Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast

Nikunj Mehta is the founder and CEO of Falkonry, whose time series AI solutions are used by companies to power their digital transformation and achieve significant improvements in production uptime, quality, yield, and safety. He is the co-founder of the Industry 4.0 Club, an egalitarian effort among user advocates, technologists, and manufacturing leaders to advance industrial transformation through Industry 4.0 methods and technologies. Nikunj recently spoke with Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk about the future of Falkonry, the relationship between asset management and artificial intelligence, and how detecting anomalies can improve sustainability.

In this editors roundtable, staff members from IndustryWeek, FleetOwner and EHS Today discuss some of the major manufacturing news stories of the past few weeks including: FleetOwner Managing Editor Scott Achelpohl discussed: 100-year-old Yellow shuts down, heads to bankruptcy. EHS Today Editor-in-Chief Dave Blanchard discussed: OSHA Announces Heat Hazard Alert. IndustryWeek News Editor Anna Smith shared finding from her recent story: More than Half of Women Leaders Believe Company Promotions Are Biased by Gender, Survey Shows. IndustryWeek Senior Editor Laura Putre shared highlights from her recent interview with U.S. Steel's Richard Fruehauf: US Steel Bets on Mini-Mills, EV Motors for Near-Term Sustainability.

Sean Phillips is a senior project manager with Hargrove Controls and Automation. In May, Sean was awarded the prestigious 2023 Rising Star Award at the Control System Integrator Association Executive Conference in New Orleans. The Rising Star Award is given to an individual who is relatively new to the industry yet has shown attributes of a leader. Sean graduated from Auburn University and began his career in control systems engineering in 2014. Sean recently spoke with Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk about his career, how automation and advanced technologies are changing the industry, and how the tight equipment can prevent downtime and impact the bottom line. On the record "That being said, there's still a lot of those old bus protocols out in the plant and a lot of people think “if it's not broke, don't fix it.” Broke sometimes can be on a spectrum, you know? Just how broke is it? At what point is that costing you more money than it would cost to install a more robust, let's say, device level ring with EtherNet/IP. Just speaking generally, that's what I'm seeing, it's a matter of weighing the cost of the new install versus getting rid of the old stuff, which sounds like an obvious conclusion to come to, but intermingled with that is the education of the return that you would get from installing these more robust networks." -Sean Phillips Learn more CSIA Hargrove Controls and Automation

IndustryWeek columnist, leadership coach and author Katie Anderson recently won the Shingo Prize for publications for her book, "Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn," a collection of stories and lessons from Isao Yoshino, a longtime Toyota executive who played big roles in the development of that automaker's business culture. Anderson discusses key leadership lessons from Yoshino, offering a glimpse into Toyota's evolution from a company that only made vehicles in Japan into the global powerhouse it is today.

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. Plant Services managing editor Anna Townshend recently spoke with Joe about the importance of leadership and how to establish a successful reliability culture at your plant. Key takeaways In this episode, you'll learn: Why leadership is critical in maintenance and reliability How to establish a reliability culture at your plant Why reliability is a continuous process and why you need to sell reliability to your organization On the record "Operations owns reliability. The simplest example is, Anna, who owns the reliability of your car? You’re the one that drives it. You're the one that listens to it. You take your car into the maintenance shop for the 100,000-mile check. And they say, yeah, man, this belt looks bad. Your tires are bald, and your transmission is making noises. And then you say, I don't want to fix that. And then you drive on down the road. You're going out to Yellowstone National Park on vacation, and your car breaks down. Do you blame the mechanic?" -Joe Kuhn Learn more Read Joe's column, Leadership in Action Buy Joe's book, Zero to Hero: How to Jumpstart Your Reliability Journey Given Today's Business Challenges Watch Joe's YouTube videos

Ford, GM, Mercedes, Volvo and Rivian have all agreed to adopt Tesla's plug standards for their electric vehicles, forcing charging station manufacturers to rethink how to make the next generation of chargers.

Ron Marshall is the founder of Marshall Compressed Air Consulting, a compressed air energy efficiency consulting firm, where he provides technical advice, system auditing, and training. He first developed his skills as an industrial compressed air systems expert at Manitoba Hydro, where he worked for 38 years, supporting more than 600 energy efficiency projects. Ron is a level 2 instructor with Compressed Air Challenge and conducts training internationally. Ron recently spoke with Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk about training and professional development in the compressed air industry. Key takeaways In this episode, you'll learn: Why training is an essential component of a successful compressed air program What resources are available to help professionals get certified and improve their compressed air skills Which new technologies are impacting the industry On the record "The lack of knowledge is the biggest obstacle in having an compressed air system running optimally. So yeah, that's quite important, and that was recognized back in the 1990s, right? And you know, as time went on, people working in Compressed Air Challenge and in the auditing field we get older and older, and the new people need to learn as well, so we can leave the field secure in the knowledge that people come coming to replace our vacancy know a lot about compressed air and auditing." -Ron Marshall Learn more Marshall Compressed Air Consulting Compressed Air Challenge Compressed Air Challenge Training Calendar Compressed Air & Gas Institute Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional (CMRP) program Compressed Air Training and Certification See compressed air leaks with acoustical imaging Ask the Experts: How important are storage receivers in a compressed air system?

In this special “Supply Chain Insider” episode of The Tool Belt, Sean Webb, director of sales and operations for North America with Sparck Technologies, looks at the impact of e-commerce on supply chains, and he explains when, why and how companies should automate their packaging processes.

Terri Lewis is a senior executive at Planet Connected and a 32-year veteran of Caterpillar. She began her career in technical field support before embarking on several "mini careers," including aftermarket parts marketing, service operations, product marketing, heavy construction marketing, product development, M&A, electronic supply chain, and end of life support. Terri then spent six years in digital strategy where she learned how digitalization could completely transform a business, from customer activities to client interactions and overall company goals. Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk and managing editor Anna Townshend recently spoke with Terri about how to successfully implement digital transformation initiatives. Key takeaways In this episode, you'll learn: How companies are utilizing digital transformation to improve business operations and decrease downtime The connection between smart cities and smart manufacturing How artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the industrial sector and how evolving technologies will impact companies in the future On the record "I think that the really interesting stuff is taking data and technology and knowledge, right, and my take away was making unplanned downtime a myth. And that seems a bit bold, but I think it's doable, right? It's bringing together the elements of people, process, and technology together, and leveraging that, starting with people – emphasize people, right, it's not just about tech – and I think most companies can get there." -Terri Lewis

Massa Product Corporation engineers and manufactures sonar and ultrasonic products for use in ocean, air, and fluids. Founded by the man who pioneered the field of electroacoustics 75 years ago, Frank Massa, the company specializes in solving problems in various fields and environments. Massa transducers and sensors have been operating in air for industrial non-contact distance measurement applications for over sixty years. The company has designed hundreds of devices for use in many applications including liquid and bulk level monitoring, vehicle collision avoidance, distance measurement, web break detection, and tensioning. Massa technologies also function as “the eyes and the ears for naval ships and submarines to protect the US coastline with our undersea technologies.” Dawn Massa Stancavish recently spoke with Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk about the wide range of applications for ultrasonic technologies. Key takeaways In this episode, you'll learn: The history of Massa and how the company came to be How Massa develops products for secific industries and applications Trends in the wireless sensing market On the record "Sound goes all the way up to the megahertz range and all the way down to the infrasound range. Sometimes people dismiss ultrasonics based on what’s out there, and that’s really the wrong thing to do. I would say challenge your perception of what’s possible." -Dawn Massa Stancavish Learn more Massa