The Manufacturing Executive

How does a small mechanical contractor grow into one the top industrial oven manufacturers in the country – all while maintaining a partnership over nearly four decades and continuing to innovate all along the way? There's no simple recipe. From putting their customers at the center of every project through custom-engineered solutions.... To keeping their manufacturing operations in house to build supply chain resilience and maintain exceptional quality standards... To creating a work environment that makes people say, "I want to retire here"... Ron Speicher and David Craft of Davron Technologies, Inc are here to tell their story of building for long-term success.

Whether you're thinking about bringing a brand new product to market or your feeling the pressure to modernize your existing product line to remain competitive, this era of industry 4.0 is forcing manufacturing leaders to ask themselves lots of questions. What options do we have? What risks are we taking? What will it cost? How can we do it without excessive capital investment? How will we validate the viability of the product? How and from where will we source components? How should we think about incorporating AI? And can we start small? Or do we have to go all in? President of Design 1st, Kevin Bailey, has spent more than three decades in product design. And he's here to help you navigate all of this.

Here we are in a decade when technology is advancing at a faster rate than ever before. The pressure to innovate is all around us. But from an innovation standpoint, what's essential and what's not? Where do we make investments? How far ahead of the technology adoption curve do we need to be? And how do we innovate without overwhelming our respective teams? These are the types of questions today's manufacturing leaders are being forced to answer all the time. In this conversation, Jeff Winter, Sr. Director of Industry Strategy for Manufacturing with Hitachi Solutions, talks about why innovation matters so much right now. He'll illustrate some common misconceptions about innovation. And most importantly, he'll talk about how today's manufacturing leaders can formalize innovation to stay relevant, drive growth and mitigate the often overwhelming stressors that come along with innovating.

Jackie Green, VP of Economics at ITR, discusses the potential Great Depression of the 2030s. They analyze economic data, the current state of manufacturing industry, recession strategies, and the impact of the White House on the economy. They also provide insight into their long-term forecast and advice for preparation.

Have you ever worked in a business where everyone seems to be working in their own silos? Product development is doing their thing. Production is doing their thing. Sales and marketing are doing their own things. My first reaction when I see these silos is – what a wasted opportunity. In this conversation, Anthony Rodriguez, Co-Owner & Vice President at KETIV, talks about that wasted opportunity, specifically in the context of engineering data.

Foundation comes first. This is something our team at Gorilla talks about often in the context of a marketing program. But in today's conversation, Bill Kaewert, CEO and CTO of Stored Energy Systems LLC, extrapolates this "foundation first" principle to a greater business context. Specifically, he'll tell you why sales and marketing are wasted endeavors if they're not standing on a strong foundation that's comprised of product, systems, processes and people.

I've always been a believer in creating the right seats on the bus, and THEN filling those seats with the right people. But when you're a family owned business, in a lot of ways, the people are already there, and you have to figure out how to fit them into those seats (and fill in the holes around them). In this conversation, Ryan Margolin, CEO of Professional Hair Labs, talks about the dynamics of running a family-owned manufacturing business – a topic of relevance for so much of the manufacturing sector.

What does the word "brand" mean to you as a manufacturing leader? A logo and a tagline? A color palette and collection of images or graphics you use on your website, in your sales decks and at your trade show booth? Or is brand something more than that? And as a B2B manufacturer, why does all of this matter anyway? Paul Kiesche, President of Aviate Creative, is a seasoned branding professional working inside of the manufacturing sector. And in this episode, these are the types of questions he'll be answering.

Improved inventory accuracy. Higher productivity in your facility. Less required labor. This is what can happen when you put drones and AI together inside of a warehouse or distribution center. In this conversation, Sean Mitchell, VP of Customer Success at Gather AI, will show you what his organization is doing to lead inventory monitoring into a new era.

"My goodness, let's let a robot do that". These few words Ale Walker, Director of Business Development at Gray Solutions, summarize the general feeling of excitement she experiences when walking through manufacturing facilities today. And not only because of the opportunity she sees to change the way we manufacturer products in the United States, but also because of the quality of jobs we can create.