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The terrible headlines of recalls and foodborne illnesses can have people thinking our food supply is a disaster. But the fact is that while it's safer now than at almost any time in the past, there are always places where our producers can improve. Michelle Brydalski, VP of Food Safety, Quality, and Regulatory at Charcuterie Artisans, joined us to tell us all the latest when it comes to the safety of the food we buy and eat. Your host can vouch for her personally - he had the great pleasure of working with her at General Mills some years back!

Tune in to hear what our food processors do to make sure what they make is safe, and where there are some challenges to be addressed. Michelle tells it like it is, whether it's celebrating the great work our manufacturers do, or highlighting the areas that still need more work.

Oh, and if you've got a food-oriented startup or small company that needs help to make sure you have all your bases covered, you should give Michelle a call!

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Having just founded Always On Energy Research, Isaac Orr and Mitch Rolling -experts on power generation and our creaky grids - joined us to give us their unique perspectives on America's electricity situation. They publish routinely on the subject on their Substack, "Energy Bad Boys."

Isaac is the VP of Research and Mitch is the Director of Research at their new outfit, and they bring incredible depth to this critical discussion. Here are some highlights:
7:00 - why the levelized cost of electricity measure is misleading
10:50 - MISO and the shutdown of its coal-fired power plants
16:45 - the closure of the Metal Technologies Northern Foundry in Hibbing, Minnesota, because of high electricity prices
19:00 - our need to build reliable power generating plants, particularly nuclear

Tune in and learn a whole lot more about this vital topic!

Isaac and Mitch's Substack: https://energybadboys.substack.com/
Always On Energy Research website (not active as of this show's date, but keep checking back!): aoenergy.org

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For our 102nd episode, your host is joined by his pal who helped him with a Forbes article about mining a year ago, and who has been his go-to guy for metals intelligence ever since.

Konstantin Christoulakis is a senior manager of procurement and risk for a metals trading company, and has oodles of experience in supply chains in general. He talks about the coming demand for metals, especially copper, and how today's mining isn't positioned to fill that demand. He offers his thoughts on why that is and what we should do to start fixing it.

Konstantin's in-laws were miners, so in addition to his intensive career experience in the metals world, he also has some close contacts who have helped shape his understanding of that side of our critical supply chains.

Tune in and get ready for some serious learning!

Additional resources:

The Forbes article Konstantin helped with - https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimvinoski/2023/04/28/theres-not-enough-copper-for-our-electrification-plansand-biden-is-making-it-worse/

The slides Konstantin refers to near the end - https://ln5.sync.com/dl/7f317fb40/vafuzx3k-hh7dp8ke-kv3tr3xy-6u3dxzgf

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In a recent Forbes article, your host explained how Germany was undergoing the beginnings of deindustrialization as a result of its horrible energy policies, and how that should be a warning to America.

Unfortunately the current administration's regulatory policies now have the US on an even worse path than Germany. This is an existential threat to all of American industry, and it's past time for manufacturing leaders to start doing what the farmers have been doing in Europe.

Tune in and hear Jim Vinoski explain it all, and please comments, share, and subscribe.

Here are some links to what Jim talks about:
German deindustrialization Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimvinoski/2024/02/29/german-deindustrialization-is-a-wake-up-call-for-us-manufacturers/?sh=781e22dc7c0c
Biden regulatory blitz: https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-congress-regulation-administrative-state-democrats-republicans-government-agencies-1c40da77
John Hinderaker's piece at the Powerline blog on the recent EPA power plant insanity: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/04/us-set-to-regress-from-modernity.php
Explanation of the ongoing Supreme Court review of the Chevron case: https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/01/supreme-court-likely-to-discard-chevron/

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Yes indeed, Episode 100 is upon us! We could have a celebrity or a head of state as a guest, but it was obvious the right choice was a guy that fans of the show have heard from many times before! John Farabee, our intro and outro voice-over guy, is also one of the most knowledgeable and insightful supply chain gurus we know. So as the only other guy besides our host whose voice has appeared on every episode, it only made sense to finally have him share his thoughts on that topic that has had pretty much everyone's attention since the dark days of Covid.

Tune in and hear first his Lou Holtz quote that is his guiding supply chain principle, then stay tuned for the whole thing as John shares his deep wisdom about the state of our supply chains now, the lessons we should have learned from the drama of the past few years, and where things are headed.

And be sure to stay till the end when John and our host, both tremendous believers and and supporters of the Boy Scouts of America, share their thoughts on why that program is more crucial than ever for our young people.

One last note: John mentions another old friend of the show, Dean Wegner, whose company Authentically American is a story John is particularly fond of. You can find Dean's stuff here: https://www.authenticallyamerican.us/

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Augury got its start using a unique way to monitor manufacturing machine health: the sound of the equipment! It's one of those ideas that, once you hear it, seems so blindingly obvious - except you didn't think of it!

Now they have over 150 of the largest manufacturers as customers, and they continue to grow.

The company uses AI to reduce waste and downtime and to improve processes in all kinds of industries. Their VP of Strategy, Artem Kroupenev, joined us for Episode 99 to tell us all about it.

Tune in and learn about the whole story, and how they might help you!

Augury website: https://www.augury.com/

Link to your host's 2019 Forbes article about Augury: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimvinoski/2019/09/30/the-machine-whisperers-this-startup-improves-machine-health-through-digital-transformation/

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Like too much of American manufacturing, our domestic production capacity for printed circuit boards - the things on which the computer chips that power so much of our world anymore reside - departed decades ago for other lands.

Now we're too dependent on foreign nations for that supply, and especially worrying is how much we're dependent on a potential geopolitical adversary.

David is executive director at the Printed Circuit Board Association of America, and he joined us for Episode 98 to tell us how we lost this vital industrial capability and what he thinks we need to do to get at least some of it back.

Tune in and check out the whole story!

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Manufacturing looks like it's turning the corner here in the US, so now is a good time for our domestic producers to look at expanding their businesses. Frank Seidel, Managing Director at Wamser Batra USA, thinks India is a great market to look at, and he joined us to tell us why that is and what companies here need to do about it. He looks at demographics and income growth and says India beats China as a growth market hands down.

Now, to be fair, what Wamser Batra USA does to make their money is to help companies do exactly the above. But Frank didn't join us for a no-hold-barred sales job - he brought practical advice on how to get started, what to do along the way, and how to succeed at what he says has to be a long-term play. Here's a timeline with some highlights:

7:20 - the importance of due diligence
10:40 - why it's critical company leaders actually go to India
14:30 - why you should bring the CEO of any Indian company you're going to partner with here to the US
17:40 - the different production options, like making here and exporting there, making domestically for each separate market, or making there and importing here

There's a whole lot more great advice and concrete steps to take. It boils down to what Frank shared with me separately: "Don't just go to India because it looks like a good opportunity. Make sure it's the right fit for your business."

Tune in and check out the whole thing!

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At one time, when he lived in the shadow of southwest Michigan's Palisades nuclear power plant, former business owner, author, and employee communications guru Shawn Connors opposed nuclear energy. But then he decided to do his own research and discovered that the horror stories in the media that had convinced him nukes were dangerous were just plain wrong.

That's when he founded the Atomic Garage Movement, which uses the arts to help convince people that nuclear energy is safe, clean, and reliable.

He has also written both a nonfiction educational book and a fictional novel that both help tell the real story of nuclear energy (links below!)

He joined us for Episode 96 to tell us all about his conversion, and why he believes we should ditch all the arbitrary deadlines for replacing our electricity generating stations, stop retiring our coal and gas plants, and instead embark on a program to replace them when their production lives end with nuclear plants.

And about Palisades? He's revved up to see it reopened, and thinks it can help make Michigan a nuclear center for the nation.

Here are the links:
Books:
Non-fiction: The Quick Read Nuclear Energy Guide: 21 Easy-to-Understand Q&As - https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Nuclear-Energy-Guide-Understand-ebook/dp/B0CH8MNNH4?ref_=ast_author_dp
Novel: Chain Reaction: A Story About Power in the Age of Climate Change -
https://www.amazon.com/Chain-Reaction-Story-Climate-Change/dp/B0CGLH8M1P/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Article that I read that first flagged Shawn's work for me: https://www.bridgemi.com/guest-commentary/opinion-wind-solar-arent-enough-case-palisades-nuclear-plant

Atomic Garage Movement site: https://atomicgaragemovement.com/

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Modiv is a real estate investment trust (REIT). That's company uses investor money to trade in real estate. For Modiv, it's not just any real estate - the company focuses entirely on manufacturing properties, investing in industrial properties via long-term net leases. Their CEO, Aaron Halfacre, joins us for Episode 95 to tell us why that's a good business proposition for his investors and for the owners of the manufacturing companies alike.

Aaron also discusses how Modiv's corporate values are rooted in the small-town strong-work-ethic background he grew up with.

You can learn more about Modiv here: https://modiv.com/