The Manufacturing Executive

If you were out at a nice dinner with your significant other and you had the choice to be served by whichever waitress or waiter usually services your table OR the owner of the restaurant, who would you choose? In today's conversation, CEO and President of Sentry Equipment Brian Baker talks about the benefits of an employee-ownership culture. As a 28-year leader of an employee-owned manufacturing organization, he's witnessed first hand what's different when those doing the work ALSO have skin in the game. And while employee-owned companies may represent a only a sliver of the manufacturing sector, the lessons he'll share from his experiences are universally applicable.

In this conversation, Vice President of Product Management and co-founder of Configit, Henrik Hulgaard, talks about moving from a custom-engineered to configuration-based product offering. Specifically, he unpacks the benefits both to the customer AND the manufacturer of making this shift.

Following a few decades of sending manufacturing across seas to drive down costs, big reshoring movements are in full force throughout the American manufacturing sector. But meanwhile in Germany, much of that manufacturing never left in the first place. Through strategies that have included embracing automation, localizing manufacturing operations and focusing on quality, German manufacturing has remained competitive throughout. So what can we learn from the German manufacturing model? Jon DeSouza, the CEO and President of HARTING Americas, a German-based global manufacturer, is here to unpack this topic.

We all know that we need to find ways to engage the next generation so we can build the manufacturing workforce of the future. And it's no secret to anyone listening that this next generation uses technology differently, interacts with people differently and collects information differently. But they also have different core values and care about different things. In today's conversation, Meaghan Ziemba of Mavens of Manufacturing, talks about how we need to put in the work to truly understand what's going on inside the minds of those who will become our future manufacturing workforce. We can't simply brush aside the nuances of how they think and feel. Because if we do, we're putting the futures of our businesses at risk.

For many B2B manufacturing organizations, what got them where they are today won’t get them where they want to go in the years ahead. In this concise solo episode, The Manufacturing Executive's host Joe Sullivan draws on over a decade of experience advising manufacturing leaders to share his own perspective about how the buying landscape has changed, and what actions need to be taken from a marketing perspective to remain competitive.

For years, product development has meant designing a few things, and then manufacturing them in the thousands or millions. But CEO of Nullpace, Dr. Masha Petrova, will tell you, we're quickly moving in a direction where we can design thousands of things and then manufacture just a few of them. She'll dive into the ways design engineering technology is enabling manufacturers to replace time and money spent buying parts, assembling, testing and measuring with digital simulations.

Quite a few manufacturing leaders that I talk to – whether through interviews on this show or in marketing consultations that I conduct – are leading second or third-generation family-owned businesses. They've built successful companies, but have struggled to let go of responsibilities, to delegate and to empower their people to play a role in shaping the company's future success. As lean manufacturing consultant Matthew Rassi will remind us, what got you here won't necessarily get you there. In this conversation, Matthew talks about the intersection of servant leadership and lean manufacturing practices, and how together, they can help you build a loyal, engaged and self-directed workforce.

Where do new product ideas come from? Do they stem from the needs of your customers and prospects? Or do they come from what you THINK your prospects and customers might need? In today's conversation, Founder of AIM Institute, Dan Adams, will talk about how to drive new product blueprinting through real customer insights.

When I think about sustainability, MY mind goes straight to the environment. But when Managing Partner of Community Solar Authority, Dakota Malone, thinks about sustainability, the environment is one of four pillars that all work together. In this conversation, Dakota breaks them down for you and explains why today's manufacturing leaders should care.

All the interactions that happen from first touch with a prospect through the signed purchase order, and in the future as your customer buys from you again and again, are part of the buyer experience. And making every one of those touch points as painless and rewarding as possible should be all of our goals. CEO and Co-Founder of GenAlpha Technologies, Kris Harrington, is digital commerce expert. And in this conversation, she'll share 10 ways to eliminate buyer friction (while simultaneously unburdening your customer service team) through a digital commerce environment.