265: How SMB Manufacturers Can Leverage AI, Live from Waukesha County Technical College

Forget the hyperscalers replacing tens of thousands of jobs. For manufacturers with 20 or 50 employees, AI isn’t about cutting headcount, it’s about finding ways to get ahead when you can’t necessarily afford to scale your team. As Dr Richard Barnhouse, President and CEO of Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) puts it: figure out the things you hate to do and apply AI to that. 

This episode was recorded live at WCTC's Applied AI Lab, featuring a roundtable with Dr Barnhouse, Amanda Payne from the Waukesha County Business Alliance, Guido Mazza from ITER IDEA, and Caleb Bryant, a student pivoting into AI after 20 years in lending. The panel explores how small manufacturers are practically applying AI today, from eliminating scheduling headaches to streamlining quoting and contracts.

Guido shares how one plastic manufacturer eliminated internal conflict by letting an algorithm handle shift scheduling across dozens of constraints, while Amanda reveals that 50% of Waukesha County businesses are already adopting or strategizing around AI; and over 90% of them have 50 or fewer employees. Caleb delivers one of the episode’s sharpest lines: AI doesn’t steal jobs, it steals tasks.

In this episode, find out:

• Why even free ice cream for life won't get buy-in, but removing a universal pain point will
• How a plastic manufacturer used AI to manage dozens of scheduling constraints and avoid internal conflict
• The three common reactions people have to AI and why two of them stem from the same root cause
• What Dr. Barnhouse warns about AI early-adopters when vetting consultants and programs
• Why the real ROI on some AI projects isn't money saved, but conflict avoided
• Why manufacturers are mostly implementing AI on the office side (quoting, contracts, and legal documents) for now
• The intersection of robotics, humanoids, and quantum computing that's coming faster than most realize

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Tweetable Quotes:

• “Start with the basics. Think about your company’s most repetitive or boring tasks and see if there’s an AI solution that could be applicable. Then, you have to differentiate and decide what the benefits are between automation or an AI agent for those tasks.” - Guido Mazza
• “The easiest way to get started is identify a single pain point that everyone in the company can’t stand, something so far down that not even the boss understands how it contributes to the bottom line. If you can mitigate that pain point, your team will understand how AI can help them focus on more important tasks.” - Dr Richard Barnhouse
• “There are usually three reactions to AI. People either embrace it, underestimate it or are intimidated by it. What AI does is breed creativity. And once you understand it a little bit more, you start to see all the different things it can be used for both in industry and your personal life.” - Caleb Bryant

Links & mentions:

• Waukesha County Technical College, one of the region’s leaders in workforce development, offering 170+ programs and customized employer training, including Wisconsin’s first comprehensive AI training and a world-class Applied AI Lab.
• Waukesha County Business Alliance, a long-standing, member-driven organization advancing economic growth and strengthening the business environment in Waukesha County through advocacy, development, engagement, and growth.
• ITER IDEA, delivering affordable and powerful cloud services that help businesses innovate and enhance workflow efficiency through seamless integration with existing technologies.
• Moxa, delivering the reliable and secure connectivity foundation that advanced analytics and AI depend on, with solutions in edge connectivity, industrial computing, and network infrastructure.  
• Industrial Marketing Summit 2026, an annual three-day gathering where manufacturing and industrial marketers connect to share practical insights, learn emerging strategies, and build community with peers facing similar challenges. 

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.