Manufacturing Talks

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It's been a while since we covered 3D printing here. Who better to chat with about it than Blake Teipel, who joined us for our Episode 87? He co-founded Essentium, maker of high-speed extrusion 3D printers and materials, and they were just acquired by Nexa3D. Now Blake is Chief Strategy Officer for the combined company, and he'll be there at the helm taking Nexa3D into the future.

Despite some doldrums in the industry right now, Blake is bullish on that future. Tune in and hear him talk about the industry's strengths and opportunities, including fast-improving hardware, software, and materials. He gives us his thoughts about the need for industry consolidation and how companies can position themselves for success.

With GlobalData recently predicting that the 3D printing global business will reach $70 billion by 2030, the insights Blake has to offer are crucial if  you're wanting to learn what's what in additive.

Tune in and check out the whole show - you'll be glad you did!

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Montana isn't just one of America's fastest-growing states in population. It's also rapidly expanding its manufacturing base, growing it by 14% last year alone!

Why? Not because of giant dollops of taxpayer-funded subsidies. Governor Greg Gianforte, a serial entrepreneur and former small businessman himself, and the Montana legislature have focused on improving the general business environment and other areas critical to industrial companies like skilled trades training. They've tried to tackle all the different areas of government that were holding manufacturing back. And it's working.

The governor joined us for Episode 86 to talk about all of it: the tax relief efforts he has led, the reductions in regulations that he worked with the legislature to pass, his efforts to solve the housing crunch so many areas of the country are still struggling with, and his partnering with educational institutions and business groups to make sure the workers that manufacturing employers need will be there.

Companies like Hyundai's New Horizons Studio, German high-tech vacuum component maker VACOM, and military ammunition producer Brixtel Defense have all selected Montana for new facilities.

Tune in and learn all the small-government winning ways that have Montana's manufacturing growing fast!

Here's a link to Governor Gianforte's bio: https://governor.mt.gov/About/

Here are a couple of related Forbes articles by your host:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimvinoski/2023/12/22/vacoms-new-us-hq-is-another-win-in-montanas-manufacturing-blitz/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimvinoski/2023/02/03/bozeman-landed-hyundais-new-horizons-studio-rd-center-now-montana-is-on-the-hunt-for-more-manufacturing/

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For our Episode 85, we're joined by Jeffrey Korzenik, chief economist at one of our major American banks and author of the very important book, Untapped Talent: How Second Chance Hiring Works for Your Business and the Community.

He tells us all the critical reason we should all be taking a look at hiring those who've previously been incarcerated or have criminal records. Right now they can find themselves with almost no path to earning a living, which makes it pretty tough to get off the path of crime and onto one of being a productive citizen.

Jeff tells us why it's good economics, good business, and being a good human being to try to give those who've made legal mistakes a second chance.

Jeff also tells about the hurdles companies will face in getting after this laudable goal, and where they can find help to do it.

Check out Jeff's website here, where you can get a copy of his book (highly recommended!): https://www.jeffkorzenik.com/

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If you're doing any kind of show about manufacturing, then you want to be just like Damon Pistulka and Curt Anderson, creators and hosts at Manufacturing eCommerce Success! These two wrote the book on how to make engaging content focused on industry.

Plus they were some of the originators at LinkedIn Live, showing the rest of us how to do it right!

They joined us for Episode 84 to tell us all about their backgrounds, how the dark days of the Covid lockdowns helped lead them to launch their legendary show, how they bring such incredible energy, and whole bunch more!

Tune in and check out the whole thing to learn all about these unbelievably great guys and what they do!

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The funniest polymath around joins us once again, this time to do a deep dive into his latest book. Mark P. Mills, now Distinguished Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Contributing Editor at City Journal, waxes poetic about his predictions for a whale of a decade in *The Cloud Revolution: How the Convergence of New Technologies Will Unleash the Next Economic Boom and a Roaring 2020s.*

Tune in and hear his prognostications about everything The Cloud will bring: new and better materials, AI, robots, better education, better jobs, a lot more 3D printing, and a whole lot more!

As always with Mark, it's an enjoyable and educational chat.

Get your own copy of his book here (highly recommended!): https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Revolution-Convergence-Technologies-Economic/dp/1641772301/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1704765177&sr=8-1

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Guru on all things power generation Meredith Angwin comes back to the show, this time to focus entirely on the big points of her superb book, *Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of Our Electric Grid.* (https://www.amazon.com/Shorting-Grid-Hidden-Fragility-Electric/dp/1735358002/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1702947902&sr=8-1)

Tune in to learn all about the cockamamy regulations and horribly skewed incentives that have our power producers doing all kinds of crazy stuff. Learn why wind and solar absolutely make prices for electricity skyrocket every time (hint: backup for when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine!), why batteries and/or pumped hydro won't save us, and why our current tendency to rely on gas to bail out the renewables is courting disaster. Oh, and hear why your host's home state of Michigan is headed for blackouts!

Here are a few other links referred to in the show:

The Spectator article about Meredith: https://thespectator.com/topic/meredith-angwin-power-grid-prophet-energy/

Jason Hayes's article about Michigan's stupid new power generation mandates: https://www.mackinac.org/blog/2023/michigan-lawmakers-should-aim-for-the-least-harmful-net-zero-plan

Mackinac Center for Public Policy: https://www.mackinac.org/

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Eric joins us once again for Episode 81!

We chat about the recent news of the $10 billion share buyback at GM, the continuing news of the huge scaling back of the pork-laden Ford battery plant in Michigan, and general discussion of how those companies seem to be going off the rails.

Eric also offers his take on the recent clean energy legislation that Michigan Democrats have foisted on the state.

Tune in and check out the whole show - you'll be glad you did!

And check out Eric's work at https://starkmanapproved.com/.

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With a background as an engineer on the production front lines for GM and Tesla, Ryan Kuhlenbeck set out to found a tech company focused on helping the floor operators solve their biggest problems. He's co-founder and CEO of Pico MES (https://www.picomes.com/), which facilitates solutions such as visual task instructions on screens right on front of the worker, ready communication channels to management and plant technical resources, and computer-connected tools to error-proof the job.

Ryan tells us about the risks, rewards, and hard work of launching his own tech company, and talks about all the different solutions Pico MES brings to its customers. He shares some of the actual breakthrough results folks in the field are seeing after bringing his tech to their floors.

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If you're a manufacturer almost anywhere in the world, you're having some challenges hiring the people you need.

That's been Magda Dexter's specialty at Saint-Gobain North America, where she's Sr. VP of Communication and Human Resources. She joins us to tell all about their excellent efforts to attract the talent they need, with initiatives like formal mentoring programs, second-chance hiring for the formerly incarcerated, a focus on recruiting military veterans, and so on.

Tune in and check out the whole thing - there are lots of ideas here you can copy!

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For Episode 78, we're joined by Adam Beckerman and Simeon Wallace at Aprio, a CPA-led Advisory Firm with over 700 clients in their Manufacturing and Distribution Practice. Their quarterly "Manufacturing and Distribution Insights" report is a great look into the state of business for American industry.

Simeon is Chief Investment Officer and leader of Aprio’s Wealth Management Practice, and Adam is Manufacturing and Distribution Industry Practice Leader and Assurance Partner at Aprio, so they bring a whole lot of expertise to the subject.

The latest issue had some good news for manufacturers, including falling input prices and rising manufacturing sentiment from the Institute for Supply Managers. Adam and Simeon dive into all the details and give their insights about the current state of things and where they think we're headed.

Tune in and hear the whole expert story!