Traditionally, for a lot of small and medium-sized manufacturers, lower production volume has made it difficult to justify major investments in automation. But if the technology can be made simple enough for practitioners on the shop floor to manage it themselves, new automation opportunities can be unlocked. In this conversation, Founder and CEO of Vention, Etienne Lacroix, will talk about productization of robotics applications, virtualization and how the robotics industry will to begin resembling the software and technology sectors in the years ahead.

In today's conversation, Plant Manager at Geislinger Corporation Jason Woodard will be talking everything apprenticeships. He'll dive into: – The value an apprenticeship program creates for your organization AND for the apprentice – How to get started with building a program – Where to find resources to support you in doing so – And much more A manufacturing leader who was once an apprentice himself, and whose current organization's machinist staff is made up of 20% apprentices, Jason has plenty of wisdom share about how to make apprenticeships a part of your own operation.

Finding the right suppliers can be challenging for manufacturing leaders. Especially on a short timeline, and when quality control and lead times are at risk for customers. And on the supplier's end, filling capacity and expanding into new business opportunities can be equally challenging. My guest today, Markus Seibold, is the founder of a marketplace for parts manufacturing called MakerVerse. In this conversation, he'll talk about these challenges from both perspectives, and how to think about effectively matching supply and demand.

If common belief holds that high-mix, high-variability manufacturing applications are not meant for automation, then my two guest today are here to bust that myth. In this conversation, Co-Founders of GrayMatter Robotics, Dr. Ariyan Kabir and Dr. SK Gupta will talk about: - How the advancement of robotics technology is rapidly changing what's possible with manufacturing automation - How to build resiliency in the manufacturing workforce through AI and robotics - How robotics are becoming more accessible to smaller manufacturers - And more

Leadership transitions are hard. They're hard for the leader who's on his or her way out. They're hard for the incoming leader, stepping into a brand new role. And they're hard for everyone else at the organization living through the disruption and uncertainty that naturally comes along with a big change. Jon Summers, President of Noble-X Companies, is a manufacturing leader who's dealt with change management from a variety of angles. In our conversation, he'll share his advice for those experiencing leadership transitions from all three seats.

Think about your most important product. Who are your suppliers? Do you know who's supplying THEM? And in turn, do you know who's supplying the suppliers of your suppliers? CEO of BioMADE, Doug Friedman, is an expert in the biochemical manufacturing space. And today, he's here to explain why every manufacturing leader should care about the global chemical supply chain. Because regardless of how many steps away from it any of our respective products might be, we're more vulnerable than we may realize.

Abby Smith, President and CEO of Team Pennsylvania, has figured out how to bring together the public and private sectors to move manufacturing forward in her state. She'll talk about exactly what they're doing and how they're doing it. My hope is that some of you listening today will walk away feeling inspired and triggered with ideas for what similar things might be possible in your own region.

When you're leading a manufacturing organization that's thriving (or even growing bit by bit), somewhere along the way you're likely to run into a problem you can't ignore. And that is: We're out of space. In this conversation, Alex Garland and Christopher Yows from Burns & McDonnell will talk about the different layers of complexity involved with manufacturing facility expansions and what you should be thinking about if you know an expansion may be on the horizon for your business. They'll dive into everything from location, incentives and space planning to risk mitigation, automation and labor.

My guest today (and my business partner of 18+ years), Jon Franko, is also the host of The Manufacturing EMPLOYER podcast. Whereas my show is designed for CEOs, Presidents, Owners and those leading manufacturing organizations, Jon's show is directed at those responsible for recruiting and retaining talent (as well as building great cultures) inside of the same companies. In this episode, Jon will share his perspectives on common themes that have emerged during his podcast's inaugural year – from servant leadership to walking the shop floor to employer branding and more.

Quality management isn't just about the mitigating defects to optimize profit or to increase customer satisfaction. In mission-critical environments, quality management means keeping people safe when lives are at stake. Naveen Poonian, President and CEO of iBase-T, is a manufacturing leader whose software for the defense and aerospace industries plays a key role in doing exactly that. And he's here to talk about the current and future state of quality management in the manufacturing sector.