a maintenance and asset management platform for the technicians keeping equipment running.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
307: Building the Factory of the Future - LIVE from Revere Electric's Executive Forum at UWM's Connected Systems Institute (Milwaukee, WI)
Manufacturing has been collecting skills for centuries, and the list keeps growing.Chris takes Manufacturing Happy Hour to Revere Electric’s Executive Forum at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) for a …
Notas del episodio
Manufacturing has been collecting skills for centuries, and the list keeps growing.
Chris takes Manufacturing Happy Hour to Revere Electric’s Executive Forum at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) for a live conversation about what the factory of the future needs in the plant and in the workforce. Joining him are Michael Cvelbar and Phil Bush of Rockwell Automation, Joe Hamann of the Connected Systems Institute (CSI), and Ryan Schneeberger of Revere Electric Supply.
Joe and Phil look at how new people get job-ready through student hackathons and a veteran training program. Ryan and Michael cover the other side, keeping people on the floor and giving operators more to do once they’re there. Students learn where AI adds value, while manufacturers want to see the return before they invest. And a room full of manufacturers toasts every time they say “digital twin.”
In this episode, find out:
- Why Michael says manufacturers need backup plans when disruption hits
- How Rockwell is preparing operators to troubleshoot their own equipment
- Why manufacturers say new engineering graduates can take years to reach full productivity
- How Rockwell’s Academy of Advanced Manufacturing trains military veterans as controls technicians
- What flexible automation can do for a customer and why manufacturers stay cautious on AI until the ROI is clear
- How Phil, Joe, Ryan and Michael describe their factory of the future when the audience asks
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “We want to hire on attitude and aptitude and culture fit, and we want to train on skills and capabilities.” - Phil Bush, Global Competency Programs Manager at Rockwell Automation
- “Get started. Try something, right? Start small, learn from it. It’s probably not going to be perfect, but you’ll be better the next time.” - Joe Hamann, Executive Director at Connected Systems Institute
- “The digitization that’s required, it’s business critical. It’s mission critical now. It’s no longer, ‘Hey, we’re going to go pilot this and see if this works.’ You need it, and it needs to be scaled across the enterprise.” - Michael Cvelbar, Director of Operations at Rockwell Automation
Links & mentions:
- Rockwell Automation is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation, headquartered in Milwaukee.
- Revere Electric Supply is a fourth-generation, family-owned electrical distributor serving industrial and construction customers across Illinois and southern Wisconsin, and a presenting partner of this live event.
- Connected Systems Institute is a center of excellence at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, hosting this episode and developing manufacturing specialists through education, lab facilities, and research with industry partners.
- Husco is a Waukesha, Wisconsin manufacturer of hydraulic and electro-hydraulic controls for off-highway and automotive equipment.
- Fathom Digital Manufacturing offers more than 25 advanced manufacturing technologies under one roof, from CNC machining to injection molding.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
306: From Systems of Record to Systems of Action: Putting AI to Work in Manufacturing with Sanjay Brahmawar
Manufacturing has a lot to gain from AI, and a lot to lose by waiting.Recorded at mHUB in Chicago’s West Loop during IMTS (International Manufacturing Technology Show), Chris sits down with Sanjay Brahmawar …
Notas del episodio
Manufacturing has a lot to gain from AI, and a lot to lose by waiting.
Recorded at mHUB in Chicago’s West Loop during IMTS (International Manufacturing Technology Show), Chris sits down with Sanjay Brahmawar, CEO of QAD Redzone, to talk about what AI could mean for an industry facing 500,000 open manufacturing jobs and a growing need to do more with the people it already has.
They also look at what happens when systems of record become systems of action, and how that changes the way manufacturers respond to problems on the shop floor.
In this episode, find out:
- How a career that started on a Honda engine line shaped Sanjay's view of manufacturing as managing constraints
- Why manufacturers don't need to replace their existing technology before putting AI to work
- How AI can turn a system of record into a system of action on the factory floor
- What QAD Redzone learned after giving line leads an AI agent before bringing their supervisors into the conversation
- Why some manufacturers are willing to set aside 5-7% of their IT budget for AI
- How a month of 24/7 bug fixing, complete with its own t-shirts, helped QAD Redzone rebuild customer trust
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- "The role of AI is not to replace the human being. The role of AI is to make that human being, that talent, 3 to 4x more powerful." - Sanjay Brahmawar, CEO of QAD Redzone
- "Manufacturing is a show-me world. It is not a tell-me world." - Sanjay Brahmawar, CEO of QAD Redzone
- "Nobody in manufacturing is sitting there waiting for somebody to give them AI. They only want it if it impacts their outcomes." - Sanjay Brahmawar, CEO of QAD Redzone
Links & mentions:
- STÄUBLI is a leading manufacturer of quick connector systems, covering connection needs for all types of fluids, gases, and electrical power.
- QAD Redzone is the manufacturing AI platform built for the mid-market, bringing AI into the ERP and the workflow where decisions get made.
- mHUB is a Chicago hard tech platform that brings young companies together with networks of entrepreneurs, advisors, and capital.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
304: How to Build a Manufacturing Company from First Principles with Supersede CEO Sean Petterson
RVs are homes that go 60 miles an hour. That changes everything about what goes inside them.Chris sits down with Sean Petterson, CEO of Supersede, a company combining recycling and manufacturing in an …
Notas del episodio
RVs are homes that go 60 miles an hour. That changes everything about what goes inside them.
Chris sits down with Sean Petterson, CEO of Supersede, a company combining recycling and manufacturing in an unexpected way - turning recycled plastic into structural building materials. Supersede started with boats, where wood has an obvious problem - boats get wet!
From there, the company moved into RVs, where the materials face constant movement and thermal cycling, on a production line that can build an entire RV in a couple of hours.
Sean also explains the thinking behind Supersede's manufacturing model, including why he'd rather build 10 smaller plants than one big one.
In this episode, find out:
- How running production lines in mirrored pairs cuts the distance operators walk across the floor
- Why an RV, built to go 60 miles an hour, is a harder test for a material than a house that never moves
- How Supersede built its own ERP with zero software developers, piecing it together through Slack, Jira, and GitHub instead
- How a pre-sold capacity threshold - already dropping fast - decides when Supersede builds its next plant
- How embedding machine vision and LiDAR on the line replaces a QA machine that would otherwise cost far more
- Why Sean thinks manufacturers who didn't start using AI a year ago are already a decade behind
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- "If you hadn't gotten on the AI bus 12 months ago, you're a decade behind." - Sean Petterson, CEO of Supersede
- “A big contributor to those inefficiencies is, frankly, just legacy that gets embedded.” - Sean Petterson, CEO of Supersede
- “In manufacturing, things can move slow, and we just have the unique benefit of making sure that we're investing effectively, but very efficiently.” - Sean Petterson, CEO of Supersede
Links & mentions:
- Supersede is a manufacturing company turning recycled plastic into structural building materials, starting with its Marine Board product for the marine and RV industries.
- Harmoni is a factory orchestration platform that connects what's happening on your shop floor with the systems you already use, from your machines and operators to your ERP, giving your team one real-time view of production.
- PTC's Industrial Newsletter - a quick hit of clarity on how design, manufacturing, and service data can work together for manufacturing leaders looking to modernize.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
303: Made in Iowa: Ag Equipment, Butter Braids, and Women in Manufacturing (WiM)
There's a lot more coming out of Iowa than corn.Chris heads to Des Moines for a live conversation with four guests who each know Iowa manufacturing a little differently.Dominique Hain and Cami Schaefer share …
Notas del episodio
There's a lot more coming out of Iowa than corn.
Chris heads to Des Moines for a live conversation with four guests who each know Iowa manufacturing a little differently.
Dominique Hain and Cami Schaefer share how Women in Manufacturing Iowa grew to over 900 members in three years. Denny Williams and Denise Hill take it from there, discussing automation, hiring, and just how deep Iowa's farm roots run through its factories.
The conversation also uncovers some of the products many people may not know are made in Iowa, including Winnebago RVs.
In this episode, find out:
- What makes a state better known for agriculture become one of the country's stronger manufacturing bases
- How Iowa's farming communities are shaping who gets hired at companies like Weiler
- Which surprising products are actually made in Iowa, from butter braids to basketball hoops
- Why so many Iowa manufacturers trace back to a farmer solving a problem for himself, then his neighbors
- How Co-Line is using robots and cobots to boost throughput without cutting its workforce
- Why finding qualified operators is harder than finding corn in rural Iowa
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- "I love Des Moines because it's almost like a well-kept secret of Iowa, or of the US." - Cami Schaefer, Executive Operations Assistant at BrownWinick
- "We launched our chapter only three years ago, and we're already over 900 members strong, which is absolutely incredible." - Dominique Hain, Industry Account Manager at Rockwell Automation
- "With that strong work ethic and farming background, we like to hire young farm kids who know how to work on equipment. They're not afraid to roll up their sleeves and get dirty." - Denise Hill, Senior Human Resources Manager at Weiler
Links & mentions:
- Dominique Hain - Industry Account Manager at Rockwell Automation
- Denny Williams - Sales/Estimating at Co-Line Manufacturing
- Denise Hill - Senior Human Resources Manager at Weiler
- Cami Schaefer - Executive Operations Assistant at BrownWinick
- Fathom Digital Manufacturing, offering more than 25 advanced manufacturing technologies under one roof, from CNC machining to injection molding.
- PTC's Industrial Newsletter, a quick hit of clarity on how design, manufacturing, and service data can work together for manufacturing leaders looking to modernize.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
302: Philly's Answer to the Talent Shortage (LIVE in King of Prussia, PA)
You can count on Philly to bring the energy!Recorded live in King of Prussia at the final stop of the Northeast leg of the All-American Manufacturing Summer Tour, this episode features the loudest, most engaged …
Notas del episodio
You can count on Philly to bring the energy!
Recorded live in King of Prussia at the final stop of the Northeast leg of the All-American Manufacturing Summer Tour, this episode features the loudest, most engaged crowd Chris has had on the show yet.
Ashley, Brett, and Matt open the show with a look at what makes the Philadelphia manufacturing ecosystem tick, and why collaboration, not competition, might be the region's biggest advantage.
Hannah and Greg then join Matt to talk workforce development, and some of the most creative approaches to the talent shortage you'll hear on the show all year.
In this episode, find out:
- What inspired one shop owner to build a group where members share equipment, knowledge, and even trade secrets with people who'd traditionally be seen as competitors
- Why locating a machine shop in the heart of Philadelphia, despite the traffic, parking, and wage tax, turned out to be a competitive advantage
- How a youth basketball nonprofit ended up building a skilled trades program for teenagers who don't want to go to college
- Why the region's defense industry is driving serious demand for skilled manufacturing workers
- What convinced a group of manufacturing leaders that hiring from a more diverse talent pool is a genuine business advantage, not just the right thing to do
- What it really takes to change how an entire generation sees a career in the trades
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- "That's a competitive advantage for us when we're hiring from a diverse group. Our spindles are running more." - Matt Bruner, President & Co-Founder at American Precision Works
- "What makes Philadelphia great is that now we have that willingness to change. Philly is really spearheading that campaign to make manufacturing and the collaboration between all of us more open" - Ashley Watkins, Sales & Marketing Manager at JBM Technologies
- "I don't hide any of my prints when we do the group meetings. I'm not afraid of anyone coming in and stealing my work." - Brett Lister, Youth Basketball, Business Owner at B&B Dynamic Machining
Links & mentions:
- Ashley Watkins - Sales & Marketing Manager at JBM Technologies
- Matt Bruner - President & Co-Founder at American Precision Works
- Gregory Thomson - Director of Skilled Building Trades at Philadelphia
- Brett Lister - Youth Basketball, Business Owner at B&B Dynamic Machining
- Hannah McGarry - Director at Workforce Engagement
- CliftonLarsonAllen, presenting partner for the All-American Manufacturing Summer Tour, offering industry-focused wealth advisory, outsourcing, audit, tax, and consulting services.
- MaintainX, presenting partner for the tour, helping frontline teams streamline maintenance, standard operating procedures, and more from a mobile device.
- NTMA (New Jersey/Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association), a local partner organization supporting manufacturers with resources, events, and a national network.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
IMTS After Hours: Your Unofficial Guide to IMTS 2026 featuring Jim Mayer and Emily Wilkins
Where's the party at? While there’s a lot to see on the show floor at IMTS 2026, some of the best conversations, connections, and memories happen after the show floor closes each day.In this bonus episode of …
Notas del episodio
Where's the party at? While there’s a lot to see on the show floor at IMTS 2026, some of the best conversations, connections, and memories happen after the show floor closes each day.
In this bonus episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, Chris is joined by returning guests Jim Mayer and Emily Wilkins for an "IMTS After Hours" conversation about how to make the most of manufacturing’s biggest week in Chicago.
They share some of their favorite stories from IMTS events of the past - from spontaneous meetups and happy hours, to karaoke, to Chris’ infamous 90s Vs. Emo Night in 2024 - while previewing what’s on the agenda for IMTS 2026.
You’ll hear why the after hours experience can be just as valuable as walking the show floor, how to pace yourself during a packed week of events, and where you can find Chris, Jim, Emily, and the rest of the manufacturing community once the trade show shuts down for the day.
Whether this is your first IMTS or you’re a seasoned veteran, consider this your unofficial guide to making the most of IMTS afterparties all week long.
See you in Chicago. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
301: NYC's Role in Reindustrialization and American Manufacturing (LIVE from Brooklyn)
"New York City is where dreams come to audition", and this goes for manufacturers too.Recorded live at New Lab in Brooklyn, this episode is split into three segments and features seven guests. Chris explores …
Notas del episodio
"New York City is where dreams come to audition", and this goes for manufacturers too.
Recorded live at New Lab in Brooklyn, this episode is split into three segments and features seven guests. Chris explores what manufacturing means in a city best known for 'wall street’.
Andrew, James, and Stacey open the show by digging into New York's overlooked industrial past, including a 250-year stretch where the city was the largest manufacturing hub in the country. Jacob, Nikki, and Miquela then take the stage to talk about what's being built in the city today, from robotics to a single Brooklyn facility housing 17 different manufacturing verticals.
Finally, Michelle of New York Embroidery Studio joins Chris one-on-one to share her insights after nearly 30 years of manufacturing experience, including how she pivoted her entire operation overnight to produce PPE during COVID.
In this episode, find out:
- What the Brooklyn Navy Yard's 300-acre footprint looks like today, decades after its WWII peak
- Why New York's robotics ecosystem might never look like Detroit or Pittsburgh and how that could be an advantage
- What 17 different manufacturing verticals look like inside a single Brooklyn facility
- How one manufacturer pivoted from designing gowns for the Met Gala to producing 3 million isolation gowns a month
- Why New York's built-in market of 8 million consumers gives local manufacturers an edge most cities can't offer
- What it took to solve a 20-year-old medical design flaw by giving a doctor direct access to a factory floor
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- "All These inventions that came from here - the laser, the CCD, the ATM machine, the transistor, vulcanized rubber - all those things went somewhere else to build.” - James Williams, Chief Strategy Officer at Nanotronics
- "It's not that somebody is getting rid of the hand tools, it's that it's merging with additional technology." - Miquela Craytor, Founder & Principal, Craytor Strategies
- "Smart people that have problems need to have access to factories to create and build new things." - Michelle Feinberg, Owner of New York Embroidery Studio and NYES Protect
Links & mentions:
- CliftonLarsonAllen, sponsor of the All-American Manufacturing Summer Tour, offering industry-focused wealth advisory, outsourcing, audit, tax, and consulting services.
- MaintainX, sponsor of the tour, helping frontline teams streamline maintenance, standard operating procedures, and more from a mobile device.
- New Lab, an innovation hub based at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, hosting this episode and supporting startups working on advanced technology and manufacturing.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
IMTS 2026 Preview: Live Drone Production, the Industrial AI Arena, and More
The largest manufacturing trade show in the Western Hemisphere is coming to Chicago September 14 through 19, and this bonus episode is your preview of IMTS 2026.Chris shares what he’s most excited about: Oak …
Notas del episodio
The largest manufacturing trade show in the Western Hemisphere is coming to Chicago September 14 through 19, and this bonus episode is your preview of IMTS 2026.
Chris shares what he’s most excited about: Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s daily drone production and flight demo, the new Industrial AI Arena, the IMTS Investor Summit, and a 10-year anniversary episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour with Jake Hall on the Main Stage. Then, we head to 2025's “halfway to IMTS” party at Rockwell Beer Co. in St. Louis, where Mary Cecile "MC" Neville of AMT explains what makes IMTS manufacturing’s biggest community get-together and what’s new on the show floor. Brandon Wegge also joins to introduce AMICSTL, a new nonprofit Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center being built in North St. Louis to bring the latest technology and workforce development to the region’s small and medium manufacturers.
Mentioned in this episode:
Get a free LEGO at IMTS 2026!
If you're heading to IMTS 2026, make sure Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence is part of your game plan. Hexagon is the architect of innovation in manufacturing and a global leader in measurement technologies. Make sure to visit Hexagon in the East Building at Booth 134102 and tell them Chris from Manufacturing Happy Hour sent you to claim your LEGO MAESTRO CMM via the link below.
300: Chris Luecke’s Friends from High School Interview Him on His Own Podcast, LIVE in St. Louis
300 episodes of Chris asking all the questions, this week he is finally in the hot seat - and it’s his high school buddies doing all the grilling!Recorded live at Urban Chestnut Brewing, this episode is split …
Notas del episodio
300 episodes of Chris asking all the questions, this week he is finally in the hot seat - and it’s his high school buddies doing all the grilling!
Recorded live at Urban Chestnut Brewing, this episode is split into two parts. First, Chris sits down with a Missouri manufacturing panel - Michael Eaton, Joe Mazzola and Maria Berra to talk Apollo 13 battery cells, pepper spray, whiskey barrels, and keeping it in the family in St. Louis.
In part 2, we are flipping the script. To celebrate this milestone episode, three of Chris's oldest friends, Pat, Rob and John take over, asking Chris about his 'magic drug' for keeping the show running for 300 episodes, reminiscing on his first experience of things taking a turn for the worst on stage, and a very exciting personal announcement.
In this episode, find out:
- How Missouri became the birthplace of a surprising range of products that most wouldn't realize
- How a kid who dreamed of building rollercoasters ended up building a manufacturing podcast instead
- Why Chris's dad might be the most legendary guy in their entire high school network
- Why Chris wouldn't watch the Blues win the Stanley Cup live, despite being in Boston
- What Chris says helps you stand out when everyone in your industry is chasing the same trend
- Where Chris would send you for the best food and drink in St. Louis
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- "I don't know if being an engineer is exactly what I wanted to be, but I was certainly going to take that problem-solving skill set and bring it wherever I go." - Chris Luecke, Podcast Host & Community Builder at Manufacturing Happy Hour
- "The more you can take that ‘all ships rise with the tide’ approach, those are the regions I see really being successful in manufacturing." - Chris Luecke, Podcast Host & Community Builder at Manufacturing Happy Hour
- ”What are the things that you can talk about that are timeless, that highlight who you are, that highlight your expertise, that can allow you to stand out from the pack?” - Chris Luecke, Podcast Host & Community Builder at Manufacturing Happy Hour
Links & mentions:
- AssetWatch and MaintainX, our partners for this leg of the All-American Manufacturing Summer Tour.
- The Missouri Association of Manufacturers, supporting manufacturers and driving turnout for this special St. Louis event.
- IMTS, hosted by AMT (the Association for Manufacturing Technology) - the country's largest manufacturing trade show.
- Urban Chestnut Brewing Company is an unconventional-minded yet tradition-oriented brewer of craft beer with authentic heritage and proven quality.
Make sure to visit https://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
Mentioned in this episode:
Get a free LEGO at IMTS 2026!
If you're heading to IMTS 2026, make sure Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence is part of your game plan. Hexagon is the architect of innovation in manufacturing and a global leader in measurement technologies. Make sure to visit Hexagon in the East Building at Booth 134102 and tell them Chris from Manufacturing Happy Hour sent you to claim your LEGO MAESTRO CMM via the link below.
BONUS: Predictive Maintenance: The Key to Replacing Unplanned Downtime with Personal Downtime (Sponsored by AssetWatch)
Some of the best manufacturing advice comes down to one simple idea - buy back your weekends.In this bonus episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, Chris is joined by Patrick Carmitchel, VP of Product Management …
Notas del episodio
Some of the best manufacturing advice comes down to one simple idea - buy back your weekends.
In this bonus episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, Chris is joined by Patrick Carmitchel, VP of Product Management and Dustin Moore, Condition Monitoring Engineer Manager at AssetWatch, to break down what condition monitoring and predictive maintenance looks like in practice, no jargon required.
They get into the differences between preventative and predictive maintenance, why the biggest ROI often comes from just doing one thing well, and how AssetWatch's own founding story led them from wireless power research into one of the fastest-growing names in industrial monitoring. Along the way, Dustin shares a personal philosophy that gives this episode its name.
In this episode, find out:
- Why doing one thing well with your most critical assets can catch the majority of issues before you need to expand into other monitoring methods
- How a maintenance technician went from feeling threatened by AssetWatch to calling it the best thing that ever happened to his job
- What criteria actually determine whether an asset is "critical" - and why size has nothing to do with it
- How AssetWatch went from researching wireless phone charging to building one of the fastest-growing platforms in industrial monitoring
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- "The proof is in the pudding... once they start seeing the results on their end - that bearing running a lot cooler, a lot smoother - that's when they come around." - Dustin Moore, Condition Monitoring Engineer Manager at AssetWatch
- "You've got to start somewhere. Meet maintenance teams where they're at - they're all in different parts of their journey." - Dustin Moore, Condition Monitoring Engineer Manager at AssetWatch
- "Predictive maintenance means you're looking at early warning signs... it's about your ability to be able to plan so that you do not have unplanned downtime." - Patrick Carmitchel, VP of Product Management at AssetWatch
Links & mentions:
- AssetWatch combines vibration, temperature, and oil analysis in one platform for a holistic asset health view, detecting issues that a single technique might miss.
Make sure to visit https://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
299: Inside Connecticut's Manufacturing Ecosystem: Innovation, Workforce Development, and Industrial Leadership, Live from Hartford, CT
We're not beating the drum this week… we're ringing Cici's bell.Filmed live at Trinity College's Innovation Hub - our first time in Connecticut, and our first ever 9:30am taping. Not quite our usual ‘happy …
Notas del episodio
We're not beating the drum this week… we're ringing Cici's bell.
Filmed live at Trinity College's Innovation Hub - our first time in Connecticut, and our first ever 9:30am taping. Not quite our usual ‘happy hour’, but our guests and the “small-but-mighty" state of Connecticut brought the energy all the same.
Chris sits down with Cici Bevin, sixth-generation President of Bevin Brothers Manufacturing and leader of the only remaining bell maker in the U.S, Andrew Gibson, CEO of AlphaQ, who came out of retirement to run a precision aerospace supplier for names like Sikorsky and Rolls-Royce, and Dustin Nord, Foundation Director at CBIA, tracking the trends shaping Connecticut's manufacturing future.
Together, they get into what keeps a 200-year-old manufacturer relevant, how a turnaround can make you a top global supplier almost overnight, and why one of the priciest states to manufacture in has built such a strong industrial cluster. Expect a state role you've probably never heard of, a centuries-old invention with surprising staying power, and what it takes to grow tomorrow's manufacturing workforce.
In this episode, find out:
- How Andrew Gibson turned a failing aerospace supplier with 0% on-time delivery into Rolls-Royce's #1 global supplier
- What surprising products are actually made in Connecticut, from Wiffle balls to Black Hawk helicopters
- Why Connecticut created a Chief Manufacturing Officer role, and why other states might want one too
- How a vicar from Wethersfield, Connecticut ended up inventing the first machine mill, and why that still matters today
- How Connecticut manufacturers collaborate with neighboring states like Massachusetts and Rhode Island
- Why Dustin believes no state has fully figured out manufacturing competitiveness, and what that means for the industry
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going! Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- "I don't think any state has the answer. That's what I learn the most when I look up what other states are doing. Everybody's experimenting." - Dustin Nord, Foundation Director at CBIA
- “When you make a change, you have to follow through. You've got to keep your word, even if it's adding a water cooler." - Andrew Gibson, CEO at AlphaQ
- "You have to have a vision. You've got to throw a rock out there tied to a string, and every day you want to make sure you can see that string." - Andrew Gibson, CEO at AlphaQ
Links & mentions:
- CLA exists to create opportunities for clients, people, and communities through industry-focused wealth advisory, outsourcing, audit, tax, and consulting services.
- MaintainX is one platform for maintenance, repair, and operations keeping the physical world running.
Make sure to visit https://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
Mentioned in this episode:
Get a free LEGO at IMTS 2026!
If you're heading to IMTS 2026, make sure Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence is part of your game plan. Hexagon is the architect of innovation in manufacturing and a global leader in measurement technologies. Make sure to visit Hexagon in the East Building at Booth 134102 and tell them Chris from Manufacturing Happy Hour sent you to claim your LEGO MAESTRO CMM via the link below.
BONUS: What Is Servitization? How OEMs Can Turn Their Installed Base Into Long-Term Revenue with PTC's Sam Neva
Selling the equipment is the easy part. The real revenue shows up after the sale.Sam Neva, Vice President of Sales for Service Lifecycle Management at PTC, joined the show to talk servitization - what it means …
Notas del episodio
Selling the equipment is the easy part. The real revenue shows up after the sale.
Sam Neva, Vice President of Sales for Service Lifecycle Management at PTC, joined the show to talk servitization - what it means, and why it's becoming the difference between OEMs who scrape by on hardware margins and ones who build real recurring revenue. Chris caught up with him live at PTC's headquarters.
Manufacturing folks, we didn't forget about you! This episode is geared squarely toward people building equipment. If you want to tighten up your sales process and make your customer relationships stickier, this one is for you.
Sam and Chris get into what's holding most OEMs back from servitization, how AI is starting to change what proactive service looks like, and the math behind why the money shows up years after the original sale.
In this episode, find out:
- Why the smartest OEMs are lowering the price of the original sale, and what they're betting on instead
- The three levels standing between a traditional OEM and a full servitization model
- Why ‘tribal knowledge’ is the hidden gap between engineering and service teams
- How AI is helping teams triage service issues before they need a technician
- The Harvard Business Review stat that shows just how much revenue gets left on the table post-sale
- What Schneider Electric did to grow revenue, win rates, and improve customer satisfaction at the same time
- The first question every OEM should ask before attempting servitization
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “You're reacting to a problem, instead of doing your best to extend and plan that time horizon to prepare for that problem." - Sam Neva, Vice President of Sales for Service Lifecycle Management at PTC
- “Step 1 is what do customers expect from us, why do they expect that, and how can we give them that?" - Sam Neva, Vice President of Sales for Service Lifecycle Management at PTC
- “The goal is how do I make money as the OEM, not just by selling you that box, but selling you the outcome of what that box provides.” - Sam Neva, Vice President of Sales for Service Lifecycle Management at PTC
Links & mentions:
- Benchmark your servitization strategy, a complimentary assessment where ServiceMax experts will evaluate your current service organization and identify opportunities to improve performance, profitability, and customer outcomes.
- ServiceMax, a PTC Technology, is on a mission to help customers keep the world running with asset-centric field service management software. As a recognized leader in this space, our cloud-based software and mobile apps provide a complete view of assets to field service teams.
Make sure to visit https://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
298: Exploring Massachusetts' Aerospace & Defense Industry, LIVE in Canton, MA
When Massachusetts shows up for something, it's rarely small, and this live show was no exception.Over 100 people packed into Canton to join Chris as he sits down with Megan Glidden, Michael Tamasi, and Joe …
Notas del episodio
When Massachusetts shows up for something, it's rarely small, and this live show was no exception.
Over 100 people packed into Canton to join Chris as he sits down with Megan Glidden, Michael Tamasi, and Joe McCadden to talk about the people and organizations keeping the state's manufacturing scene strong.
That starts with the workforce building the next generation of submarines. Joe explains what that takes on the ground, Michael has built his own talent pipeline training adults on the autism spectrum for careers in manufacturing, and Megan walks us through the upsides of employee ownership, including the chance to retire as a millionaire.
From there, the conversation covers trade schools, automation, AI, and the challenge of changing manufacturing’s “dark, dirty, and dangerous” reputation.
In this episode, find out:
- What Massachusetts' small size means for manufacturers trying to get products to market quickly
- How Massachusetts manufacturers rallied during COVID to make gowns, masks, and ventilators in days
- Why the submarine industrial base needs 100,000 people over the next 5 to 10 years
- The role local vocational schools play in building Globe Composite Solutions' next generation of employees
- Why employee ownership changes the way people think about waste, improvement, and staying with a company for decades
- Web Industries' approach to weaving AI into its broader Industry 4.0 strategy
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “For too long, and still in many places, people look at manufacturing as dark, dirty, and dangerous, when in fact it's safe, smart, and sustainable.” - Michael Tamasi, Owner & CEO of AccuRounds
- “The biggest challenge that we face is people, and how do you get good people.” - Joe McCadden, President of Globe Composite Solutions
- "What makes Massachusetts attractive to us is the depth of experience around the aerospace, defense, and medical industries - these are industries where you can't take this work offshore." - Megan Glidden, CFO of Web Industries
Links & mentions:
- AccuRounds - a precision contract machining company based in Avon, Massachusetts, providing high-end mechanical components for the aerospace, defense, medical, semiconductor, and robotics industries.
- Globe Composite Solutions - a Stoughton, Massachusetts manufacturer of urethane, rubber, and synthetic foam products for defense, submersible, and industrial applications.
- Web Industries - a global, employee-owned manufacturing company specializing in precision converting and outsourced manufacturing for the aerospace, medical, and industrial sectors.
- Harmoni - a factory orchestration platform that connects your machines, operators, and ERP into one real-time view of what's happening on the shop floor.
- CliftonLarsonAllen - a presenting partner for the All-American Manufacturing Summer Tour, offering industry-focused wealth advisory, outsourcing, audit, tax, and consulting services.
- MaintainX - a presenting partner for the tour, helping frontline teams streamline maintenance, standard operating procedures, and more from a mobile device.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
BONUS: The Future of Intralogistics featuring Siemens' Joel Thomas and Markus Thiel
Digital, real, real, digital. It sounds simple, but it's rewriting how a warehouse gets designed.Joel Thomas has spent over a decade in the Intralogistics space and now leads OEM Sales Data Center and Life …
Notas del episodio
Digital, real, real, digital. It sounds simple, but it's rewriting how a warehouse gets designed.
Joel Thomas has spent over a decade in the Intralogistics space and now leads OEM Sales Data Center and Life Sciences at Siemens. Markus Thiel just crossed the six month mark as Head of Intralogistics, after years on the manufacturing operations and supply chain side of the business.
Chris caught up with both of them live in Atlanta during MODEX, over a Weiss beer and a pilsner at Halfway Crooks. They talk about what Intralogistics is, and how it's changed since the days of pallet jacks and conveyor belts.
From there the conversation covers the industry engineer shortage, robotics, AGVs versus AMRs, why standardization is becoming such a hot topic among vendors, and what a warehouse looks like when it's designed digitally.
In this episode, find out:
- How the day-to-day work of moving goods within a warehouse has changed over the past decade
- The shift to robotics, AGVs, and AMRs, and why orchestrating all of it is now the hard part
- Why standardization is gaining ground even though flexibility with vendors used to be the priority
- How AI is being used to spot bottlenecks and predict maintenance
- What edge computing means for a warehouse
- What it takes to build a digital twin, and why Siemens tests new technology in its own factory first
- Whether a conveyor-less warehouse is realistic, and who's already exploring it
- Why e-commerce has been the single biggest driver of growth in the industry
- What's next for the space, software-defined automation and the IT/OT layer
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- "We want more individualized goods, and we want it faster and sooner, so that thing will not stop. It will further accelerate. It's great to see all the technology which is helping that development.” - Markus Thiel, Head of Intralogistics at Siemens
- “It was always about taking off your professional hat, and just being a person. Go out and talk to people and just introduce yourself. The one great thing that you can do in this industry is say, ‘Can I help?’” - Joel Thomas, Director of OEM Sales Data Center and Life Sciences at Siemens
- ”If you asked me 7 years ago, I would say that Europe was way ahead when it came to automation technology. Now, I think the US has caught up, if not maybe surpassed it.” - Joel Thomas, Director of OEM Sales Data Center and Life Sciences at Siemens
Links & mentions:
- Siemens Intralogistics provides intelligent material handling tech that empowers intralogistics to meet demands and overcome challenges via AI-enhanced automation and sustainable design.
- MHI the nation's largest material handling, logistics and supply chain association - active since 1945.
- Halfway Crooks Beer is the Atlanta brewery where this episode was recorded, known for traditionally brewed lagers in the Summerhill neighborhood.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
297: Defense Spending, Contract Manufacturing, and Navigating Regulated Industries with Fathom CEO Rush LaSelle
Fine tuning manufacturing like a guitar - that's the kind of parallel you can expect from this episode.This week Chris sits down with Rush LaSelle, CEO at Fathom, recorded on site at their Hartland, Wisconsin …
Notas del episodio
Fine tuning manufacturing like a guitar - that's the kind of parallel you can expect from this episode.
This week Chris sits down with Rush LaSelle, CEO at Fathom, recorded on site at their Hartland, Wisconsin facility over a Spotted Cow beer. Rush's path into manufacturing started at Fanuc, moved through the early and unproven days of mobile robotics, and later took him into the highly regulated world of healthcare automation.
They get into digital manufacturing today, how the Kiva and Amazon story changed the way people think about robotics and logistics, and why more defense spending doesn't automatically mean more manufacturing capacity. Rush also breaks down what this week's news around CMMC Phase 2 means for manufacturers who have already put in months of work preparing for it.
Along the way, Rush makes one of the more memorable comparisons we've heard on the show, describing the people on his shop floor as creatives, and manufacturing itself as something closer to art than you might expect.
In this episode, find out:
- How an early mobile robotics deal turned out to be worth $775 million, and what it taught the industry
- How digital manufacturing evolved from CAD drawings to full supply chain integration
- Why additive manufacturing has moved way past its prototyping only reputation
- What manufacturers need before they can scale up to meet rising defense demand
- Why the pause on CMMC Phase 2 has left some manufacturers in a tricky spot
- How Rush sees manufacturing as a form of art, and why he calls his machinists creatives
- What's driving the ongoing talent war in manufacturing, and why skilled machinists take years to develop
- Why Rush believes physical AI is the most exciting shift happening in the industry right now
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “There is a talent war going on where everybody's trying to get the right level of folks on the floor. Despite all the automation and the augmentation, you still need talented people out there. The curve to get to a level three machinist is about seven years on the job.” - Rush LaSelle, CEO at Fathom
- “You take all the data that's available in these monstrous data farms and you start applying them to physical AI. Physical AI, in our case, could be getting better control over our machines, instead of 80% of our programming done on CNCs, making it 98%.” - Rush LaSelle, CEO at Fathom
- “We've had an erosion of our industrial base. You need to have 20, 30, 50 years' worth of visibility to revenue to put hundreds of millions of dollars in place. And the government doesn't always give you that level of visibility.” - Rush LaSelle, CEO at Fathom
Links & mentions:
- Fathom Manufacturing helps companies simplify part sourcing with 25+ advanced manufacturing technologies and support services, all built around the way real programs actually move. Core capabilities include additive manufacturing, injection molding, CNC machining and sheet metal fabrication, with support across engineering, finishing, inspection, assembly and production.
- New Glarus Brewing Company philosophy is based on individuality, cooperation, and the employment of 100% natural ingredients to produce world-class, handcrafted beers like Spotted Cow, for our friends in Wisconsin.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
Mentioned in this episode:
Get a free LEGO at IMTS 2026!
If you're heading to IMTS 2026, make sure Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence is part of your game plan. Hexagon is the architect of innovation in manufacturing and a global leader in measurement technologies. Make sure to visit Hexagon in the East Building at Booth 134102 and tell them Chris from Manufacturing Happy Hour sent you to claim your LEGO MAESTRO CMM via the link below.
BONUS: Software-Defined Automation: The Future of Industrial Control (sponsored by Siemens)
Two worlds that have never previously spoken the same language are now building the same machine.This week Chris sits down with David Nichols, CEO, Co-Founder and Engineer at Loupe, an alum of the show making …
Notas del episodio
Two worlds that have never previously spoken the same language are now building the same machine.
This week Chris sits down with David Nichols, CEO, Co-Founder and Engineer at Loupe, an alum of the show making his return. We are also joined by Kristen Quasey, Architecture & Portfolio Sales Manager, and Jan Bajorat, Senior Director of Software-Defined Automation, both at Siemens, for this special bonus episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, live from Automate 2026.
Together they get into software-defined automation, what that looks like on the shop floor, and why it's picking up momentum right now.
David shares the story behind SASE, the Society of Automation Software Engineers, and what it felt like building a community around an idea before most of the industry had caught on. Kristen and Jan bring the perspective of a company adapting to a new generation of engineers and a shifting global workforce.
In this episode, find out:
- What David means when he compares software-defined automation to a "chocolate and peanut butter" combination.
- Why David describes SASE as starting from a place of desperation rather than strategy.
- How Kristen and Jan see a new generation of engineers changing what companies need from automation.
- How building the software of a machine before its mechanics has changed what David's team was able to deliver.
- How a distributed team can fix a production issue without setting foot on the plant floor.
- Why Jan believes software-defined automation is what makes industrial AI possible at scale.
- Why global workforce shortages are pushing manufacturers toward a software-defined approach.
- Why software-defined automation is not the same thing as software automation.
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “If we can make it through this phase where we're kind of out in the wilderness, it's great. We're excited about what the next 10 years are going to look like, and I hope a lot of it looks like this.” - David Nichols, CEO, Co-Founder and Engineer at Loupe
- “When you have certain devices that are typically on the hardware side and you have a software-defined approach, you can now scale much quicker and be a lot more flexible.” - Kristen Quasey, Architecture & Portfolio Sales Manager at Siemens
- “With so many unfilled jobs that you need, you need a huge step. You need to drastically change, and this is what SCA is about. It's a big step up. It's not a small incremental thing.” - Jan Bajorat, Senior Director of Software-Defined Automation at Siemens
Links & mentions:
- Loupe is an engineering organization serving machine builders by providing control systems and developing software for automated equipment.
- Siemens is a leading technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, mobility, and healthcare. The company’s purpose is to create technology to transform the everyday, for everyone.
- SASE is a community of engineers who are converging and completely revolutionizing software practices and automation.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
296: The Art of Building in the Age of AI with Baukunst Co-Founder Tyler Mincey
What does it take to build something well, on purpose, in a world that keeps pushing you to move faster?This week Chris sits down with Tyler Mincey, Co-Founder and General Partner at Baukunst, a San Francisco …
Notas del episodio
What does it take to build something well, on purpose, in a world that keeps pushing you to move faster?
This week Chris sits down with Tyler Mincey, Co-Founder and General Partner at Baukunst, a San Francisco and Boston based collective of creative technologists that also runs an early-stage venture fund. Tyler opens up about where the name Baukunst comes from and what building with intention means to him, drawing on a path that started with the touchscreen on the original iPhone at Apple.
Tyler breaks down research Baukunst has been running on AI adoption on the factory floor, talking through the different stages companies move through as they bring it into their operations. He gets into where the hype lines up with what he's seeing and where it doesn't, and challenges the idea that manufacturing is behind on technology.
The chat also turns to what AI could mean for the people doing the work day to day, not just the businesses putting it in place.
In this episode, find out:
- How Tyler's work on the original iPhone influenced his approach to building physical products.
- The meaning behind the name Baukunst and what "artful building" means to Tyler.
- What it took to build deep, trusted manufacturing partnerships during his time at Apple.
- Tyler's non-linear career path from engineering into digital design and venture capital.
- Why Baukunst formed research organizations/study groups to research AI and manufacturing.
- The stages companies move through as they bring AI into their operations.
- Where AI is already delivering results on the factory floor, and where the hype outpaces reality.
- Why the human side of AI adoption matters, and what the shift from bank tellers to ATMs can teach us.
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “Part of the reason I'm hungry for artful building is that there’s a whole lot of coulda but not a lot of shoulda in how we develop technology these days, where we feel like we're just rushing and accelerating towards an inevitable future that feels dystopian.” - Tyler Mincey, Co-Founder and General Partner at Baukunst
- “I love people talking about how much of a will gap versus a skill gap we have in manufacturing these days. It's really an attractive place to work for the future and its inspiring for the next generation of engineers, of industrial labor and of operations professionals.” - Tyler Mincey, Co-Founder and General Partner at Baukunst
- “Getting back to the human face, I think it's within our power to build different things too. And I think really holding our feet to the fire, asking ‘do we want to live in a world where things work this way’ is another gut check that I'm very passionate about.” - Tyler Mincey, Co-Founder and General Partner at Baukunst
Links & mentions:
- Baukunst is a collective of creative technologists advancing the art of building. Our inaugural $100M venture fund is dedicated to leading pre-seed investments in companies at the frontiers of technology and design.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
Mentioned in this episode:
Get a free LEGO at IMTS 2026!
If you're heading to IMTS 2026, make sure Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence is part of your game plan. Hexagon is the architect of innovation in manufacturing and a global leader in measurement technologies. Make sure to visit Hexagon in the East Building at Booth 134102 and tell them Chris from Manufacturing Happy Hour sent you to claim your LEGO MAESTRO CMM via the link below.
295: Reindustrialization, AI Agents, and the Future of Manufacturing with First Resonance CEO Karan Talati
What happens when a former SpaceX engineer decides manufacturing software needs to be completely reimagined?In this special live episode of the podcast, recorded at Arts District Brewing in Los Angeles as the …
Notas del episodio
What happens when a former SpaceX engineer decides manufacturing software needs to be completely reimagined?
In this special live episode of the podcast, recorded at Arts District Brewing in Los Angeles as the final stop on the Golden State Takeover Tour, Chris sits down with Karan Talati, CEO and Co-Founder of First Resonance, to explore one of manufacturing's biggest transformations: the convergence of AI, software, and reindustrialization.
Karan shares the story of growing up around manufacturing in Chicago, his experience during SpaceX's explosive growth, why he founded First Resonance, and how AI agents are poised to automate some of manufacturing's most tedious work while enabling the next generation of advanced manufacturing companies.
Along the way, they discuss why Southern California has quietly become one of the world's most exciting manufacturing startup ecosystems, and why we're only at the beginning of manufacturing's next chapter.
BONUS: AI in Manufacturing: What’s Broken, What’s Working, and How Manufacturers Can Succeed with AI featuring PTC's Joseph June
What if your AI strategy doesn't need more agents, just a better plan?This week Chris sits down with Joseph June, who leads AI strategy at PTC to talk about what companies are getting wrong with AI - going too …
Notas del episodio
What if your AI strategy doesn't need more agents, just a better plan?
This week Chris sits down with Joseph June, who leads AI strategy at PTC to talk about what companies are getting wrong with AI - going too broad too fast.
Joseph goes into why picking one problem and really solving it is the way to go when onboarding AI. He shares a great example of what a strong AI use case looks like on the shop floor and unpacks the concept of ‘production data foundation’.
The conversation turns to where agents are headed. There's also some good, grounded discussion here on building trust with AI and how the process mirrors onboarding any new employee.
In this episode, find out:
- How AI experience helped Joseph make the leap from ServiceMax into leading AI strategy at PTC
- The most common mistake manufacturers make when rolling out AI
- What separates companies making AI progress from those stuck in pilot purgatory
- What ‘production data foundation’ means, and why simply having more data shouldn’t be the goal
- How AI agents are being used in manufacturing today, and where that's headed next
- Why the plan behind your agents matters more than the agents themselves
- How to build trust in AI gradually, using the advise, assist and automate framework
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “A lot of the hesitation and a lot of the concerns people have about AI are probably real, but a lot of them are sentiment, and it takes time to be able to build that trust.” - Joseph June, Head of AI Strategy at PTC
- “What's unique about AI that is different from a person - it is capable of processing a very large amount of data in a faithful and ruthless way to be able to accomplish a particular outcome.” - Joseph June, Head of AI Strategy at PTC
- “The type of data matters. Data that represents individual decisions that people or groups of people have made in efforts to accomplish a specific goal. That's really valuable data.” - Joseph June, Head of AI Strategy at PTC
Links & mentions:
- PTC enables companies to differentiate their products and services, improve operational excellence, and increase workforce productivity. Manufacturers can capitalize on the promise of today’s new technology to drive digital transformation.
- ServiceMax helps customers keep the world running with asset-centric field service management software. Their cloud-based software and mobile apps provide a complete view of assets to field service teams.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
BONUS: From a Sabbatical to Building the First Full-Stack Industrial AI Company with Andres Naranjo, CEO of Software Toolbox
Andres Naranjo sailed a race around the world, wrote Japan's digital agenda, and spent his sabbatical teaching himself AI from scratch.This week Chris sits down with Andres, CEO of Software Toolbox, to hear …
Notas del episodio
Andres Naranjo sailed a race around the world, wrote Japan's digital agenda, and spent his sabbatical teaching himself AI from scratch.
This week Chris sits down with Andres, CEO of Software Toolbox, to hear some incredible life stories and dig into what bringing AI into the industrial world looks like right now.
Andres has lived a lot of lives as a consultant, entrepreneur, ocean racer and AI builder. He's pretty direct about why he walked away from consulting to pursue his current endeavors - the AI wave was moving far too fast to be on the side-lines of it.
There's also practical conversation here for anyone thinking about how to deploy AI on the plant floor, and Andres' breakdown of how to effectively train an agent.
In this episode, find out:
- Why Andres left one of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world to go build things himself
- What sailing a race around the world taught him about data, analytics and machine learning
- What the industrial tech stack of the future actually looks like and why it's simpler than anyone is making it sound
- The difference between machine learning, generative AI and agentic AI and why confusing them is holding the industry back
- Why the era of the dashboard is over and what should replace it
- What an AI agent actually is, how you train one, and where on the plant floor you should be deploying it first
- Why Andres bought Software Toolbox instead of building from scratch and the simple framework behind that decision
- Why Andres moved back to Silicon Valley after Japan and what he saw happening in AI that made him think it was time to stop advising and start building
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “AI is a salad bowl of technologies and almost always people conflate one with the other in really strange ways.” - Andres Naranjo, CEO of Software Toolbox
- “ It is a wonderful time to build. It's probably the best time ever. I want it to be in it. I didn't want to be on the side-lines for it.” - Andres Naranjo, CEO of Software Toolbox
- “There are many ways to lean in, and it's okay if there is some failure. Everything is a normal distribution. You’ve got to blow up rockets to land rockets on the moon.” - Andres Naranjo, CEO of Software Toolbox
Links & mentions:
- Software Toolbox is a full-stack industrial AI company, delivering industrial connectivity software, data platforms, and AI agents that augment the people working in manufacturing and process industries.
- Allie integrates intelligence into factory operations: learning from machines, sensors and systems to detect problems, recommend actions and coordinate responses in real time.
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
294: "One in Four Bites"...Inside California’s Food and Manufacturing Heartland (LIVE from the Central Valley)
When most people think about California business, Silicon Valley and Hollywood come to mind. But travel the I-5 corridor and you’ll find one of the most productive manufacturing regions in the world, where …
Notas del episodio
When most people think about California business, Silicon Valley and Hollywood come to mind. But travel the I-5 corridor and you’ll find one of the most productive manufacturing regions in the world, where trains, semiconductors, cell therapies, tomatoes, and wine are all made within a few hours’ drive. For this live episode, we pulled up a chair at M2 Wines in Lodi, CA, to explore manufacturing in California’s breadbasket in three parts.
We start in the Sacramento Valley, home to more than 4,000 manufacturers and some industries you might not expect. Joining us are Kevin McGrew of Siemens Mobility, who is also President of the Sacramento Valley Manufacturing Alliance; Amy Schulz of Sierra College; Warren Kenzie of Orca Bio; and Scott Olson of Robert Bosch Semiconductor.
Next, we head south into the Central Valley, where the focus shifts to food and beverage manufacturing at massive scale. We talk with John Schneider, Senior VP at Stanislaus Food Products and President of the Board of the Manufacturers Council of the Central Valley; Darin Miller, Executive VP of The Wine Group; and Karen Warner, Founder and CEO of BEAM Circular.
We close with a quick conversation with Lex Carlsson of Capitol Impact about how California is moving fast on innovation and why it remains the No. 1 state for manufacturing in the U.S.
293: Manufacturing Leadership That Works with Author and Geislinger CEO Jason Woodard
Your frontline team can only perform as well as the processes they're handed. So why are so many leaders still blaming the wrong people instead of listening to the ones closest to the problem? In this weeks’ …
Notas del episodio
Your frontline team can only perform as well as the processes they're handed.
So why are so many leaders still blaming the wrong people instead of listening to the ones closest to the problem?
In this weeks’ episode Chris sits down with Jason Woodard, a 35-year manufacturing veteran, CEO of Geislinger Corporation, and author of Manufacturing Leadership That Works.
Jason gets pretty candid about what he's seen over the course of his career. We're talking a plant manager leaving nasty notes on dry-erase boards for exhausted frontline workers, and Jason himself rolling up his sleeves and coming in on a holiday weekend when the rest of the leadership team had plans.
Getting into the valuable stuff, Jason talks about what it takes to build trust with your team, holding the right people accountable, and why leading yourself should come before leading anyone else.
In this episode, find out:
- Why blame culture in manufacturing is almost always directed at the wrong people
- What Jason witnessed early in his career that shaped everything about how he leads today
- What Jason's time as a journeyman maintenance mechanic on the night shift taught him about leadership that no management role ever could
- What Geislinger Corporation actually makes and why it matters to critical infrastructure in the US
- Why the higher you climb, the less you actually know about what's happening on your floor
- How to build genuine trust with frontline workers without it feeling forced
- What to do when an employee raises a problem you can't immediately fix
- Why being great at the job you have today is the only path to the job you want tomorrow
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “The higher I grow in my career, the more I realize that what I'm hearing as a leader is a little bit of the truth. And it's not because you're being lied to, it's just that it's being filtered up to you.” - Jason Woodard, Author and Geislinger CEO
- I think most people understand that every single thing they want to be changed or fixed isn't going to be. But if they feel like they were at least heard and listened to, I think that's the most important part.” - Jason Woodard, Author and Geislinger CEO
- ”Rarely does politics come up, rarely does any of the divisive stuff come up. We're just showing up every day to solve problems together. In a good culture, the collaboration, no matter the background of the people, is there. - Jason Woodard, Author and Geislinger CEO
Links & mentions:
- Geislinger Corporation develops and produces torsional vibration dampers, torsional elastic high damping couplings, composite couplings, composite shaftlines, and torsional vibration monitoring systems for engines and wind turbines
- Manufacturing Leadership That Works: Proven Principles for Building Engaged Teams, Improving Performance, and Driving Results by Jason Woodard
- Handmap Brewing, Battle Creek-based brewery, perfectly named for the state of Michigan
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
292: What Manufacturers Can Learn from Silicon Valley: Mechatronics, Startups, and More (LIVE from San Jose, CA)
Growing your own machinists and orchestrating robots across four continents, is this what the future of manufacturing looks like? This live episode from Hapa's Brewing in the Bay Area features two panels of …
Notas del episodio
Growing your own machinists and orchestrating robots across four continents, is this what the future of manufacturing looks like?
This live episode from Hapa's Brewing in the Bay Area features two panels of people who have built careers at the intersection of mechatronics, automation, and industrial innovation.
First up, Vinod, Kevin, and Adam get into what it takes to build a skilled workforce from the ground up, talking about apprenticeships, college partnerships, and growing your own talent in-house.
Then we get into the bigger picture with our founder panel Kim, Glenn, Nick, and Florian on what Silicon Valley gets wrong about manufacturing, and what manufacturers are missing by not paying closer attention to what's being built there.
In this episode, find out:
- How Vinod bootstrapped an automation company in the Bay Area while raising a family and why his wife had something to do with it
- What Kevin learned from a 3-year German apprenticeship that he thinks more US manufacturers should be paying attention to
- How Adam solved his machinist shortage by bringing the training programme in-house and partnering with a local college
- How Kim thinks about leading companies through inflection points when there are no guardrails or safety nets
- Why Glenn believes manufacturers who aren't paying attention to what's being built around them won't even know when it's too late
- How Nick's B2C background completely changed the way he thinks about building software for frontline manufacturing workers
- Why Florian ignored his investors and opened a public-facing robotics storefront on the main street of Mountain View
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “You don't have that mechanical job anymore that's done by one person. You need support, whether it's software support or you need a robot at your side.” – Kevin Toomer, Product Manager at Sumitomo Drive Technologies
- “In automation, you don't need a master's or a PhD to be successful. Just getting creative and having that experience in mechanical engineering really helped me in my career.” – Vinod Anandarajah, Co-Founder and CEO at Kanavu Automation
- ”In Silicon Valley, we tend to love disruption because to us it represents something new and something better. But when you get on a manufacturing floor, they tend to want predictability.” - Kim Losey, Founder and CEO at NextLine Group
Links & mentions:
- Kanavu Automation, bringing value to manufacturing clients via a strategic focus on machine automation and robotics
- MaintainX, empowering maintenance professionals to reduce unplanned equipment downtime and boost production capacity
- NextLine Group, architecting what is next in robotics engineering
- Sumitomo Drive Technologies, providing engineered solutions to industrial power transmission customers
- Beluga Navigation Systems, building deep tech navigation solutions for vehicle and vessel navigation
- InOrbit.AI, leading AI-powered robot orchestration platform, driving software-defined operations at scale
- Hapa’s Brewing Company, craft brewery and taproom located in San Jose, CA
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
BONUS: Factory Orchestration: The Next Frontier of Manufacturing Operations with Harmoni Co-Founder David Caputo
What if the biggest efficiency problem in your factory isn't your machines, it's the dead time you waste before you even get to one.Workers queuing at ADP and ERP terminals every morning. A wing rib scrapped at …
Notas del episodio
What if the biggest efficiency problem in your factory isn't your machines, it's the dead time you waste before you even get to one.
Workers queuing at ADP and ERP terminals every morning. A wing rib scrapped at the cost of $18,000 because the wrong work instruction was on screen. A program gone forever when the machinist who maintained it quietly for a decade retired to Poland. David witnessed all of these problems within his manufacturing acquisitions despite them having advanced tech for the time period.
Chris sits down with David Caputo, Co-Founder of Harmoni, to get into how his intelligent factory orchestration system connects machines, people, and data for true control across the shop floor.
Harmoni fills the gap in the renowned ISA-95 stack that most manufacturers never knew they were missing, supplementing human-intensive operations that make up 99% of the market.
Harmoni operates within three buckets with the aim of wasting less time and making less mistakes. The system is designed to cover all bases without interfering with the essential human input needed to fulfil complex tasks. David talks to Chris about the labor automation, process control, and observability that Harmoni brings to the factory floor.
In this episode, find out:
- What factory orchestration is and why David sees it as a distinct category from existing tools
- How David's experience acquiring and running four aerospace and defense manufacturers drove the creation of Harmoni
- Why Harmoni's three pillars (labor automation, process control, and observability) address the ISA-95 gap that leaves most human-intensive factories underserved
- How the no-titles, pods-based structure at Harmoni works and why David recommends it for companies under around 200 employees
- What the Harmoni AI Lieutenant (HAL) does on the shop floor versus in the office, and why shop floor AI requires both context and a delivery mechanism to be useful
- Where David sees the 297,000 US manufacturers under 500 employees needing to compete in a world of autonomous factories and vertically integrated supply chains
- Why David advises manufacturers to ask one question before any software investment: how will this tool change what happens on my shop floor
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- "What Harmoni's built is a new category of technology. We call this factory orchestration, and there's a very simple goal: waste less time and make fewer mistakes." - David Caputo
- “Simply having indicator lights to say whether a machine's running is not telling you the full picture. A machine could be running but running very inefficiently. We're giving you the information you need and allowing you to manage your factory in real time.” - David Caputo
- “Somehow you have to produce more with less, all in the face of autonomous competition and vertically integrated supply chains. Pretty tough position for the 300,000 manufacturers in this country.” - David Caputo
Links & mentions:
- Harmoni.io, bringing together data from operators, machines, and your shop floor software, all in real-time, to help managers make decisions and spot trends quickly
- Greenwich Street Tavern, a different tavern experience that takes a traditional American pub fare menu to the next level located in Tribeca in NYC
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
BONUS: What Manufacturers Can Learn from Central Wisconsin's Workforce Strategy (LIVE from Wausau, WI)
What happens when manufacturers stop competing for talent and start working together to develop it?In this special LIVE episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, Chris travels to Wausau, Wisconsin for a …
Notas del episodio
What happens when manufacturers stop competing for talent and start working together to develop it?
In this special LIVE episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, Chris travels to Wausau, Wisconsin for a collaboration with the Central Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance (CWIMA) to explore how manufacturers across the region are working together to strengthen workforce development, accelerate innovation, and build a thriving manufacturing ecosystem.
The discussion features five manufacturing leaders representing a wide range of industries:
- Jim Waldron, President of Wausau Tile
- John Peterson, Owner & CEO of Schuette Metals
- Scott Mattmiller, Greenheck Group
- Laura Strek, President of Imperial Industries
- Tom Felch, J&D Tube Benders
Together, they discuss everything from workforce shortages and apprenticeship programs to automation, mentorship, community engagement, and why collaboration may be the biggest competitive advantage a manufacturing region can have.
Make sure to visit ManufacturingHappyHour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
290: Why Danny Gonzales Thinks Manufacturing Has a Storytelling Problem
Content becomes forgettable when the key message isn't wrapped in storytelling.People don’t retain information anywhere near as well as they remember stories they hear, and this is where manufacturing is …
Notas del episodio
Content becomes forgettable when the key message isn't wrapped in storytelling.
People don’t retain information anywhere near as well as they remember stories they hear, and this is where manufacturing is missing a trick.
Manufacturers are battling false perceptions that the industry is dirty, dingy, not innovative and not creative. But what’s really happening is a failure to communicate the good stuff - the advanced systems and problem solving going on behind factory walls. The things that impact almost everything we touch in our lives.
Chris is joined by Danny Gonzales, CEO at IndustrialSage – a video production company focusing on telling those manufacturing stories. Danny noticed that the sector was massively underserved and saw an opportunity to change peoples’ perceptions. Using his background in B2B video production to fill the empty space with tales of meaningful work, and to show them to people in a way that they can receive it as something cool. Not a brain dump of stagnant information.
For anyone thinking about how manufacturing companies can better communicate their value, attract talent, build stronger brands or create connections through storytelling, this episode is a look at how media and manufacturing are merging.
In this episode, find out:
- How IndustrialSage was born out of the discovery that the machines, technology and processes happening in factories was both very cool and underrepresented in media.
- IndustrialSage and Danny’s mission to change the common misconceptions about the manufacturing industry through storytelling and thought leadership.
- How true opportunity is found in the niches, despite the instinct to gravitate towards the aesthetic and techy industries which are usually overserviced.
- How Danny’s career has evolved from his college dream of becoming a Hollywood producer, and how an actual Hollywood producer set him on his current path.
- Why product-user content filmed on an iPhone is outperforming brand films and how leveraging these tools can save time and money while embracing the shift towards authenticity.
- Why Danny believes the key to creating quality video content is in the strategy and distribution and what companies can do to implement these effectively.
- Why storytelling is the best way to communicate the value proposition and the psychology behind why it is so effective in overcoming the flood of content.
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
- “IndustrialSage is on a mission to change the perception of the industry. There are a lot of people that think it's dingy, grimy, not innovative, not creative, and they're dead wrong. We want to show what is going on. We want to do that through storytelling.” – Danny Gonzales
- “Most people will upload videos, and they just sit there on YouTube, maybe embedded on their website, and that's it. There are so many other use cases – social media, in your trade shows, in your email campaigns.” – Danny Gonzales
- “For anyone that's going to be a little bit more storytelling driven, there's like an 8X chance that people are going to remember it better when you wrap it inside of a story. That's just how we communicate, and it's easier to be able to transmit.” – Danny Gonzales
Links & mentions:
- IndustrialSage, industry-leading media company, publishing compelling content for industrial & manufacturing professionals
- Sierra Nevada Brewing, their Mills River Taproom in Asheville is the Willie Wonka of craft breweries
- Connect with Danny on LinkedIn
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
289: Beyond the Hype: How Autonomy Is Scaling Across Critical Industries (LIVE from Pittsburgh)
20 years ago, automation was a pipe dream for industrial workers, 10 years ago it existed in research and development labs. Now it's fully operational in warehouses, production facilities and even mines.The …
Notas del episodio
20 years ago, automation was a pipe dream for industrial workers, 10 years ago it existed in research and development labs. Now it's fully operational in warehouses, production facilities and even mines.
The companies driving robotics forwards are going one step further than developing smarter AI. They’re figuring out how to apply that advanced engineering to ‘gritty’ manufacturing – and there are few places that understand that world better than the Steel City.
Pittsburgh has become an important ecosystem for developing autonomous technologies, the combination of engineering talent and thriving industrial background has turned it into somewhat of a testing ground for physical AI.
Recorded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this was a special live show in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Robotics Network. Chris is joined by three industry leaders to talk about adopting autonomy in critical industries. Brett Phillips is Chief Revenue Officer and General Council at Hellbender, specializing in on-edge AI hardware development. David Griffin is Chief Sales Officer at Seegrid, manufacturer of autonomous mobile robots. Mike Smocer is CEO of Mine Vision Systems, a mining technology company building real-time digital mapping systems for GPS denied environments.
They dig into how autonomy is moving beyond one-off projects, and into fully integrated systems. Brett breaks down how the incorporation of sensors and models are shrinking development timelines for autonomous systems and why Pittsburgh’s willingness to ‘get their hands dirty’ is key. David explains how advances in perception and control systems have pushed AMRs beyond basic pallet moves into large, complex material moves through busy logistics environments. Mike shares how Mine Vision Systems support vital underground decision making with millions of dollars of impact by replacing manual mapping and tribal knowledge with accurate digital records.
For anyone considering where robotics and AI can create value inside their operations, thinking about the intersection between advanced software and manufacturing, or curious why Pittsburgh has become so strong in robotics and autonomy, this episode is a look at how three industry leaders are managing that change today.
In this episode, find out:
• About the technological advances that shifted autonomy from isolated deployments to a broader ecosystem covering manufacturing, logistics, mining and warehouse operations.
• How David explains the evolution of AMRs within lifting, going from limited pallet moves to an all-in-one technology capable of moving any material to any location.
• Why mid-tier manufacturers are becoming a major driver of autonomy adoption due to labor constraints and the positive impact of this in regional production environments.
• What mining looks like without the implementation of automated systems, Mike discusses highly intelligent operators still using coloured pencils and paper to capture critical underground data.
• Mining as a tunnel building process with the constant balance of optimizing extraction with breakage vs. how much time and cost is spent processing the material caused by that breakage.
• How Hellbender utilizes their expertise and capability to provide an end-to-end service inhouse, getting their customers to market in a matter of months rather than years.
• The role of sensors, on-edge AI, and manufacturing capability in accelerating the production of perception systems that serve as the eyes and ears of the autonomy stack.
• What the conversation reveals about Pittsburgh’s current position as a robotics hub where engineering talent, institutional history and manufacturing culture are allowing them to go head-to-head with the likes of Silicon Valley.
Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!
Tweetable Quotes:
• “At the end of the day, we are a software company. The hardware component of our product is essentially a near commodity at this point. It's the navigation systems, the safety systems, the perception systems, the control systems.” – David Griffin
• ”There is a transformation involved. There's change management involved. There are workflows that if you disrupt them just because your cool technology solved one little problem, broke 12... There's an approach to developing your technology so that it succeeds not only now, but in the future.” – Mike Smocer
• “What's gonna separate us moving forward is the ability to sort of mash this really high-level, very technical engineering with real-world manufacturing. That is where, uniquely, Pittsburgh stands alone.” – Brett Phillips
Do you want to connect with other leaders that are moving the needle in manufacturing everyday?
Then make sure to join us in the Manufacturing Happy Hour Industry Community on LinkedIn.
Apprentice has developed the first AI Agent designed specifically for manufacturing, not adapted from a general model. It connects across your full tech stack, keeps an eye on operations 24/7, and helps automate the mission-critical workflows your team is handling manually today. This isn’t “set it and forget it” AI. Your team stays in control of every critical decision, because that’s how real manufacturing works.
Recommended Resources
• Pittsburgh Robotics Network, facilitating commercial business growth and economic development opportunities for the Greater Pittsburgh region's robotics, automation, and vision communities
• Seegrid, delivering customized AMR solutions that meet the changing needs of today's manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing facilities
• Mine Vision Systems, maximizing efficiency and safety in underground mining operations with real-time 3D mapping technology
• HELLBENDER Inc., building mission-critical hardware and software infrastructure for AI-driven perception systems in autonomy, robotics, and industrial applications
Connect with David, Mike, and Brett
David Griffin | Mike Smocer | Brett Phillips
Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.
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