Manufacturing Talks

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They make the coolest product ever manufactured. Therefore, it was destined someone from the company would make an appearance here on Manufacturing Talks! For our Episode 47, Doug Peters, Regional Sales Manager at the Zamboni Company, joins us to fulfill that destiny.

He tells us all about the history of the company and its iconic products, his favorite moment of his career, and not just a little bit about hockey.

Tune in and hear about the whole story!

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Episode 46 features our host Jim Vinoski telling why things are getting critical when it comes to reliable and affordable electrical power. For manufacturing, this is the #1 risk in the medium to long term. You need to understand what's happening, and get involved in driving a major policy course correction.

Here's some reading on the subject:
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2023-5-14-biden-federal-government-goes-full-suicide-bomber-against-america
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/most-of-us-faces-elevated-risk-of-summer-blackouts-extreme-heat-nerc/650531/
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/york-gets-tough-owners-natural-091501926.html
https://starkmanapproved.com/the-night-the-lights-go-out-in-america/
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/05/here-come-the-blackouts.php

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Episode 45 features photographer extraordinaire Viktor Mácha from Prague. When he was still a youth, his parents stopped on a trip to show him some of his country's steel industry, and from that moment he was hooked. (A student of religion and theology, he describes that moment as "a religious experience.")

As market downturns and globalization took their toll on steel plants around the world, Viktor decided he would make his mark by documenting as many of them as he possibly could.

Now he visits as many countries as he can and gets into as many steel mills as he can to take his amazing photos.

Tune in to hear him tell the whole story of how he got started and how it's going now!

And please remember to like, share, and subscribe!

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Episode 44 features the co-founders of Red Land Cotton in Alabama, Anna 
Brakefield and her dad Mark Yeager.

Mark is a longtime cotton farmer who built his own cotton gin years ago and was looking for a way to get more money for his crops. His daughter went to school for marketing and was good and ready to go into business with her dad, so they founded their company back in 2015. Their first products were super-high-quality bed sheets, and they've done so well that they've since expanded into apparel and accessories too.

Tune in to hear the amazing story of these two entrepreneurs and how they flew in the face of common wisdom to successfully make textiles right here in the good ol' USA!

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For our Episode 43, we chat with Melissa McMinn, Master Engraver at Melissa M Studios. She tells us how she got where she is, the tricks of her trade and the tools she uses, the kinds of work she does, and yes, the story of those fabulous dueling pistols!

She's just one of three female Master Engravers in the whole United States.

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Episode 42 is a very special one, featuring yours truly, Jim Vinoski! I recently was invited to speak at the Manufacturing and International Trade Day in Helena, Montana. I spoke about the state of manufacturing in the world and in the US, and why I think Montana is positioning itself extremely well to compete for manufacturers looking for a good place to settle.

Many thanks to the Montana Chamber of Commerce and the Montana Manufacturing Association for having me out there, and for their kind permission to use the video they took as material for this episode.

Thanks to our show's sponsor, DYS Media!

I'd also like to thank the sponsors of the event out there in Montana:

Platinum Sponsors:

First Interstate Bank
Montana State Fund
Northwestern Energy
Stockman Bank
Valley Bank of Helena
Applied Materials
BNSF Railroad
Boeing
Montana Manufacturing Extension Center
MSU Innovation Campus
Accelerate MT
OX Workforce Housing
Media Coalition of Montana

Gold Sponsors:

Montana Department of Commerce
Choose Montana
Charter Communications
Pacific Source Health Plans
Sterling CRE Advisors
Allegiance Benefit Plan Management
Blackfoot Communications

Silver Sponsors:

Hydraulics LLC
Wheelhouse

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For Episode 41, we're joined by Cedrik Neike, CEO of Siemens Digital Industries and Member of the Board for Siemens overall.

He has two vital messages. First, if you're in manufacturing and you're not working on digitalization, you're getting left behind. And second, no matter how big your company is, Siemens is here to help, with a new modular product offering that lets you pick and choose what you go after and when.

Plus he's just got a whole lot of other great insight into what's hot in the industrial world.

Tune in and check it out!

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Episode 40 features Lance Neirby, CEO of Montana Silversmiths in Billings. Learn how he went from undergrad in Minnesota to a Master of Fine Arts from Rochester Institute of Technology to Tiffany to Montana! It's a heck of a story.

Lance not only knows the ins and outs of metalsmithing and jewelry making, but he's also doing a bang-up job running the show at his small outfit in the Treasure State. Tune in for a great personal story and an even greater lesson in how to run a business.

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Want to learn what's going on in the world of 3D printing (a.k.a. additive manufacturing or AM)?

Nadav Goshen is the CEO of UltiMaker. They recently merged with MakerBot, and now the combined companies are off to the races expanding the market for their existing printers, and looking to the future at new opportunities.

Nadav joined us to tell us all about his fascinating background, what got him into the AM world, and what's big now and down the road at UltiMaker.

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Are US automakers headed back to the bad old days of the 1970s? Journalist Eric Starkman joins us for a special episode of our show to drill into that question.

Eric worked in Detroit (among other places) years ago, and he still regularly covers the big stories from the Great Lakes State. Nowadays he exposes the warts that ought to be exposed at his own outlet, Starkman Approved (www.starkmanapproved.com).

Unfortunately, he's had a lot of warts to expose when it comes to the car industry lately. Like half a century ago, American-made cars today are suffering from a steady stream of quality defects and recalls, and the companies that make them have made some rather questionable business decisions lately.

Tune in and hear Eric tell the whole sad story.