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Gearheads unite! Episode 143 features the CEO of Hellwig Products, Melanie Hellwig-White, chatting about how they make cool aftermarket parts like helper springs and sway bars.

It's a great fourth-generation manufacturing business story. Here are some highlights.

Chapters:
00:00 - intro
01:00 - how Melanie landed in the family business
03:00 - helper springs and the founding of Hellwig Products
04:45 - Jim's helper spring experience
07:15 - the ag workforce in Visalia, California knows how to work
09:30 - Melanie's move up the ladder
12:30 - the breadth of Hellwig's product range
15:00 - the company's ability to shift as vehicles change
18:45 - the sway bar side of the business
22:00 - dealing with vendor price increases and business craziness
24:00 - how Melanie's generation and her Dad's compliment one another

And there's so much more! It's a marvelous story - tune in for the whole thing! And as always, leave us your questions and comments, like and subscribe, and share it with your friends.

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This is a must-see chat with two true innovators in 3D printing! (Sorry for the little snafu with the camera viewfinder indicators showing up on-screen!)

Jason Murphy runs Next CHAPTER (not Next Generation, as I said in the video) Manufacturing and Brandon Teets runs Accel Digital Solutions, both in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Both companies recently appeared in episodes of our playlist "Welcome to the Machine - links are below.) Jason does metal 3D printing and Brandon does plastic, and both have hugely valuable insights to share about this growing new production technology. Here are some of the highlights.

Chapters:
00:00 - introduction
01:50 - the current state of 3D printing
04:50 - the importance of materials
08:00 - 3D printing and production efficiencies
11:00 - "we start closer to the finish line"
13:30 - conformal cooling reducing downstream molding cycle times
15:00 - the efficiencies in reusing printing powders
18:30 - better parts from better materials
22:00 - the need for all manufacturers to consider 3D printing solutions
24:45 - "resetting the norm"

And there's a whole bunch more. Tune in and check out the whole thing, post your questions and observations in the comments section, and be sure to like, share, and subscribe!

Here are the links to their "Welcome to the Machine" episodes.
Next Chapter Manufacturing: https://youtu.be/7VJg7WoIenQ
Accel Digital Solutions: https://youtu.be/7CZo9hrFTmw

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For Episode 141, we got a great education in the state of business for farm tractors. Mahindra is a tractor maker headquartered in India, and they happen to have the best-selling model in the world. The President and CEO of their North and South America business, Viren Popli, joined us to fill us in on all the latest and greatest in this vital manufacturing sector. Here are the highlights.

Chapters:
00:00 - intro
04:15 - Mahindra's overall business overview
06:00 - the India and China dynamic
08:30 - India's big opportunities over the next 10 to 15 years
11:15 - the farm equipment sales slowdown: inflation, politics, labor, commodities
16:00 - focus: mechanization
17:30 - tech solutions for the labor challenge - precision ag, autonomy
18:45 - the roles of AI and data
19:15 - the power needed to drive AI
27:30 - energy in India: primarily coal and solar
29:00 - nuclear
31:00 - Mahindra's start in the US: 20 years ago one guy in Texas, now 500 dealers in US and Canada, all family-owned
32:30 - new tractor line
33:15 - manufacturing in Detroit and Houston

Yep, it was a rich conversation! Check out the whole thing, and be sure to like, comment, and subscribe - and share it with your friends!

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Eric is a no-hold-barred reporter on all things automotive (and a whole lot more!) Lately that means he's not reporting a lot of good news. So when he promised he could be positive about Subaru's offerings, I took him up on it. That landed him our first episode of the new year! Here are the highlights.

Chapters:
00:00 - intro
02:00 - had an issue with his first Subaru and got great treatment
03:30 - early Apple iPlay use
04:30 - Subaru big for outdoorsy folks
08:30 - offroad capabilities
10:30 - changes made incrementally
11:30 - early marketing to LGBT
13:00 - marketing to dog lovers and supporting pet adoptions
17:45 - quality focus
22:00 - rankings of most-American-made cars
26:00 - environmental aspects of EVs
31:00 - hybrids

Yes, dog lovers, Subaru is very interested in your business! (And before we forget, here is the promised link to Andrew Cotter's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@mrandrewcotter - enjoy!

There's a whole lot more (and still more in Eric's article about Subaru that we discussed, which you can find here: https://starkmanapproved.com/subarus-triumph-and-the-shame-of-gm-and-ford/), so tune in for the whole thing. Be sure to offer your comments, and if you like this one, please share it with our friends and hit the like and subscribe buttons too!

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Grace Stanke is back! Our inspiring friend - former Miss Wisconsin, former Miss America, accomplished classical violinist, and now working nuclear engineer - join us again to give us the lowdown as she wraps up her first year in her new career.

Here are the highlights.

Chapters:
00:00 - intro
02:20 - the hottest things going in nuclear right now
05:30 - Grace's pre-career diversion to go climb Mt. Kilimanjaro
11:00 - Grace is engaged!!
11:15 - the first half of Grace's job: nuclear fuels engineering for pressurized water reactors
12:40 - the second half of Grace's job: advocating for nuclear energy
16:30 - the boost nuclear is getting from tech companies
22:00 - the new public support for nuclear
25:30 - create your own success!
26:30 - an update on nuclear fusion
30:00 - the battle of the silverware
31:00 - advances in nuclear fuels

What an educational discussion it was!

Tune in for the whole thing.

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Episode 138 features longtime manufacturing hand Mush Khan. He co-founded an industrial consultancy called Alchemy Industrial, and he's got an encyclopedic knowledge of the world of manufacturing, the state of industrial affairs these days, and what it takes for producers to succeed. And he's here to share it with all of you!

Here are some highlights.

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:45 - Talking about his parents, a pipefitter and a seamstress
4:00 - Why he launched Alchemy Industrial
8:00 - The South Park episode about skilled trades
10:00 - Re- and near-shoring
11:30 - The pandemic supply chain wake-up
12:00 - US industrial advantages
13:30 - How we can rebuild our industrial base
18:00 - The need for automation
19:00 - Capturing tribal knowledge
21:30 - International trade and the supply chain implications
23:30 - The regulations situation
26:30 - The warning Germany represents
28:30 - Entrepreneurship
32:30 - Mush's first job as a reliability engineer and the importance of your network

There is so freakin' much here of huge value to everyone in industry! Tune in for the whole thing.

Tell us your thoughts on the state of American manufacturing in the comments section. Please be sure to like and share this episode, and if you're not subscribed already, please do that too! And follow us on LinkedIn and X:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/manufacturing-talks-webshow-and-podcast/
X: @MfgTalks

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Entytle co-founder and CEO Vivek Joshi joined us for Episode 137 to talk about how his company can help you use big data and AI to do all the above.

Here are the highlights:

Chapters
00:00 - Intro
03:30 - Why he founded Entytle
07:00 - The Installed Base Intelligence Platform
07:45 - Where equipment data comes from: ERP and CRM
10:00 - Baby boomer retirements and the tribal knowledge challenge
11:30 - Massively mixed equipment fleets
13:30 - How generative AI helps
16:45 - The problem of being caught up in firefighting
17:30 - The IT challenge: no new systems
20:30 - Benefits: gaining market and wallet share
22:00 - Future opportunities for Entytle: asset action plans and streaming data directly from assets

And much, much more! Tune in to the whole thing and learn all about it.

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Today's manufacturers have to tackle a lot of challenges: lack of skilled labor (or any labor, for that matter!), product differentiation, business direction, where to invest capital, and on and on.

It's been a while since we had a thorough dive into all things manufacturing, so it was great fun to have Chuck Coxhead join us to offer his views. Chuck is General Manager at Koaxis, a maker of coaxial RF cable assemblies. Plus he has decades of frontline manufacturing experience, so he's just the guy to help folks navigate all those thorny industrial challenges. Here are the highlights:

Chapters
00:00 - Intro
04:30 - what manufacturing workers do is cool!
09:30 - the general state of manufacturing - it varies by sector
12:45 - the Boeing example
14:45 - Men in Black paraphrase: "A person is smart... but people are stupid, nervous, etc."
15:45 - Lucent - "too big to fail"
23:45 - how to differentiate
25:45 - advice for US manufacturers
21:30 - automation and robotics
30:30 - some things can't be automated
32:00 - autonomous mobile robots
32:45 - reshoring
34:45 - brainstorm with beer!

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

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#manufacturing erp #erp software #best erp for manufacturing

She's back! Joining us once again for Episode 135 is Kerrie Jordan from Epicor. She gives us all the latest on ERP software custom-built for manufacturers, along with some big news for the Epicor business. Here are the highlights:

Chapters:
0:00 - show intro
2:15 - Kerrie's start in manufacturing at Oakley
5:00 - "Manufacturing the Future" podcast
8:45 - worker engagement
12:45 - worker-management gap
16:00 - ideas portal
18:30 - fitting upskilling into a busy day
20:30 - addressing turnover
25:00 - set your plant up for success with new tech and modern tools

And there's so much more! Tune in and check out the whole thing. Share it with your like-minded friends, offer your comments and questions in the comments section, and subscribe!

Voice of the Manufacturing Manager report: https://assets.epicor.com/m/35c5d217e82f89ba/original/Voice-of-the-Manufacturing-Manager.pdf

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It's a Manufacturing Talks first: two family members on successive episodes! Last week we had nuclear expert Dan Malburg, and this week we've got his nephew Mark Malburg to tell us all about measuring surfaces.

Mark is President at Digital Metrology Solutions, and he's here to explain why a total geek-o-rama subject like surface metrology is actually vitally important for everyone. Here are some highlights:

3:30 - recognizing the business opportunity
4:30 - advice: keep your employer as your first customer
6:00 - what metrology is
9:30 - what surface attributes are needed for various applications
11:00 - ball bearing example
13:00 - the various measurement technologies
13:30  - why not frickin' lasers?
14;15 - 3D measuring
15:45 - how technology can be a thorn
17:00 - how numbers don't describe enough for surface measures
20:30 - the challenge of "seeing" beneath the surface
23:30 - a new challenge: 3D printing
25:30 - a coming challenge: getting data connected to what matters
28:30 - surfaces are art, not science

Yes, this one is a geek-fest for engineers like me. But it's also got very practical advice and education for anybody. Tune in and check out the whole thing!

Be sure to add your comments and questions, and like and subscribe here for more great shows - plus go follow us on Linkedin too! Tell a friend!

Don't forget to vote on which Malburg was the winner!