Manufacturing Happy Hour

Çağlayan Arkan is the Vice President of Manufacturing & Supply Chain at Microsoft. This week, he’s here to share how digital transformation impacts so many aspects of manufacturing as well as our daily lives.

In this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, Çağlayan covers a lot of ground. From talking about digital transformation in the industry to the skills gap, automation, and sustainability, Çağlayan demonstrates just how important digital transformation is across the board.

Çağlayan shares some fantastic tips for those interested in manufacturing and urges people to consider it as a lucrative career path. He also shares some insights into the future of manufacturing and how automation will affect our ability to be sustainable and take action on climate change.

In this episode, find out:

• How manufacturing has adapted (or been slow to adapt) to digital transformation
• How adopting technology should influence company culture
• Why the skills gap is only getting bigger
• Why manufacturing is open to all
• How digital transformation can aid in sustainability goals
• Çağlayan’s top tips for manufacturing professionals

Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!

Tweetable Quotes:

• “It starts with awareness, informing policy, and then operationally again acting on data.”
• “Regardless of age, gender, geography and culture, and even language, you can be valuable, you can be productive, and you can be part of supply chains and manufacturing companies or operations.”
• “The only thing that you cannot afford to do is not take action or wait.”

Links & mentions:

• The Economist Intelligence Unit Study, commissioned by Microsoft
• 4 things manufacturers should prioritize as they prepare for what’s next, an article by Çağlayan
• Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing, digitally enabling workforces with smarter, secure solutions
• Cantinetta, an Italian restaurant in Bellevue, Washington with a fantastic wine list

Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ run to win the 2021 NBA Championship was nothing short of remarkable. So what do business leaders, marketers, and the Bucks have in common? Find out in this week's special edition of Manufacturing Happy Hour.

Last Friday, we sat down with Richie Burke - Founder of GoGeddit Marketing & Media and life-long Bucks fan - to riff about the incredible turnaround the Bucks organization has made over the latter half of the past decade and the selfless displays of leadership we saw in the NBA Finals. From holistic branding to humility to our favorite moments of the playoffs, this episode was a ton of fun to record and should have plenty of takeaways for manufacturing leaders and beyond.

Meaghan Ziemba is THE Maven of Manufacturing! As a writer by trade, she developed an early passion for storytelling and is now empowering women to change the world through manufacturing via her podcast Mavens of Manufacturing.

In this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, Meaghan discusses the role of good storytelling in the manufacturing industry and why many leaders overlook it. She shares the story behind starting her podcast and how she overcame her fears and did it anyway.

Meaghan explores the problem of the gender gap in manufacturing and the reasons behind it. She believes that a lack of awareness of manufacturing and its different career paths is a huge barrier to a diverse workforce. 

In this episode, find out:

• How Meaghan’s background in writing and storytelling led her to where she is now
• Why Meaghan launched the Mavens of Manufacturing podcast
• The crucial lesson Meaghan learned when she was nervous about starting a podcast
• Why boosting interest and diversity in manufacturing begins with school kids
• Why diversity isn’t just fair, it’s beneficial to everyone
• What lessons Meaghan learned from being a parent
• Meaghan’s tips for industry leaders who want to boost diversity

Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Good storytelling is what gets people to have conversations and to exchange information with each other. It also helps build those trusting relationships that are so important for companies.”
• “LinkedIn is the greatest hub for manufacturers out there. Because everyone is on it right now.”
• “You really have to be authentic and transparent and really mesh well with who your customer base is.”

Links & mentions:

• Mavens of Manufacturing, Meaghan Ziemba’s live video series that celebrates women in manufacturing, from the shop floor to the c-suite
• Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High, by Kerry Patterson
• City Museum, a museum whose exhibits consist largely of repurposed architectural and industrial objects, housed in the former International Shoe building in the Washington Avenue Loft District of St. Louis, MO…in other words, it’s basically the world’s largest adult playground
• The Gunn Show, MTDCNC’s manufacturing industry podcast hosted by Tony Gunn
• Pig Minds Brewing, a craft brewery in Machesney Park, IL specializing in vegan takes on traditional pub food

Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.

You’ve seen the viral videos of Spot, Boston Dynamics’ famous robotic dog, dancing to your favorite tunes, but did you know that this canine-inspired mobile robot has tons of practical applications in manufacturing too? Michael Perry, VP of Business Development at Boston Dynamics, shares how Spot is helping manufacturers optimize their processes and improve their safety standards in this week’s interview.

In this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, Michael shares some insights into his background and how he came to work with robots. He explains how and why Spot was created and what more mobile robots in the industry could mean for safety, processes, and efficiency. He also gives us a window into where he thinks the future of mobile robots is heading.

Make sure to visit ManufacturingHappyHour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.

In this episode, find out:

• The potential use cases for mobile robots
• The benefits of using mobile robots in manufacturing and other industries
• Why a great product is key to a great business
• How Boston Dynamics created Spot the robot dancing dog
• How robots can improve safety and processes
• What the future of mobile robots will look like

Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!

Tweetable Quotes:

• “With Boston Dynamics, we've gone abroad much faster than a typical start-up would because we see a lot of the value that the international ecosystem of customers and partners are able to provide to the technology.”
• “The area that's coming next for the robot is this notion of mobile manipulation. And so, where the robots not just sensing the world, but sensing the world and physically interacting with it.”
• “I think that it’s going to be a game-changer for the technology.”

Links & mentions:

• Boston Dynamics, a robotics design company born out of MIT that also has application expertise in manufacturing, including case studies at Ford, Merck, and many others
• Might Squirrel Brewing Co., a Waltham, MA brewery complete with food trucks and a climbing wall

Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.

After some recent cyber attacks on various verticals within the manufacturing world, Cybersecurity is on the mind of manufacturers everywhere. This week, we're diving back in the archives to bring you 3 of the best lessons we've ever received surrounding cybersecurity. We'll be tapping into 3 past guests to hear their practical approaches for getting started on a robust cybersecurity program while protecting against some of the latest threats like ransomware.

If you enjoy this episode, please consider sending a link for this episode to your CISO or other security leaders within your companies or professional networks. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.

Let’s get this out of the way first: Manufacturers are leaving money on the table.

If you’re a US manufacturer and you have yet to take advantage of the R&D tax credit, you need to listen to this episode.

This week, we are joined by Jessie Cahill and Scott Hamilton, who are both experts in Research & Development Tax Credit Services at CohnReznick. These two are helping put money back in the pockets of manufacturers through the R&D Tax Credit.

In this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, you’ll get a bit of tax advice for free. Jessie and Scott explain the benefits and process behind claiming for R&D tax credits.

They dispel some common myths and urge everyone in manufacturing to check if they’re eligible. It’s not just the guys in lab coats who get approved. As long as you’re creating, designing, or improving something, you could be in with a shot to save some serious cash on your tax bill.

In this episode, find out:

• What R&D tax credit is
• Who can qualify for tax credit
• The top activities that qualify for R&D tax credit
• How manufacturers can be more proactive about tracking what’s eligible for tax credits

Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!

Tweetable Quotes:

• “It's really a broad credit. So most companies are going to qualify for this.” – Jessie Cahill
• “You don't think of R&D, and people making little fixes and changes, as really counting towards it, but it does.” – Jessie Cahill
• “What I like to tell clients is, if you've got people in the United States, working on smart stuff, then you probably are eligible for the credit.” – Scott Hamilton

Links & mentions:

• CohnReznick LLP, a leading advisory, assurance, and tax firm helping forward-thinking organizations achieve their vision with extensive expertise in the R&D Tax Credit
• Five Boroughs Brewing, a brewery and taproom in the heart of Sunset Park, Brooklyn
• Hi-Time Wine Cellars, specializing in tequila, this wine & spirits shop is located in Costa Mesa, CA

Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.

We’re back with another additive manufacturing episode of the podcast. This time, we’re talking to Jeff Mize, the CEO of PostProcess Technologies. Jeff and his team are revolutionizing additive manufacturing by pioneering automated and intelligent solutions to remove the biggest bottleneck in the 3D printing process: post-processing.

Yes, the company is literally named after the third step in the additive manufacturing process. PostProcess is basically the Kleenex of the 3D printing world. Talk about great branding!

In this episode, Jeff takes us through how PostProcess spotted a gap in the market and transformed it with a little help from data science and digitization. We talk about how additive manufacturing is taking the medical and dental worlds by storm, and why PostProcess is committed to making its operations as safe and sustainable as possible. We also get to hear the biggest lesson that Jeff learned from his time in Silicon Valley and how it’s helped to shape the trajectory of his career. 

In this episode, find out:

• What the three steps in additive process design are
• How PostProcess Technologies spotted a gap in the post-printing market
• Why additive manufacturing is ripe for leveraging data science
• The biggest lesson Jeff learned from his time in Silicon Valley
• How additive manufacturing is transforming the medical and dental world
• Why PostProcess is determined to improve safety and sustainability
• The biggest challenges in the manufacturing sector

Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!

Tweetable Quotes:

• “They have developed 3D printed guides for surgery…printed for each individual patient, which takes a lot of the guesswork out. And so, the surgeon becomes less of an artist and more of a scientist.”
• “Many people weren't measuring their ROI in terms of how much time they were actually spending on post-printing. In fact, on average of the post-print spend is about 25 to 30% of the overall cost.”
• “When I started digging in additive manufacturing, I thought, this market is absolutely ripe to leverage data science.”

Links & mentions:

• PostProcess Technologies, revolutionizing the way manufacturers scale through the world’s first and only automated support removal and surface finishing for 3D printed parts
• 36 Handles, an easy-going bar in El Dorado Hills serving up classic pub fare, many draft beers, and live music
• Young’s Vineyard, winery serving old vin Zinfindel located in Amador County, California
• Villa Toscano Winery, also located in Plymouth, CA

Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.

If you’re in manufacturing, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Aaron Prather pop up on LinkedIn. The company he works for is a household name as well.

Not only is Aaron a Senior Technical Advisor at FedEx, but he's also an evangelist for automation and workforce development. Whether you’ve come across his robotics videos on social media, or this is your first time hearing about him, you’ll get to hear his whole story this week on Manufacturing Happy Hour.

In this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour, Aaron takes us through how he posts fun LinkedIn videos to educate and inspire people to get into robotics and manufacturing. He shares the fantastic story of how he rose through the ranks at FedEx and established a 25-year career there.

Aaron also shares his top tips for those thinking about getting into manufacturing and robotics and what you need to do to propel your career forward. We also round off the talk with some pop culture talk and what we can learn from Futurama.

In this episode, find out:

• Why Aaron uses LinkedIn videos to talk about robots in the workforce
• How Aaron worked through the ranks at FedEx to get where he is now
• How networking and building connections can propel your career
• The effects of the pandemic on eCommerce
• How robots are creating jobs in manufacturing
• What people can learn about technology from Futurama

Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Don't think that because you didn't go to a four-year college, you're not going to be successful.”
• “You can do all the robotics and automation you want, but if you don't have the workforce on top of that, buying into it, you ain't getting anywhere with it.”
• "If you want to get into robotics and automation, look for those old dirty, dangerous job use cases. Those are the ones you go after.”

Links & mentions:

• ARM Institute, a leading research institute specializing in robotics in manufacturing
• eKami, the Eastern Kentucky Manufacturing Institute
• Ghost River Brewery, Memphis’ first craft brewery
• Wise Acre Brewery, home of the Prank Calls to Satan IPA, also based in Memphis, TN

Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.

One of the best things about a career in manufacturing is that there’s so much variety! One person who can attest to that is Sheena Patterson, who joins us in this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour.

Sheena has been zooming through an incredible career in manufacturing that's taken her from the Midwest to Silicon Valley and back in less than a decade. Having led as an engineer with companies like Ford, Tesla, and Zoox, she's now the Vice President of Operations at Path Robotics, a company that's leading the way in automated welding robots.

In this episode, Sheena takes us through her different job roles over the years, what it’s really like to work with Elon Musk, and how she got into the robots-as-a-service field. We hear what working in an automotive plant is like and why people management and relationships are an overlooked part of the manufacturing world.

In this episode, find out:

• How Sheena made the move from Ford to Tesla
• Why people management and relationships are a vital yet overlooked part of manufacturing
• Why the midwestern startup scene is booming
• How Path Robotic’s robot-as-a-service works
• Sheena’s top tip for those new to manufacturing

Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!

Tweetable Quotes:

• “The industry and technology are changing so much that you can't just drop a piece of equipment and say, ‘Good luck, I hope this lives for the next 30 years.’ You need that as-a-service support model.”
• “The biggest thing that has allowed me to get to the companies that I want to be at is never saying no to an opportunity.”
• “We have this influx of more talent, of different mindsets. And I think that just speaks volumes to what the Midwest is able to pull back from the coasts.”

Links & mentions:

• Path Robotics, manufacturers of autonomous welding robots
• Drive Capital, a venture capital firm founded to invest in tech start-ups outside of Silicon Valley, invested in more than 40 companies across the United States and Canada
• Watershed Distillery, dedicated to producing high-quality gins, bourbon, and other spirits in Columbus, OH

Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.

Is the world of automation and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) something to fear or celebrate?

People worry about robots taking jobs, but according to this Manufacturing Happy Hour guest, robots are here to save the day.

Jeff Christensen, VP of Product at Seegrid, joins this episode of Manufacturing Happy Hour to talk about his work with AMR, automation, and problem-solving technology in the manufacturing space. He challenges the idea that automation and robots are something to be worried about and prefers to think of them as more complementary to human workers.

Jeff also explains how technological advancement raises the bar for society and why people shouldn’t be so averse to adopting new technology and AMR into their production lines.

In this episode, find out:

• Why robotics is so important in modern manufacturing
• How Jeff made a jump from a background in music and economics into the world of AMR
• What autonomous mobile robots are and why they’re useful
• How humans and robots are good at different things
• How the manufacturing industry has adapted to automation and new technology
• Why some in the industry are hesitant to adapt to automation and AMR

Enjoying the show? Please leave us a review here. Even one sentence helps. It’s feedback from Manufacturing All-Stars like you that keeps us going!

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Robots are cool. But they're being applied to a real business problem. They're delivering real value. At exactly the time that the market desperately needs a new answer.”
• “The faster you move, the more advantage you're going to have over your competition in the future.”
• “The industry is facing all sorts of pressures, economic pressures, demand pressures. They've got to go faster, better, cheaper, all at the same time. And they just can't do with the old ways. And robots happened to be here to save the day.”

Links & mentions:

• Seegrid, a smart solution combing autonomous mobile robots, enterprise software, warehouse equipment, and more.
• Sharp Edge, a Pittsburgh bar and brewery specializing in Belgian beer.

Make sure to visit http://manufacturinghappyhour.com for detailed show notes and a full list of resources mentioned in this episode. Stay Innovative, Stay Thirsty.