PSA Sunday Sitdown

Live from IMTS 2026 at McCormick Place, Josh sits down with his good friend Max Joseph, co-founder of Robot Sales Club, who took the South Shore Line in from South Bend that morning to make it to the show.Robot Sales Club provides fractional business development for robotics startups selling into manufacturing and logistics, with an executive-minded, strategic approach instead of spray and pray. Three years in, Max and co-founder Ryan Tanaka just closed an acqui-hire with a Columbus investment group, opened a new office, and are hiring across sales and rev ops. Max gets into what it's like to run a startup that serves startups, why change is a good sign, and why he looks for people who actually care about robotics and reshoring, not just a sales job.Then we get to the good stuff: graduating college and landing in Mongolia 10 days later with the Peace Corps, living in a yurt in the Gobi Desert, finding a startup scene in Ulaanbaatar, and how three kids pushed him toward entrepreneurship. Plus his Columbus D-League basketball game (and the elbow injury he hasn't told his wife about), growing up in a musical household and touring in bands, The Chip War, college football history books, and a very millennial debate about Pardon My Take and the cost of streaming.Connect with Max on LinkedIn, and keep an eye out for the Robot Sales Club podcast rebrand coming before the end of Q4.CHAPTERS0:00 Intro: Live from IMTS0:50 What Robot Sales Club does1:30 The acqui-hire and a new Columbus office2:45 Running a startup that serves startups4:15 Hiring for passion: robotics, reshoring, and EQ6:35 The Peace Corps in Mongolia8:00 A yurt in the Gobi and startups in Ulaanbaatar9:40 How the Peace Corps actually works11:40 Catching the entrepreneurial bug12:55 Founder friends and Columbus D-League hoops17:20 Growing up in a musical household20:20 The Chip War and college football history21:45 Acquired, Goat Rodeo, and Pardon My Take25:00 YouTube rabbit holes and streaming bills28:30 First impressions of IMTS29:40 Where to find Max🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033XqTU27CuAe6EU1YWpCT📺 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@psarobotics52The PSA Sunday Sitdown with Josh Horton is a manufacturing and industrial automation podcast from PSA Systems, focused on the people behind the industry.#IndustrialAutomation #ManufacturingPodcast #RoboticsPodcast #IMTS2026 #Startups #PSASundaySitdown

Paul Van Metre went from delivering pizzas for Pizza Hut to co-founding a machine shop right out of college with five buddies and one machine bought on a home equity line. Seventeen years later, after surviving the post-9/11 aerospace collapse, they sold the shop and turned the software they’d built to run it into ProShop ERP.Now Paul hosts Machine Shop Mastery and has written a book, Disciplined to Profit, built from more than 120 conversations with shop owners and featuring insights from about 50 of his guests.In this episode of the PSA Sunday Sitdown, Josh and Paul talk about:Why so many baby boomer shops are up for sale, and why that’s an opportunityThe “super cycle” driving demand for machining right nowProsperTech’s journey from a garage in Detroit to two facilitiesHow shops went from guarding their doors to touring each other’s floorsWriting a book with a book coach and using AI to mine 120 podcast transcriptsWhy the critical feedback was the most helpful kindThree-generation backpacking trips and the Formula SAE racecar in Paul’s garageGet a signed copy or bulk copies for your team: disciplinedtoprofit.comConnect with Paul on LinkedIn: Paul Van Metre

Brothers don't shake hands. Live from IMTS 2026 at McCormick Place, Josh sits down with his Friday pizza-text buddy Michael "Sully" Sullivan...Sully has spent 10+ years placing top sales and engineering talent across the automation industry. He breaks down Ventech's recent acquisition of Jordan Humphrey's recruiting practice and how it makes the firm a one-stop shop for sales, engineering, and that unicorn mix of both. He also explains why he never recruits at trade shows, how a single relationship has spanned nine years and three different roles, and why reputation travels fast in a small industry.Then we get to the good stuff: growing up as a cop's kid who wanted to be a first responder, being a lifelong "subway alum" Notre Dame fan, why tavern style is the true Chicago pizza (sorry, deep dish), his alarming Uno losing streak, and the most memorable line ever written in an ER chart after a week in Vegas.Connect with Sully on LinkedIn. His advice is always free, and if you're a sales pro in the Southeast, he's got searches open.CHAPTERS0:00 Intro: Meet Sully Sullivan0:55 First impressions of IMTS2:20 Sully's background in automation recruiting3:10 Ventech Search acquires Jordan Humphrey's practice5:50 Why trade shows matter for recruiters7:50 From cop's kid to people-first recruiter12:30 Notre Dame, the Cubs, and conference independence18:50 Chicago pizza: Vito & Nick's, Pequod's, and more20:05 Fun facts: Uno, Vegas, and an ER visit22:35 Where to find Sully🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033XqTU27CuAe6EU1YWpCT📺 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@psarobotics52The PSA Sunday Sitdown with Josh Horton is a manufacturing and industrial automation podcast from PSA Systems, focused on the people behind the industry.#IndustrialAutomation #ManufacturingPodcast #RoboticsPodcast #IMTS2026 #Recruiting #PSASundaySitdown

What do a Tesla production floor, a sinking Coast Guard ship, and a screenless wearable have in common? Sean Munnis has lived through all three.Josh sits down with Sean, VP of Manufacturing at WHOOP, at WHOOP HQ in Boston. Sean spent nearly a decade in the Coast Guard, then built a career across Tesla, Formlabs, Rivian, and now WHOOP, where his team launches and scales the manufacturing behind millions of devices.Sean takes us inside Tesla’s Model 3 “production hell,” including a tense meeting in Jupiter, the conference room at the center of the production floor, where Elon demanded hour-by-hour progress. He also shares how that experience shaped Elon’s “algorithm,” why automation should come last, and what it was like serving as damage control assistant on a ship that was sinking and on fire at the same time.Plus: why WHOOP chose to go screenless, the “holy grail” of wearables, how a cold LinkedIn message landed him his job, running the 2025 Boston Marathon as his first ever race, and managing five rental properties with his kids along for the ride.Chapters00:00 Welcome to WHOOP HQ00:38 What a VP of Manufacturing does at WHOOP01:00 Wearables are having a moment02:20 Screenless tech and being present05:45 Leading the WHOOP manufacturing team07:15 Product development and the cost of speed10:00 The holy grail of wearables11:40 From EVs to consumer electronics12:55 How a LinkedIn message landed him at WHOOP15:00 Tesla’s Model 3 production hell18:50 Elon’s algorithm: automate last20:25 Type 2 fun22:30 Coast Guard vs. Tesla leadership24:40 Sinking and on fire28:20 Real estate and family life29:30 Running the Boston Marathon31:00 The future of WHOOP

Josh sits down with Ian Storck, the videographer you've probably seen sprinting between booths at every major automation show with a Pelican case and not enough coffee. At IMTS this year alone, Ian shot somewhere around 15 booths and estimates he ate two real meals all week.Ian went to Missouri Western State on a full ride for acting, found his way behind the camera, and landed his first industrial gig filming saws and runoffs at his great uncle's machine shop. After hundreds of job rejections, he went out on his own during COVID, and 80% of his work is now robotics and automation. We get into how KUKA Connections opened the door, how he watched cobots take over every booth at IMTS, and why he has zero interest in scaling his business if it means handing clients off to someone else.Also: working with Jake Hall (and trying to keep up), whether your phone is replacing the professional videographer, his quest to see every MLB ballpark, shooting Queen from the pit at the United Center, getting K-pop photos past management, photographing Jensen Huang at NVIDIA GTC, and the one place he'd love to film next: a mine. Or space.Chapters0:00 Meet the person behind the camera1:03 How Ian became the industry's go-to videographer3:52 Watching automation take over IMTS4:22 KUKA Connections and going all-in on robotics6:55 Why he refuses to scale9:17 From acting scholarship to behind the camera11:39 Hundreds of rejections, then going solo during COVID14:58 Balancing the creative and the business side18:23 Working with Jake Hall, the Energizer Bunny of manufacturing21:51 Is your phone replacing the videographer?25:29 A 3DS on a gimbal and the VHS comeback27:04 Chasing every MLB ballpark31:37 Still waiting on his first NFL game33:04 Soldier Field concerts and the parking lot lesson34:41 Shooting Queen from the pit36:11 K-pop approvals, CES, and NVIDIA GTC38:56 Dream shoot: a mine, or maybe space41:13 Legos, cosplay, and creative hobbiesSunday Sitdown with Josh Horton is a PSA Systems production about the people behind industrial automation.

Josh Horton sits down with Jacob Sanchez in the igus booth at IMTS 2026 in Chicago. Jacob runs industry solutions and community development at igus, and if you've spent any time on manufacturing LinkedIn, you've seen him hyping up everybody else's booth.We start with the booth: this year's motion and automation theme, how igus parts end up everywhere from Long Beach port warehouses to CNC guide rails, and the 3D-printed can flipper that has been flipping Sun Cruisers (and plenty of other bottles) on packaging lines around the country.Then we get into who Jacob actually is. A self-described demon child who ran a pay-to-play slide on the kindergarten playground, fired his teacher, and only landed in manufacturing because the cooking elective was full. One ring on a manual lathe later, he was hooked. That path ran through Yeet Racing, Titans of CNC, Edgewater Automation, and STEM curriculum work before igus came calling.Also: how he became the guy who tells everyone else's story, the mentors who shaped him, why he wants every country to take pride in its manufacturing, his 50-minute rice routine, and what igus is doing for students and teachers through the YES Program and RBTX Learn.Chapters0:00 Welcome back from IMTS 20260:35 The igus booth: motion and automation1:00 From Long Beach ports to the factory floor1:30 The 3D-printed Sun Cruiser can flipper2:30 What igus actually makes2:55 Meeting in the rain at Automate3:30 The kindergarten slide hustle4:10 Kicked out of cooking class, thrown into machining4:40 First ring on a manual lathe, and Yeet Racing5:05 Titans of CNC, Edgewater, and how igus found him5:50 Becoming the community guy7:55 Still a troublemaker, but for the industry8:55 What would he have done instead?11:35 The mentors behind the energy12:25 The new wave of manufacturing creators13:15 Art museums, fishing, and Korean home cooking14:20 What he's taking home from IMTS15:10 The YES Program and RBTX Learn16:20 "It's not as scary as it seems"17:25 Where to find JacobSunday Sitdown with Josh Horton is a PSA Systems production about the people behind industrial automation.

Live from IMTS 2026 in Chicago, it's the first ever PSA Thursday Throwdown.Josh Horton sits down with Dan Echternkamp and Tony Kelbert of AeroGrowth, two very different guys who figured out that the best way to grow machine shops is to start with the people running them.Dan spent 15+ years selling parts. When FormLogic closed, his first question wasn't about market share. It was "How do I feed my family?" His wife pushed him toward coaching, and a few conversations later, AeroGrowth was born. Tony was an engineer at Oshkosh Defense and Gulfstream who had to learn that his value could come from relationships instead of part designs. It took Dan nine months (and the title of Chief Burrito Officer) to bring him on.What they built together is less a business than a group of friends: shop owners who share work, trade advice, and lean on each other when the stress of running a shop gets heavy. New members have to pass the "two shop rule." Success is measured in weekends reclaimed, not just revenue. And as Dan puts it, good people like to work with good people.

Josh Horton heads to PSA's Lawrence, PA shop, where the floor is as busy as it's been in years: two quad robot systems, a gantry system, and three more in the pipeline. His guest is Aaron Wolford, who walks through what it's like to inherit a client relationship that's older than some of the systems he's replacing.

Seven years ago Aaron was doing server maintenance, websites, and a little marketing. He saw where automation was headed, went back to school for electrical, and got a taste of working with robots. He hasn't looked back. We get into the tribal knowledge that came over from Kerr Engineering, what it means to learn from engineers who designed these systems before robots were even part of them, and the responsibility of carrying that forward to the next crew.Also: how the team actually uses AI day to day (and where they don't), why the Ugly's manual stays in the toolbox, a short story about time-traveling Lego pirates that got published in 1999, an eBay-meets-crypto idea from 2007 that almost went somewhere, and a prediction about small specialized robots that's worth writing down.

Chapters0:00 Two quad robot systems and a gantry on the floor

1:06 A 25-year customer, and replacing your own systems

2:57 Kaier Engineering to PSA, and why tribal knowledge is everything

3:41 Learning from John Peele and Brian Wilcox

5:42 Carrying the torch to Carter, Danny, and the next group

6:58 It takes a village, disagreements included

7:30 From Penn State IT to robots: getting ahead of the AI curve

10:12 Robots don't just replace work, they create it

13:24 How the shop actually uses AI today

15:44 Retiring the Ugly's manual

17:48 What he wanted to be as a kid

20:02 Lego pirates in space, published in 1999

21:07 The eBay and crypto idea he pitched in 2007

23:38 What's next: kids' robotics, and small specialized machines

28:05 The first cyborg

Sunday Sitdown with Josh Horton is a PSA Systems production about the people behind industrial automation.

Francesca Lehtomaa spent 17 years in electronics manufacturing. Then she woke up one morning on vacation, called her boss, and quit. No plan, no five-year strategy, no idea what came next.Six weeks later she had ten clients.She joins Josh for episode 15 to talk about the panic that set in on the rest of that vacation, the clients who told her they'd follow her anywhere, and why she quotes a ridiculous retainer to people she doesn't want to work with. We also get into LinkedIn, why she thinks short-form video is where B2B is heading and why her own industry makes that almost impossible, Real Housewives taglines, Dancing with the Stars, and the tax burden facing the citizens of Adventure Bay.Plus her one tip for anyone in B2B, which she delivers in about nine words.CHAPTERS0:00 Lord of the Rings, popcorn, and who's funding Paw Patrol3:39 The vacation morning she decided to quit5:01 Imposter syndrome and the five-year plan she didn't have6:42 Ten clients, ten completely different jobs8:54 The retainer quote as a polite no11:08 Shooting her shot at the whales12:49 Growing without anyone becoming an afterthought15:14 Why TikTok doesn't work for electronics manufacturing19:13 The real roadblock: nobody wants to be on camera20:13 Baiting the algorithm with a soundbite21:48 Real Housewives taglines and Dancing with the Stars25:23 Pretty Delusional and the law of attraction26:03 When a campaign misses and you have to make the call27:36 The six-month plan29:19 The pitch29:50 One tip: stop doing this on LinkedIn32:07 Where to find FrancescaABOUT THE SHOWSunday Sitdown with Josh Horton is a conversation with the people behind manufacturing and automation. Less about cycle times, more about the person sitting across the table.#Manufacturing #B2BMarketing #Automation #LinkedIn #Podcast #ElectronicsManufacturing #SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship

Josh sits down with Chris Adams, Operations Director at Carnegie Mellon's Manufacturing Futures Institute, inside Mill 19 in Pittsburgh's Hazelwood Green. The building was part of the old Jones and Laughlin steel plant. RIDC kept the superstructure and built three new buildings underneath it, and today it houses metal additive labs, robotics labs, a machine shop and a wire EDM, plus neighbors like the ARM Institute, Catalyst Connection, YKK and Instinct Robotics.Chris walks through what his team is actually doing in there: wire arc additive manufacturing (robotic welding turned into a 3D printer), a research project where robot arms figure out how to assemble a structure out of bricks with nobody teaching them the sequence, and a new NSF-awarded Programmable Cloud Lab that will let them create their own metal powders, print them, characterize them and feed the results back into an AI loop.We also get into why Pittsburgh became a robotics hub, why high mix low volume work is the region's real story, and the free one to three day training classes CMU runs for anyone in the community through Catalyst Connection. No fee. Just show up.Then the Three Big Questions: best concert ever, favorite part of Walt Disney World, and what he loves about Pittsburgh.Chapters00:00 Chris Adams and the labs inside Mill 1902:00 First look at Mill 19 and Pittsburgh's Robotics Row03:00 The J&L steel plant that this building used to be04:00 Changing the perception of manufacturing work05:30 What's actually trending in Western PA manufacturing06:50 Why autonomous vehicles get developed in Pittsburgh08:00 High mix, low volume, snake bots and drone cages09:50 Robots that assemble LEGO structures on their own12:20 The Programmable Cloud Lab and making new metal powders15:20 Free community training and the learning lab18:40 Three Big Questions: best concert ever20:00 What makes a great concert (and why to watch the opener)24:00 Walt Disney World: favorite resort28:30 Favorite ride, Tron vs Guardians32:20 Why he'll never leave PittsburghThe Sunday Sitdown drops every Sunday. Subscribe so you don't miss one.#manufacturing #robotics #Pittsburgh #CarnegieMellon #automation #additivemanufacturing