Manufacturing Talks

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Nicole Wolter, CEO of HM Manufacturing (who does LOTS of other stuff too!), joins us for our Episode 67, recorded live from the floor of the Motion + Power Technology Expo at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit.

Nicole tells us all about her family-owned machine shop that makes gears and more. Plus she tells us all the fabulous work she does to support manufacturing in her community and far beyond!

She might mention golfing, too.

Tune in and check out the whole thing!

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Lori Brown and Cindy Hall join us for our Episode 66, recorded live from the floor of the Motion + Power Technology Expo at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit!

Lori and Cindy tell us all about their company, Clifford-Jacobs Forging in Champaign, Illinois. We put them in as our first company interview because forging is the earliest step in gearmaking that was represented at the show! Learn all about what the process is and why it's so important, and how their company is a very special place to work.

Plus there's a little MORE talk about heavy metal music AND REO Speedwagon!

Tune in and check out the whole thing!

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Matt Croson, President of the AGMA, joins us once again for our Episode 65, recorded live from the floor of the Expo at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit!

Matt kicked off a whole day of livestreamed interviews, telling us what the show is all about and what the AGMA does for its membership.

Plus there's a little talk about heavy metal music!

Tune in and check out the whole thing!

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In case you missed it when it was actually live...

For our second-ever live broadcast, Eric joined us once again to talk about the hot manufacturing topics of today.

Tune in and hear him discuss the UAW strike and the missteps of automakers like GM and Ford. (CEO pay and recalls, anyone?)

He covers some of the positives and negatives of Stellantis too.

He also gives us some lowdown on EVs and some of the misconceptions around the jobs situation with them and how they stack up against hybrids.

And he waxes poetic about the now-delayed (at best) battery plant Ford was trying to build in Michigan.

Tune in and check out the whole thing! It will be worth your while!

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Jason Hayes from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy joined us for Episode 63 to talk about how so much of what we hear about the environment and energy just ain’t so, and how the false narratives are driving some really bad decisions, especially for manufacturers.

He’s an outdoorsman and a former backcountry ranger and forester. He has multiple degrees in environmental science and has specialized in energy production. Now he’s the Director of Energy and Environmental Policy with the Mackinac Center. He joined us to talk about why having access to “abundant, affordable, reliable sources of energy” is critical for our society’s well-being–and is also critical to maintaining our high levels of environmental quality too.

A key point: those trying to sell us on wind and solar aren’t admitting to manufacturers who currently run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, that now they’ll have to adjust to making products “when the weather allows.”
He highlights one of the subjects we’ve been hammering, that of Germany and its destructive Energiewende environmental policy that has seen the country shutter all its nuclear facilities and build out enormous amounts of renewable generating capacity, and now has skyrocketing energy prices and ongoing de-industrialization.

He also covers the policies here in our shared home state of Michigan, which have us on a similar path to Germany’s.

Oh, and he points out that recycling isn’t all it’s cracked up to be either.
And finally, he gives us the real lowdown on the causes of wildfires. Hint: it’s not a “climate crisis.”

Tune in for a rousing counter-narrative discussion!

And do check out the Mackinac Center’s superb work at the first link below, and Jason’s page there at the second one.

https://www.mackinac.org/
https://www.mackinac.org/about/staff/752

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Mark Mills joins us again, this time for what was our first livestream episode! Maybe you missed the live show, but here it is in all its glory.

He's a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a physicist with a background in mining and manufacturing. Last time he told exactly why there won't be near enough minerals for the "energy transition." Now he's hear to tell us a whole bunch more.

Mark deals the harsh truth on:
- Why we should be optimistic
- Technology that will actually make things better, as covered in his book (link below)
- Why EVs aren't as clean or simple as you might think, and why they're going to send our automotive jobs overseas
- Why the recent dial-back of net zero goals in the UK matters
- Flying cars and walking cars!

It's a deep (but also often funny) episode, and well worth your time! Check it out, and do check out Mark's book too. (I've got my copy!)
https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Revolution-Convergence-Technologies-Economic-ebook/dp/B08YPX96ZF/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3L2MQ5GGJEJH5&keywords=mark+p+mills&qid=1695684361&sprefix=%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-1

PS - many thanks for her excellent work as our producer on this one to Gail Robertson, Chief Curiosity Officer at GailNow and at her Curious Minds web show - do check it out too!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9jTAajk7XaEYerR5ZqrWWg

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Bob Worsley doesn't let the grass grow under his feet! First he founded Skymall and sold it to Rupert Murdoch. Then he ran successfully for an Arizona state Senate seat.

And now he's tackling the housing crisis. His new company Zennihome, is using robotic automation to make small housing units, built on the dimensions of shipping containers, "live larger" by making spaces truly multi-purpose. And his two models are designed to be connected together to make everything from a larger single-family home to a multi-story apartment building! They also include green features to make them some of the most sustainable dwellings out there.

And perhaps most important, they're designed to be mass-produced using advanced manufacturing, which will keep costs down and quality up!

I was so impressed by the story, I wrote it up for Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimvinoski/2023/07/21/zennihome-uses-factory-robotics-and-home-automation-to-fight-the-housing-crisis/

And now I'm happy to be joined by Bob for my Episode 61. Tune in and learn all about what this true innovator is bringing to our housing market, which is desperate to be disrupted!

And do check out the ZenniHome website below, where you can see video of the house's automated features: https://zennihome.com/

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Meredith Angwin, author and speaker, joins us for Episode 60 to tell us why she thinks our fragile electric grids are soon going to be failing us.

Since she predicted the failure of the Texas grid during the winter storm a couple years ago, you probably ought to be listening to her.

Plus she actually wrote the book on the subject: Shorting the Grid: The Hidden Fragility of Our Electric Grid. As she says, "Grid insiders know how fragile the grid is becoming. Unfortunately, they have no incentive to solve the problems because near-misses increase their profits."

What's the culprit causing the problems? Wind and solar, whose inherent unreliability are destabilizing power generation, and whose relegation of our formerly reliable generating technologies to backup generation are making the unreliable too.

Tune in and learn all the ugly details, and find out about what you need to be doing about our pending disaster.

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Your host Jim Vinoski is flying solo again on this one, talking about why the claims that renewables and power storage saved the day in Texas this summer are complete hogwash.

This one's critical. Because what's playing out in Texas is soon going to be playing out everywhere: more and more unreliable power generation, less and less reliable generation, and lots of people lying trying to cover up the coming disaster.

Watch the whole thing, and please like, share, and subscribe to hear a lot more coming about the disaster in the making when it comes to energy in the Western world.

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Terry Iverson joins us for Episode 58. He was the third generation leader at his family's machine tool business, Iverson & Company, for most of his career. Then he took a challenge to connect with young people and help sell manufacturing as a great career path, and he was off to the races!

He founded CHAMPION Now, an advocacy to reach out to America's youth. Its focus? Here it is in Terry's own words, from the CHAMPION Now website: "CHAMPION Now® exists to change the image of manufacturing from the unrealistic, stereotypical 'dark and dirty' industry to one that is filled with extremely technology, advanced innovations, and exhilarating and good paying careers available for the next generation."

Terry went on to write not just one, but TWO books about his efforts: Finding America’s Greatest Champion and Inspiring Champions in Advanced Manufacturing.

Tune in and hear Terry tell all about what you can do as an industry leader. You're needed in the effort! You'll learn about things like opening up your company's doors to help youth learn what manufacturing is all about, and partnering with local schools to help educate kids about their career opportunities and what schooling they need to go after them.

There's a link below to the CHAMPION Now website, where you can learn more and find out about both of Terry's books. There's also a link to the Kickstarter campaign where you can help launch the second book. And there's Terry's email address too!

Take up the challenge, just like Terry did!

CHAMPION Now website: https://championnow.org/

Kickstarter campaign to help launch Terry's second book: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1381700333/inspiring-champions-in-advanced-manufacturing

Terry's email: [email protected]