Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast

Lights, camera, manufacturing! This weekend marks the 96th annual Academy Awards, where actors, directors, producers, and technical staff gather together to honor the achievements of the film industry. Despite the many varied categories, we would like to suggest a new award: Best depiction of manufacturing, maintenance, reliability, and engineering on screen. In this special Oscars-inspired episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Thomas Wilk, editor in chief of Plant Services; Laura Davis, editor in chief of New Equipment Digest; Anna Townshend, managing editor of Plant Services; and Alexis Gajewski, senior content strategist of Plant Services, sit down to share their favorite maintenance, reliability, and manufacturing movies.

With International Women's Day tomorrow (March 8, 2024), IndustryWeek's Anna Smith discussed data showing that women in manufacturing are very happy with their career choices, but many feel that young women and girls aren't hearing enough about the opportunities available to them. Joining Anna were: Adrianna Swift, an engineer at instruments manufacturer Endress+Hauser Elizabeth Parra, a process engineer at Subaru's plant in Indiana Parra will be speaking this summer at the IndustryWeek Operations Leadership Summit, an event that will feature plant tours of the Subaru facility in LaFayette, Indiana, and Endress+Hauser's Indianapolis campus. 

From garments that capture carbon emissions to self-healing fabrics, 3D-printed clothing, temperature-responsive fibers, and even textiles inspired by spider silk, we'll be uncovering the cutting-edge developments poised to revolutionize how we think about clothing and materials. In this episode, we take a closer look at these fascinating inventions, their potential impact on sustainability, performance, and design, and what the future holds for the textile industry. All the innovations discussed in this episode are available in article form at the links below: Carbon Emission Clothing May Be Coming to a Walmart Near You Self-Healing Clothes May Become a Reality Thanks to Fungi LED Dress Opens Door to the Future of 3D Printing Shape-Shifting Fibers Expand and Contract Based on Body Temperature The Future of Textiles Lies in Spider Silk

Joe Kuhn, CMRP, former plant manager, engineer, and global reliability consultant, is now president of Lean Driven Reliability LLC. He is the author of the book “Zero to Hero: How to Jumpstart Your Reliability Journey Given Today’s Business Challenges” and the creator of the Joe Kuhn YouTube Channel, which offers content on starting your reliability journey and achieving financial independence. In our monthly podcast miniseries, Ask a Plant Manager, Joe considers a commonplace scenario facing the industry and offers his advice, as well as actions that you can take to get on track tomorrow. This episode offers insight into the four truths you need to believe when beginning planned maintenance (PM).

Bill Leahy is the Chief Executive Officer at Renaissance Reliability, a veteran-owned and operated reliability and maintainability engineering consultancy dedicated to American manufacturers. Paul Lavoie is the Chief Manufacturing Officer at the State of Connecticut and is committed to helping manufacturers take advantage of market opportunities to grow their businesses and solidify Connecticut’s reputation as the Silicon Valley of advanced manufacturing. The two worked closely on Unturning Steel, a documentary that helps provide service members with a path forward after returning home. In the film, Bill sets out on a hero’s journey to help his fellow veterans bring their talents to American manufacturing. Together with the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Bill has created a new offering that provides veterans the support and training they need to find purpose in American manufacturing. Bill and Paul recently spoke with Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk about their work with veterans and how their initiatives are helping to close the skills gap in manufacturing in North America.

Smart Industry Managing Editor Scott Achelpohl discusses how smaller and midsize companies can embrace do-it-yourself automation with Etienne Lacroix, founder CEO of Montreal-based Vention, an automation technology provider. Topics covered include:  How smaller businesses can benefit from automation systems once only available to large enterprises The seismic effect that cobots have had on robotics The power of democratizing automation See also: Smart Industry 2024 Crystal Ball Report 

Smart Industry's Robert Schoenberger spoke with Christina Hoefer, VP of global industry enterprise at Forescout, a cybersecurity company that continuously monitors, identifies, and protects all connected IT, IoT, IoMT, and OT assets against cyber threats and ensures compliance with incident response, threat intelligence, and dynamic segmentation. Topics discussed included: How to get IT and OT teams to play nice with each other Understanding security risks from outdated systems The need to automate data-collection functions because the hackers certainly are doing that

With labor shortages mounting, manufacturing advocates say there's a ready pool of talent available within underserved minority communities in many major U.S. cities. Discussing this topic are: • Erica Swinney Staley, Executive Director of Manufacturing Renaissance in Chicago, an organization that promotes career-track manufacturing jobs to young people in low-income communities. • Beth Dawson, Director of the Apprenticeship Program at Manufacturing Works Cleveland where she connects manufacturers with Cleveland public schools students seeking career opportunities • Jordan Hooser, a recent graduate of Cleveland’s Max S Hayes High School, who's working as an apprentice at WLS Stamping & Fabricating Co. • Ryan Joseph, an industrial recruiter and regular contributor to SecurityInfoWatch.com and a recruiting at the Recruit Group. Ryan has written several articles about some of the challenges faced in DEI hiring.

In this “in case you missed it” edition of Supply Chain Insider, you’ll learn how Six Sigma methodology can optimize supply chain quality and efficiency. About the Article Supply Chain 101: Six Sigma Written by Jagan Reddy Read by Adrienne Selko Read the article

Companies around the globe are working hard to establish new systems for documenting and reporting their greenhouse gas footprints, and other data relating to their products and supply chains. To achieve this and stay in compliance with ESG standards, plants are leaning more than ever on their logistics partners to provide key data on supply chain-related carbon emissions. In this bonus podcast, Plant Services chief editor Thomas Wilk continues his conversation with Jason Manganaro, VP of Commercial Technology for the Americas at SPARX Logistics, on the current capabilities of logistics to calculate and provide these carbon data.