"Let's Talk Manufacturing: is part of the "Let's Talk Business South Carolina" network of B2B talk shows. It is an audio podcast and a YouTube video series -- hosted by long-time South Carolina business publisher Rick Jenkins. Episodes feature industry outlooks, conversations on trending advanced manufacturing topics, and interviews with industry executives and thought leaders. 

Guests on this episode include: 
Art Crider, regional vice president, at the South Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership. Art shares how SCMEP helps warehousing and logistics companies adopt continuous improvement practices, improve facility layouts, and drive efficiencies. He also talks about the upcoming Supply Chain Maturity Assessment tool, coming in early 2025. 

Amy Sartain, director of SC Logistics, at the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness. Amy talks about the technological advancements in the logistics industry and how they are transforming logistics and supply chain companies. 

From the Factory Floor: Vaden Lillard, director of operations, at ZF Group. Vaden is interviewed from ZF's facility in Gray Court. Recently, ZF Group announced a $500M investment in the Gray Court facility, which will lead to the hiring of 400 more people. This will turn that factory into ZF’s first flex manufacturing site, as employees now must manufacture transmissions for electric/hybrid vehicles in addition to the traditional transmission product they've been producing for the past decade. 

This segment is presented by HTI which began as a professional recruiting firm for auto manufacturers back in 1999, and those partnerships with the state’s automotive industry remain true to their core today. They are an industrial staffing firm, an executive search firm, and they provide a wide variety of outsourced HR services as well. 

Tony Bartenetti, vice president of sales, at Malone Workforce Solutions explains how artificial intelligence is being used to help recruiters find qualified candidates faster, improve the quality of matches, and to reduce bias.

Each episode also appears on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@letstalkbusiness.rickjenkins

If you know of someone qualified to be a guest on the show, send an email to the show's host, Rick Jenkins: [email protected].

Thanks for listening.