Manufacturing Talks

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Paul Van Metre had his own machine shop, and learned along the way what he really needed when it came to business software.

That's why he shifted hears and helped found ProShop, the ERP solution for machine shops. His software is focused on giving machine shop owners, managers, and workers exactly what they need to maximize the efficiency of their operations.

Tune in and listen as Paul shares what his experiences on the front lines taught him, and how he's brought that knowledge to making his software solution the right one to take your machine shop paperless  and to bring it into the 21st century, whether it's your first ERP or you're replacing one that just hasn't gotten the job done.

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The #1 middle- to long-term risk to American manufacturers is our increasingly unreliable energy supply. So this episode diving into the reasons things are headed the way they are, and what we can do about it, is our most important one so far.

David Blackmon has been warning us about this for years. It was incredibly educational to hear him talk about how really awful policy decisions are putting our energy security into doubt.

This one is a must-see. Tune in and watch the whole thing.

And if you're a manufacturing leader, educate yourself, start helping educate everyone else, and start speaking up and demanding wiser policy decisions.

Many thanks to our sponsor of this episode, DYS Media.

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Montana may not be a state that, when you first think about it, has manufacturing come to mind for you. But there are plenty of reasons it should be.

So it was great fun to chat with Scott Sehnert about his adopted home state. Scott is a VP at First Security Bank Montana in Bozeman, and he also serves as President of the Montana Manufacturing Association. Tune in and hear him chat about all the great things that the Treasure State has happening to make it a great place for manufacturers to set up shop.

Check out the whole thing! Hit the "like" button, share the episode, and sign up as a subscriber!

And follow your host Jim Vinoski and the Manufacturing Talks page on LinkedIn!

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Gabe Draper is a self-proclaimed failed machine shop owner. Now he's in another business to help manufacturers avoid the mistakes he made.

He's co-founder of Factur, his company that hunts customers... for their customers. They're all about lead generation, using their specialized tech and tools to generate high-quality sales. Tune in and hear Gabe talk about how you can diversify your customer base and make your business more robust.

Plus he shares some amazing news about his family, and he and I compare notes about bicycling. What's not to love?

Check out the whole thing, and don't forget to like, share, and subscribe!

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Melissa Martin has a whole lot to tell you about what we all need to be doing to rebuild our nation's pipeline of skilled workers.

She has not just one, but TWO jobs where she does her part for all that. She's Director of Marketing at LAB Midwest, a distributor for the whole upper Midwest of training curricula and equipment for the workplace and for STEM materials for schools. And she's the producer of the TechEd Podcast, where she helps bridge the gap between the technical education world and the workforce. So she's a true expert in this stuff.

Tune in and hear her share what schools, businesses, and students should be doing to build the manufacturing workforce we need for the future.

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It was such a lot of fun hearing from Kerrie about everything Epicor has going on. Epicor is a software development company specializing in its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) suite that's designed specifically for manufacturers.

As I mentioned in our chat, I know a lot of you out there get a bad taste in your mouth anytime you hear "ERP." But if you haven't checked out the latest developments, do give our chat a listen, because ERPs have come a long way since the days of the "jack of all trades, master of none" non-solutions.

Plus, Kerrie is a fellow camping enthusiast, so tune in to hear our outdoors stories too!

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It's all too common in manufacturing circles to hear about the operations improvement projects that didn't pan out, the Lean transformation that sputtered, or the cultural reset that never got off the ground.

Making sure those kinds of failures don't happen is Dan Burgos's stock in trade. It was lots of fun chatting with him and hearing his thoughts on what both leaders and front-line workers need to do to make these efforts successful, how to identify a bad employee fit before bigger problems arise, and how to successfully transform your company culture.

Tune in and check out the whole thing! And please like, share, and subscribe.

And if you're thinking that it's time to go to work on your own culture, you can get a head-start by using Dan's nifty self-assessment tool: https://alphanovaconsulting.com/business-self-assessment-forms/

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Neil Friedman has done a lot of cool things in his time, but maybe the coolest yet is his company's still fairly new product, the circul+ fitness ring. It's got so much going for it: it's unobtrusive, it works for general condition monitoring, exercise, sleep monitoring and improvement, and even help with treating Long Covid. Plus it doesn't have the skin pigmentation glitches that watches do.

It's so cool I wrote about it for Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimvinoski/2021/12/22/is-the-prevention-circul-wellness-ring-the-future-of-wearable-health-monitors/).

Now you can hear all about it straight from Neil.

Check out the whole thing!

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One thing it's pretty common for manufacturers to miss the mark on is marketing. Especially today, when just about everything marketing-related is changing so fast, though, it's a critically important topic. So it was a treat to host Aaron Marks, who founded Aspire Marketing Group because of the opportunities he saw in this particular vein.

Aaron has nearly two decades of marketing leadership expertise, focused on digital and inbound marketing. His specific focus has helped manufacturers and distributors deliver marketing success. His mission is always to construct, manage, and implement strategies that deliver value to both his clients and their customers.

Tune in and hear all about it! And don't forget to like, share, and subscribe to learn about other great aspects of our manufacturing world.

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Jake heads up one of the business units for The Manthei Group, which is one of the most inspiring family business stories I've ever come across. Five generations ago, a couple of German immigrants came over, settled in what's now a popular resort area in northern Lower Michigan, and began farming. After many fits and starts, and lots of amazing business decisions, their family runs a business that literally spans the globe. And it's all still headquartered right up there in little Petoskey, Michigan (and Jake's dad Ben still lives in the old family farmhouse!)

Tune in to hear the whole amazing story.

And like, share, and subscribe, too, please!