Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast

There is a chronic problem limiting U.S. manufacturing productivity – and the growth potential for individual manufacturers. One study claims manufacturers may require as many as 3.8 million new employees by 2033. A new approach has been developed for manufacturers seeking to locate and hire, and retain, qualified workers for manufacturing jobs. Chad Schron, senior director of Tooling U-SME describes how it works.

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Laura Davis, editor-in-chief of New Equipment Digest talks with Shalab “Shalli” Kumar, founder and chairman of EZAutomation on his success in the automation industry, his numerous patents, and his affordable, high-quality automation products that are all manufactured in the U.S.

Industry 4.0 enthusiast and thought leader Jeff Winter teamed up with Smart Industry's Scott Achelpohl for “the sequel” to their debut of SI's monthly manufacturing technology series, (R)Evolutionizing Manufacturing. While the premiere dealt with the ABCs of digital transformation, this episode covers an absolutely foundational concept that every company trying to transform must understand: It’s all about the data. “All the cool new technologies and transformational initiatives you hear about revolve around properly capturing and extracting value from data,” as Jeff points out in this new episode. And if a company doesn’t do this, it can cost millions a year; a lot of money is wasted on bad data. So much of it is being collected, so it’s critical to distinguish the good data from the bad.

Connecting frontline workers with back-end manufacturing technology can give them the context and information to do their jobs better. But, how does it work, and what are the immediate goals? IW discusses the technology with Jerry Grunewald of INVISTA and Eric Whitley of L2L. Topics discussed included: Which technologies really make sense for companies? How connected worker systems are like Twitter. How to make sure that systems are useful, usable and used!

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Laura Davis, editor-in-chief of New Equipment Digest discusses five reasons automation can work for any company—even the small ones. About the Article 5 Reasons Why Small or Mid-Size Shops Can't Say No to Automation Mentioning automating, robots, or cobots to a small or mid-size job shop owner will likely be met with skepticism and a chorus of “not for me” responses. Here's the truth of the matter and five reasons to reconsider. Written by Arie Thompson Read by Laura Davis Read the article

Shawn Galloway is the CEO of ProAct Safety, a global consultancy firm that works with hundreds of clients across all major industries. He is also a professional speaker and author of several bestselling books on strategy, culture, leadership and employee engagement. Over the course of his career, Shawn has contributed to over 700 podcasts, 200 articles, and 100 videos. Shawn recently spoke with Anna Townshend, managing editor of Plant Services, about some concerning trends he’s seeing in safety cultures and practices.

In the first episode of their (R)Evolutionizing Manufacturing video series, Smart Industry's Scott Achelpohl and Industry 4.0 guru and evangelist Jeff Winter discuss the basics of how companies can start down the data-driven production path. In addition to talking digital transformation basics, Scott and Jeff took on audience questions gathered from Jeff's very active LinkedIn page to address concerns from people in industry. 

With plant turnarounds requiring significant resources to plan and execute, there are many factors to take into consideration. The pandemic magnified some of the issues in this space and challenges still exist today, making it important to implement best practices that will enable success. In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Mike Aughenbaugh, associate target market manager for Swagelok, explains the evolution of turnarounds as a result of the pandemic and best practices that can enable improved processes.

As its name implies, continuous improvement is a journey with no fixed destination. Getting better every day means there's always more to do. Staying committed to that principle demands a culture that stresses and rewards continuous improvement. In this panel discussion, recorded at the IndustryWeek Operations Leadership Summit in June in Indianapolis, panelists discuss how to build that culture of continuous improvement, and just as important, how to maintain it for years to come. Speakers were: David Higgs, Vice President of MEC Business Excellence (MBX), Mayville Engineering Co. (MEC) Eric Lussier, Principal - Next Level Partners Gene Mussel, Director - Wipfli LLP Randy Morehouse, Director of Operations - Falcon Plastics Jill Jusko, Executive Editor - IndustryWeek

In this “Talking EHS” podcast, we offer a sneak preview of Safety Leadership Conference 2024, highlighting the speakers, the special events and the opportunities to network with some of the industry’s most prominent safety professionals. Register for the show