The Manufacturers Network

Darrin Mitchell has spent the last 25 years owning a global manufacturing business. After the business was sold, he recognized the frustration of always searching for guidance and excellence in growing his business. This led him to create the Manufacturing Masters Platform, where listeners can find practical advice and guidance for their leadership roles in the manufacturing industry. This platform aims to provide short, concise, and meaningful content for leaders in the industry.

On this episode of the Manufacturers Network podcast, Lisa Ryan welcomes back Darrin Mitchell, President of Mitchell Industries and Chief Marketing Officer of the Manufacturing Masters platform. Darrin specializes in developing learning platforms that cater to the immediate needs of manufacturing teams, providing them with essential knowledge and advice to move their businesses forward. Manufacturing Masters is a platform with battle-tested industry experts who deliver concise, actionable insights to manufacturers within 5 minutes, addressing specific challenges and sharing best practices.

Darrin reflects on the data collected by the platform, showcasing the key trends in the consumption of information by manufacturers. He emphasizes the importance of meeting manufacturers where they are and providing them with the information they need when they need it. Darrin also provides insightful predictions for 2024, highlighting the expected emphasis on digital transformation and the continuing focus on continuous improvement, people skills, and business leadership.

The conversation also delves into the growing significance of mental health and well-being in the manufacturing industry, emphasizing the need for meaningful employee support and resources. As the podcast ends, Darrin provides contact details for Manufacturing Masters, encouraging listeners to explore the platform for their training and development needs in 2024 and beyond.

This episode offers valuable insights for manufacturers, showcasing the evolving landscape of training and development in the industry and the shifting focus on important issues such as mental health and digital transformation.

Connect with Addison Adams:

In this episode of The Manufacturers Network Podcast, Lisa Ryan is joined by M&A specialist Addison Adams, who shares valuable insights into the world of mergers and acquisitions within the manufacturing industry.

Addison Adams is a seasoned lawyer turned corporate deal maker specializing in mergers and acquisitions for small and mid-size businesses. After starting his career in litigation, he transitioned to .com investor financings and found his passion in bringing parties together to close deals with mutual satisfaction. With a keen eye for deal structuring and a knack for navigating complex negotiations, Addison has become a trusted advisor in the corporate world. Addison's expertise and focus on creating win-win situations have made him a valuable asset in the business world, from buying and selling businesses to forming joint ventures.

Key Theme:

- Addison sheds light on the intricacies of selling a manufacturing company, emphasizing the importance of preparation, expertise, and strategic decision-making to navigate the process successfully.

Lessons Learned:

1. The Value of Investment Bankers and Business Brokers: Addison highlights the value brought by these professionals in casting a wide net for potential buyers, aiding in negotiations, and driving up sale prices through engaging in auctions.

2. Confidentiality in Sales: The significance of maintaining confidentiality during the sale process is to prevent disruptions within the company and avoid potential risks associated with employees and customers becoming aware of the potential sale.

3. Compliance with Employment Law: It is important to ensure all employment laws are meticulously adhered to, minimizing risks for the buyer in the sale process.

4. The Role of Attorneys in M&A Deals: The benefits of partnering with specialist attorneys experienced in closing M&A deals for a faster, smoother, and more cost-effective process with better results.

Fun Facts:

- Addison Adams transitioned from a career in litigation to specialization in M&A within the manufacturing industry, driven by the positive energy of successful deals.

- His firm represents companies outside California, exemplified by their current deal in Wisconsin.

Actionable Ideas:

1. Manufacturers should get organized, understand the value of their business, and be well-versed in their business's worth before a sale.

2. Prepare for a sale by considering specialized employees, customer lists, facilities, supplier relationships, and proprietary processes.

3. Engage a specialist attorney experienced in closing M&A deals to navigate the sale process effectively and efficiently.

4. Understand sales' legal and financial implications, including the importance of due diligence and compliance with employment and other laws.

In this episode, Addison Adams provides invaluable insights that manufacturers looking to sell their businesses can leverage to make informed decisions and navigate the complexities of the sales process effectively.

Listen to the full episode for more detailed information, including specific examples and resources.

In this episode of The Manufacturers Network Podcast, host Lisa Ryan interviews Lisa Sanderson, the Vice President of Marketing and Strategy at Gleicher Manufacturing. Gleicher Manufacturing provides bonding, sealing, and fastening solutions for global clients, servicing industries such as the US military, aerospace, electronics, and medical devices. Lisa Sanderson shares her journey of returning to the family-owned business and her experiences implementing changes to transition from a family business to a business run by a family.

Key Themes:

1. Family Business Dynamics: Lisa Sanderson recounts her early exposure to the family business and the unexpected path that led her back to the company. The complexities and challenges of employing family members in a business, particularly in succession planning, are explored.

2. Change Management: The discussion delves into the intricacies of implementing organizational changes in a long-standing company. Lisa Sanderson emphasizes the importance of understanding the workforce's resistance to change and the need to balance tradition with evolution.

3. Training and Development: The importance of investing in employee training and development to adapt to modern manufacturing practices is highlighted. The conversation explores strategies for training, capturing employee knowledge, and transitioning towards digital practices.

Lessons Learned:

- There is a need to convince individuals of the necessity for change before expecting their willingness to adapt.

- Regular and inclusive communication's significance in fostering employee buy-in amidst organizational changes.

- Balancing tradition with the demand for innovation in a long-established family business requires patience and strategic planning.

Fun Facts:

- Lisa Sanderson discusses her diverse career journey, from being a product manager for consumer packaged goods to becoming a holistic health coach and author.

- The conversation reflects on the challenges and humor in introducing modern technology and practices to longtime employees, highlighting the generational diversity within the workforce.

Connect with Lisa Sanderson:

- Email: [email protected]

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisajoysanderson/

#Manufacturing #FamilyBusiness #ChangeManagement #SuccessionPlanning #TrainingAndDevelopment #Innovation #PodcastInterview #LeadershipDevelopment #OrganizationalChange

In this episode of The Manufacturers Network Podcast, Lisa Ryan interviews Brent Kedzierski, a renowned leader in connected worker ecosystems at Hexagon, delving into the complexities of human-centric design in manufacturing. Kedzierski draws from his extensive background in industrial psychology, military aviation training, and global HR strategy at Shell to highlight the pressing issue of talent retention in the manufacturing industry. He details how the workforce is rapidly evolving and shares insights on how companies can adapt to meet employees' evolving needs.

Key Themes:

- High-quality, digitized content is needed to engage employees in the manufacturing industry and facilitate efficient learning processes.

- The importance of a human-centered approach to design in manufacturing companies and the challenges and failure rates associated with digital transformation efforts.

- The impact of automation and AI in manufacturing, including the necessity to automate mundane tasks and encourage employee creativity.

- The evolving workforce, which seeks purpose, connection, and pride in their work, and the shift towards prioritizing the whole person in employee development.

- The future of work, where cognitive thinking, creativity, and collaboration will be prioritized, necessitating the development of new intellectual and creative skills.

Lessons Learned:

- Companies in the manufacturing industry must prioritize personalized experiences, connect with employees on a deeper level, and invest in employee development to retain talent in a rapidly changing workforce.

- Digitization and content curation are vital for efficient learning and human-centered design in manufacturing.

- The workforce is evolving, emphasizing purpose, connection, and personal development, necessitating a shift in company strategies to address these changing needs.

Fun Facts:

- Brent Kedzierski's extensive background includes military aviation training, industrial psychology, and a 25-year stint at Shell as a global HR strategist.

- Lisa Ryan and Brent Kedzierski engage in a dynamic discussion about the future of work, dispelling myths about younger generations being disinterested in work and emphasizing the importance of creativity and collaboration in the workforce.

For more information and to connect with Brent Kedzierski, you can contact him on LinkedIn.

In this episode of The Manufacturers Network Podcast, host Lisa Ryan engages in a powerful conversation with retired Air Force veteran Kathy Gallowitz. Gallowitz shares her expertise in supporting veterans' transition into the civilian workforce, particularly focusing on their integration within the manufacturing industry.

Key Themes:

1. Challenges of Transition: Kathy Gallowitz underscores the challenges veterans face when transitioning to civilian life, such as identity loss, unstructured environments, and a lack of understanding of their strengths and aptitudes. She emphasizes the need for employers to act as advocates, not just architects, for veterans, outlining a strategic plan to help veterans succeed in the workforce.

2. Best Practices: Best practices for attracting, hiring, and retaining veteran talent in the manufacturing sector are discussed, including the use of military skills translators, the involvement of current veteran employees in the hiring process, and the importance of building a veteran voice committee or employee resource group.

3. Military Culture Training: Employers are encouraged to invest in military culture training to understand the unique needs and experiences of military personnel. Building a veteran-friendly workplace, offering career ladders, and providing clear pathways for advancement are vital factors in becoming a veteran-ready employer.

Lessons Learned:

- The episode sheds light on the importance of recognizing the unique skills and value that veterans bring to the manufacturing sector, including safety focus, leadership capabilities, operational discipline, and technical proficiencies.

- Gallowitz's journey, from growing up as a navy kid to becoming a career Air Force veteran, is not just inspiring but also provides valuable insights into understanding the challenges veterans face during their transition to civilian life and the workforce.

For more information:

Vanguard Veteran Overview: https://vanguardveteran.start.page

Veteran Talent Academy: https://vanguardveteran.com/veteran-champion-consulting-training/

Complimentary Veteran-Ready assessment: https://vanguardveteran.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/may-2021_-vr-employer-assessment.pdf

Vanguard Veteran's Employer Consulting and Training:  https://vanguardveteran.com/veteran-champion-consulting-training/

Invite Vanguard Veteran to Speak: https://vanguardveteran.com/invite-me-to-speak/

Host: Lisa Ryan

Guest: Nicole Morgan**

Contact Nicole Morgan through Resolute PR's website. www.resolutepr.com/workforce-recruitment

Lisa Ryan welcomes Nicole Morgan to the Manufacturers Network podcast. Nicole Morgan is a PR and marketing expert and founder of Resolute PR. She has an innovative approach to addressing changing workforce behavior.

#### Background and Work at Resolute PR

- Nicole shares her journey, having worked in PR and marketing for nearly 20 years and founded Resolute PR about ten years ago.

- Resolute PR takes a holistic approach to addressing client issues by understanding their goals and struggles, with a recent focus on assisting HR departments in marketing open positions.

#### Addressing Workforce Recruitment Challenges

- HR departments often faced challenges in attracting employees as they primarily targeted those actively seeking jobs, neglecting potential employees who may not be actively looking.

- Employers must focus on branding themselves as an employer, emphasizing work culture and value for potential employees.

#### Employer Marketing and Employee Recruitment

- Employers should focus on marketing job positions through clear job descriptions, regular performance reviews, and transparent employee growth paths.

- Encouraging positive employee feedback and addressing negative feedback on platforms like Glassdoor can influence job seekers' perceptions.

#### Trends in Workforce Marketing

- Trends are shifting towards retention campaigns rather than labor shortage solutions, emphasizing the importance of employee communication and transparency.

#### Women in Traditionally Male Positions

- Nicole addresses the importance of accommodating women in traditionally male-dominated industries, such as ensuring the availability of women's restrooms and fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce.

#### Contact Information

- To learn more about Resolute PR's workforce recruitment study and services, visit [resolutepr.com/workforce-recruitment](www.resolutepr.com/workforce-recruitment).

- Contact Nicole Morgan through the website's contact form.

#### Key Themes

- Workforce Recruitment Challenges: Understanding the changing hiring landscape and the need to market job positions effectively to attract potential employees.

- Employee Retention: Shifting trends towards retaining top talent through effective communication and transparent growth paths.

- Women in the Workforce: Recognizing the importance of accommodating and inclusivity for women in traditionally male-dominated industries.

#### Lessons Learned

- Employers need to adapt their recruitment strategies to appeal to actively seeking and passive job seekers.

- Clear job descriptions and transparent growth paths are key for attracting and retaining employees.

- Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace is essential for accommodating women in traditionally male-dominated industries.

#### Fun Facts

- Manufacturing and industrial sectors are adapting to workforce demands by offering flexible scheduling and on-site childcare facilities.

- Employers need to prioritize employee communication and transparency, aiming to retain top talent as the employment landscape evolves.

In this episode of The Manufacturers Network Podcast, host Lisa Ryan welcomes Jarid Beck, Risk Management Advisors's managing director and co-founder. Jarid offers valuable insights into risk management and insurance strategies in manufacturing, particularly focusing on self-insurance and captives for reducing the costs of providing group health benefits.

Jarid Beck begins by sharing his career journey, transitioning from financial planning to focusing on captive insurance companies due to their multifaceted benefits for business owners. He provides a comprehensive explanation of captives, highlighting how they are beneficial for manufacturers in managing risks by providing personalized, cost-effective insurance options tailored to specific business needs.

The conversation delves into the concept of self-insurance and its distinction from traditional insurance models. Jarid emphasizes the financial efficiency and flexibility of captive insurance compared to traditional insurance, shedding light on how it empowers businesses to take control of their insurance expenses and stabilize cash flow.

Additionally, the discussion touches on the challenges manufacturers face when implementing self-insurance and captive insurance strategies, particularly the need for early education and effective communication with stakeholders.

**Key Lessons Learned:**

- Captive insurance companies offer personalized, cost-effective insurance solutions tailored to specific business needs.

- Self-insurance, when approached formally through captives, provides financial efficiency and allows businesses to retain profits and stabilize cash flow.

- Effective education and communication are essential when implementing self-insurance and captive insurance strategies.

**Ideas for Manufacturers to Implement:**

- Explore off-cycle self-insurance and captive insurance strategies to educate and prepare for potential transitions.

- Assemble a team of knowledgeable advisors to guide the exploration and implementation of self-insurance and captive insurance options.

**Fun Facts:**

Did you know that captive insurance companies provide manufacturers with more control over their insurance expenses, potentially leading to cost savings and a stabilized cash flow?

If you want to learn more about self-insurance and captive insurance in manufacturing, connect with Jarid Beck and his team at Risk Management Advisors through their website at www.riskmgmtadvisors.com or explore their informative content on their YouTube channel and LinkedIn.

Join us in the next episode for more insightful discussions on navigating the world of manufacturing.

Welcome to The Manufacturers Network podcast with your host, Lisa Ryan. In this episode, Lisa interviews Mona Shum, owner and principal industrial hygienist at AURA Health and Safety. Mona's extensive experience in exposure assessment, indoor air quality investigations, and environmental public health brings valuable insights into occupational health and safety within the manufacturing sector.

Mona shares her journey into occupational hygiene, highlighting the importance of understanding workplace exposures to chemicals, biological hazards, and physical hazards such as noise and radiation. She emphasizes the need to assess and control these exposures, ensuring the well-being of workers in various industries.

During the conversation, Mona discusses the most common challenges in manufacturing related to air quality and exposure control, citing examples from food-related facilities experiencing dust and chemical hazards. The impact of climate change, including heat stress and wildfire smoke, on occupational settings is highlighted, shedding light on the broader implications for business operations and worker safety.

Lessons Learned:

1. **Refusal of Unsafe Work**: Workers hold the power to refuse unsafe work, creating a platform for change and improved safety standards within organizations.

2. **Proactive Planning for Exposures**: Proactive planning, utilizing resources, and creating exposure control plans are vital for reducing risks associated with heat stress and wildfire smoke.

3. **Digital Technology in Industrial Hygiene**: The incorporation of digital technology, such as user-friendly apps, is shaping the field of industrial hygiene, enabling more individuals to assess and address occupational health risks.

Key Themes:

- Occupational Health and Safety

- Workplace Exposure Assessment

- Impact of Climate Change on Manufacturing

- Proactive Safety Planning

- Digital Technology in Industrial Hygiene

Fun Fact:

Mona Shum discusses the development of an app tailored for the film industry, designed to assess the risk of heat stress based on relative humidity and temperature, showcasing the integration of modern digital solutions in addressing occupational health concerns.

To learn more about AURA or continue the conversation with Mona Shum, visit www.aurahealthsafety.com.

Thank you for tuning in to The Manufacturers Network podcast. Join us next time for more insights into the world of manufacturing.

Lisa Ryan: Hey, it's Lisa Ryan. Welcome to the Manufacturers Network Podcast. I'm excited to introduce our guest today, Mike Bowers. Mike is the chief architect at Faircom, with over 35 years of experience in software development and architecture. His knowledge extends to the database revolution, manufacturing 4.0, the industrial internet of things, Edge computing, and data integration. So Mike, welcome to the show.

Mike Bowers: Oh, I'm glad to be here, Lisa.

Lisa Ryan: Please share your background and what led you to work with Faircom.

Mike Bowers: I've been presenting at conferences on the database revolution for decades. Faircom is a database company that has been selling database software for the last 40 years. You may not have heard of Faircom because it's an embedded database, probably embedded in your phone, satellites, and networks. For example, every phone call you make on Verizon goes through the database, but they don't.

We never did. We were an engineering company, and we never advertised. I never knew much about Faircom, but they saw me at conferences discussing a new database technology that has yet to be implemented. They liked and wanted to implement the ideas, so they recruited me to build that technology into Faircom.

When I got to Faircom, we started building that in. They also realized that since we're an embedded database, the manufacturing world needs to capture data, and they need to capture it in the equipment. They need to capture it on the manufacturing floor. Unlike IT, which tries to go to the cloud and stick everything servers up in distant data centers, manufacturing must capture data on the factory floor.

Manufacturing doesn't want to do that because you can't afford the downtime if the cloud goes down if your network connection to the cloud goes down, if it becomes intermittent, you can stop your manufacturing floor, you can stop processes dead, and you can't afford that. So you need to run locally. And that's where the Faircom database is good. Before my being hired by Faircom, they started selling the product to manufacturers as a database platform. I have an extensive background in manufacturing. I worked in the silicon industry. I wore bunny suits and Intel commercials, and so I've been done all that.

I worked in the automotive industry at Freightliner, which automates vehicles. The Sprinter van is there- a computer runs the whole van. You push on the gas, but it doesn't physically cause the fuel to be injected. It tells the computer you want to inject fuel and does all the injections. So that whole computer system.

I wrote the compiler, the language, everything that programs that van. So I'm proud of that one. It was a lot of fun. I worked in the agriculture industry with extensive, huge farm equipment that picks up one-ton bales, compresses them, and you push a button, and it does all the work.

It's robotics and automation. I spent a lot of my career in manufacturing, and then I spent a lot of my career in the database industry and software development. I wrote a book on HTML and CSS that's still published out there. So I've done a lot of different things. Vericom hired me for the database, but we realized Faircom was trying to enter manufacturing. And because we have a perfect product for that, from a database perspective, I've done all this integration work in factories, and I realized factories struggle with integration costs. It's so expensive to hire people like me, which is what I did, is to go into a factory and automate the factory, and to go to the proprietary protocols on this machine, write the drivers to extract the data, to put them into your manufacturing execution system or your SCADA systems or your ERP systems. All that's a point-to-point development work. And I had spent a lot of time in my career building integration systems that were more generic. So, when Ferricom hired me, I realized there was an opportunity to solve two problems at once. Build this new revolutionary database technology and Make it an integration platform at the same time because I've been working on both problems my entire career.

Coming to Faircom turned out to be even better than I thought. I was excited to work on the database side, but then I realized, wow, I get to work on this other integration solution I've worked on for several decades. My last job was at a large multi-billion dollar international corporation.

I was the head data architect for that organization with thousands of developers. They needed integration for everything. As I said, thousands of developers were integrating data, so I designed a new integration platform because we had nothing that would work out of the box. We bought everything. We had products from IBM and Oracle, and you name the big companies, Microsoft. We had them all, but none could integrate in all the needed ways. So, when I came to Faircom, I started building a new platform for Faircom. We call it the IoT platform.

It's an integration hub. The idea is to integrate data from factory machines and bring it into a standard format. JSON is the standard format, and the JSON is what the factory needs to shape the data the way it needs it. So it's plug-and-play and leverages technologies like MQTT and OPC UA as universal protocols in the factory.

And then, get the data- into JSON from all of these protocols, whether Modbus, OBC, MQTT, Siemens S7, or Alan Bradley's Ethernet IP. You name it. There are hundreds of protocols, right? You must get data out of those protocols into a standard universal format.

Some people call it a universal or a uniform namespace. The idea is a standard format. And once you get your data into a standard format like JSON, you shape the data in a standard way so that you can plug and play your equipment. Then, you can dramatically introduce your manufacturing costs.

You can extract the data from the equipment, and it can become a point-click operation. However, instead of hiring someone like me and paying me exorbitant fees, which I was okay with as a developer, the factory didn't like it. Thus, you spent millions of dollars to grab this data from the equipment.

You're limited to whatever the developer gave you. Later, you say, " I've got a new version of the equipment. Can you get this extra data? " Oh, sure, for an excellent hefty price tag: 100,000 or 50,000, depending on what you're doing. So you're limited in getting the data out of the equipment, and then you're limited.

I'll write a custom code to get it into my manufacturing execution system. And I write unique code to do that. And it's a point-to-point solution. But I need it to go somewhere else now. I want it to go to the cloud. I want it to go to the SCADA system. I want it to go over here to this operation software we just purchased.

And then you're like, that's more custom software development work. So manufacturers are stuck in this quagmire of proprietary protocols and customized software development work, which limits them from getting the data they need to improve their manufacturing processes. Some people say data is the new currency.

And that's true. Data is like money. And if you can't get the money or data out of your equipment, you're limited in the value or money you get from it. So that was what I came to Faircharm to do: build a new database technology.

I've also built a whole new integration platform. You point and click, and data flows in these universal formats. So you can have a plug-and-play factory.

Lisa Ryan: So, for people who aren't, who don't understand all of these different acronyms, the integration field understands. So you have all of these various programs that are in manufacturing, and how do you get them to talk to each other to put them on this point and click, like in the very basic of terms, how does it work that Yeah, that it speeds up the process for what you were doing before as a consultant to what you can do now getting all of these different programs to talk to each other.

Mike Bowers: Oh, that's the perfect question because if they're all proprietary protocols, as manufacturing companies often do, they'll invest in one primary vendor like Siemens or Allen Bradley. If they buy everything from that one vendor and use all their solutions, which is very expensive, they might be able to have a plug-and-play factory.

But the reality is that they need to buy equipment that does the job to make whatever they're making. And that equipment has all these. Proprietary protocols are binary low-level protocols where you have to say this little bit means this bit means that, and this bit means there's an alert, this bit means the machine's stopping, and this bit means it's starting. Then, you have to gather all those bits and convert them.

It's super expensive and proprietary. How do you get that into a standard way? What we do is on our product is we get, we create drivers that can talk to the Siemens protocols or the Allen Bradley protocols, and then the industry knows that this is a real problem with all these proprietary protocols that lock you into a vendor that make it complicated and expensive to get data out.

Several protocols are more open-ended. Modbus is a pretty open-ended protocol. It's still down at the bit level where you're tweaking this bit, which means this number represents the other thing. But it's not proprietary. So that was the first step. And then Vintner said now we need to be more self-describing.

Let's use a protocol like OBCUA to ask the machine what data it has. It will come back with a list. I have temperature, air pressure, and the stamper frequency numbers. Then you say, " Okay, I'm interested in stamper frequency. How often are you stamping? "

I want to see how productive my equipment is. I want to know if it's producing at a high rate, slowing down, or getting old. And so, I like the stamper frequency number. With OBC UA, you say, " Okay, give me the stamper frequency. " It'll send it over, or you can pull it and say every 10 minutes, you can get the number every two seconds, whatever you need to do.

So, the industry has evolved from these proprietary protocols to more generic ones like Modbus. Open ones like OPC UA that tag the data, and you can ask it questions, but OPC UA is good as it is. It's costly because it is so cool. And vendors who it takes, it's tough to implement an OPC UA feature into your product if you're selling a piece of equipment to implement that in is super expensive.

So they pass that onto the factory and say you'll pay more for OPC UA. Faircom provides drivers that allow you to connect to your native protocols, so you don't have to buy the expensive OPC UA solution if you don't already have it. But we also connect to OPC UA when you do have it.

Some equipment is now evolving to produce MQTT messages. MQTT is a new protocol that is transforming the whole manufacturing world because it's open source, it's standard, and it's not proprietary. It uses Canada's. It's flexible, and most people send JSON messages over it. JSON is a simple way of human-readable messages that you can format and say the temperature is 71 degrees.

You can just, and humans and machines can read it so that we can troubleshoot it in the factory. You can also push messages around. It's like email. Or Twitter: you publish a message, and anyone who wants that topic can subscribe and get it, just like a podcast.

If you want the podcast, you subscribe. If you don't, you don't get it. That's what MQTT does. That model is game-changing for manufacturing. Some equipment is starting to support MQTT as well. And MQTT is taking over the industry. So, we built an MQTT broker right into our product.

We have built-in drivers for all these proprietary protocols. So you go into our product and say, " Okay, connect to that device using this protocol. " We automatically gather the data, convert it to JSON, and deliver that data to any other protocol. So, we have this universal translator.

That gathers data from any protocol and sends it to another one. So it's, and we use techniques that no one else can do because we have our embedded database inside. After all, we have a, we're a database company. So when it

Lisa Ryan: Would this be a low-code platform then? You had mentioned something before about low code. So, what is that in the scheme of things?

Mike Bowers: As I said before, I spent it on high code. If you hired me to convert data from a machine, I would have to write a lot of code. I had to use a programming language, and it would take a ton of code, and that's why it's so expensive. Low code means all the heavy lifting has been done for you. Faircom has done the heavy lifting. We've once written all the hard code in these drivers, converting it to a universal communication format like JSON and standard structures.

We've done all that hard work, so now it's just a matter of putting a user interface on it, and you point and click. Low-code means point and click, so you can point and click and say, " Okay, connect to this. " For example, I have a temperature sensor. I want to connect to it.

It talks about Modbus. Okay. So I'll point, click, and say, " Connect to this sensor using Modbus. " I'm interested in the temperature. Now convert that from Celsius to Fahrenheit, point and click, point and click, point and click, and then send it over to MQTT so that somebody can subscribe to the topic of temperature on my temperature sensor.

So, point and click, point and click, and you've got that whole thing configured in minutes instead of paying someone like me $ 30,000,000 to write all that code to make a point. Use a point-to-point solution to get it in your MES and bring it into our hub. From our hub, it can go anywhere in a universal format.

We've built a universal translator, and all these protocols, drivers, and technologies, like MQTT and OPC UA, are built in, along with a database. We even have an application server built there to support web applications. So you can do point-and-click. So it's easy.

Lisa Ryan: You've mentioned a couple, but what protocols can this manufacturing integration platform support?

Mike Bowers: Yeah, the ones we support today are MQTT, OPC UA, Modbus, Allen Bradley, Ethernet IP, and Siemens S7. We also support SQL for the IT folks, the JSON protocols over HTTP, and all your RESTful stuff.

We also support pushing data to the REST endpoint. The IT world also needs all this data stuck in manufacturing. We have the three number one technologies IT needs to get data out SQL, REST, and MQTT. They use all three techniques. So we have that, and then we have ThemeWorks integration as well.

And we're building more protocols all the time. 

Lisa Ryan: So if you're working with a manufacturer and talking to them about using an integration platform because they can reduce their integration costs four times and all of that, and they, and basically, you go in speaking the language of it, which is terrifying to most manufacturers. 

So, how do you put it in? Simplified terms that people would understand. 

Mike Bowers: We've been spending a lot of money on this and want to reduce our integration costs. This sounds like a good idea, but how would we get started? And more importantly, how would we take the fear out of all this technology stuff that nobody except IT people understands?

First off, we could connect to your equipment. Whatever protocols you have, we usually have a protocol that supports most equipment. There are even hardware devices you can plug into equipment that convert protocols. If we don't support the exact protocol you have- and there are hundreds of protocols that equipment has- you can plug in these little hardware dongles that convert it to OPC UA, MQTT, or Modbus.

It's very easy to get the data. We just say, " plug, plug. " We'll plug into your equipment, get the equipment out, and don't even worry about IT because we talk their language. Our universal translator, our hub, automatically gets it to IT. You don't even have to worry about IT. It, they, in fact, here's the key point.

It's been begging you for data forever. We have the solution. You don't even have to worry about IT. You say we've got a hub that auto-translates what we understand in the manufacturing world to all that IT stuff. And the IT stuff- those guys- they know how to talk IT stuff. They can come to our equipment and product and go, " Oh, you've got SQL. "

Awesome. I know how to use that. Oh, you've got the best. Oh, I know how to use that. You got MQTT. Oh, I know how to use that. So they don't even need help. They can see the data sitting there in our products, and they come and get it and love it. Finally, we freed the data, and that's the key point here.

Instead of hiring people like me to get to a point- and now you're locked in, we free the data out. We bring it into our hub, and anyone can get it. We can push the data anywhere we need to push it. So yeah, you can forget about IT. And the other part is you don't need IT to make this work.

So that's one of the critical things about Faircom. We've been in business for 40 years, building lights-out systems that work—high-performance, high-volume, no maintenance, plug it in, and it works. Some of our customers have a big complaint that it's worked for so long, they forget and get scared- what if something happens?

How do I fix it? It's been working for seven years, and I've never touched it. If you think about it, that's scary because if it goes wrong, what do we do? We have no one. It's a good thing that Faircom knows how it works, and if you have any support, we support you beautifully and fix it.

And that's not an issue. But that's how we roll, so IT doesn't need to come in and install our product. It installs itself. You unzip and run it. It's just- it just works. You unzip, run, point, and click, and it's all doing the job for you. So it's super easy to install and maintain, and you can do it in your factory without IT. But then IT can come to get the data.

Lisa Ryan: So what about security? I know there are dangers to the cloud with ransomware and cybercriminals knowing what the cloud is and being able to break into it. If you have an integration platform that's easy to use, plug and play. Does that make it more susceptible so criminals can't get to it? 

Mike Bowers: Awesome question. You're right. If you put all your data in one place, that's one place for a hacker to go and steal the data. So you have to secure it. And so what we do by default is everything is secure.

We have built-in encryption. All the data we collect in our database is encrypted on disk. So if they were to steal the machine it...

Connect with Heather:

Website: www.pureingenium.com

Lisa Ryan: Hey, it's Lisa Ryan. Welcome to the Manufacturers Network podcast. I'm excited to introduce our guest today, Heather Johnson. Heather is the CEO of Ingenium and has over 25 years of experience in hazardous waste management. Her innovative sustainability and waste management approach has positioned Ingenium as an industry leader in waste-to-energy programs and zero-waste initiatives.

Lisa Ryan: Heather, welcome to the show.

Heather Johnson: Thank you, Lisa. I'm excited to be here today.

Lisa Ryan: Share a little bit about your background and what led you to do what you're doing.

Heather Johnson: You named it over 25 years of experience. Back in my college days, I was answering phones in this industry. Along the way, I started doing some marketing and sales and ultimately ended up 27 years in the industry. I never look back on anything, finding anything in this and carrying it forward.

Lisa Ryan: Yeah. Right now, many companies are aspiring to achieve a zero-waste status. What are some of the steps and strategies businesses can take to embark on this journey?

Heather Johnson: So zero waste is a journey, as you mentioned, and there are several steps. The first step for a business is to determine that they want to move forward. And in that, the first step is looking at what they're generating in terms of waste, what's going into the trash cans at the cubicle level, what's going into the trash cans in their kitchens or cafeterias throughout the facilities that all end up in a dumpster typically and where we start is at the dumpster level.

For lack of a better term, we call it a dumpster dive, but dig in the trash and look at what are these guys producing that might have some value and be removed from the waste world and used elsewhere. From there, we provide data. So it's data collection and then reporting out to the business.

Hey, here's what you guys are doing. Are you aware? And most of the time, they are not aware to any significant extent of what types of things are making it into the trash. But it starts with the conversation at that point: okay, here's what's happening. What are you willing to do as a business to reduce the waste going into the trash?

From there, we talk about strategies that can be deployed within the business, ways to minimize waste, and ways to reuse materials in lieu of creating waste. And continue to track the progress of the efforts and provide more data to show reduction over time. Ultimately, the objective would be to achieve this zero waste certification, with a certain percentage milestone to remove waste from the landfill.

Lisa Ryan: So when it comes to zero waste certification, I think about zero waste, just in my own house, and what goes out into the trash every week. What is that percentage? How much are people reducing their waste to get that certification? What does that look like?

Heather Johnson: I believe it's 90 percent on average, which sounds extremely challenging, and it is. Don't get me wrong again. A business has to have a concerted effort. It doesn't just include leadership behind it; everybody in the organization takes pride in reducing waste.

Lisa Ryan: Yeah, I know your company is known for its innovative waste-to-energy programs, but how can these green solutions work as a viable option for manufacturers?

Heather Johnson: Believe it or not, manufacturers produce a lot of waste. There's a lot of opportunity. Manufacturers use solvents as an example, and we can reuse those materials and repurpose them for another business that can continue the use as opposed to a manufacturer having to send out the material as waste.

Many different items are used in manufacturing, resulting in a beneficial reuse opportunity that minimizes what goes into the track. There are a lot of opportunities in manufacturing. In the event we can't do something better with the material, then make it a waste or call it a waste, then waste to energy comes into play as a viable technology that's greener than putting something into a landfill or incinerating it.

Lisa Ryan: So when you're reusing, like you said, solvents, would that manufacturer who was using the solvents be able to use them again? Or would another manufacturer or another company buy that? 

Heather Johnson: Yeah, both. The answer is both. Some manufacturers will continue to use a solvent until it's so dirty. They cannot do anything further with it. Some manufacturers have quality control. These procedures allow using a material only once, and it's still clean enough for someone else to use. They don't allow it in their process.

We can pass that along to another manufacturer or company using that material. Additionally, when a solvent gets dirty, we can do something called distillation, which cleans it up and creates a renewable product, the solvent. Without whatever was contaminating it, those manufacturers can rebuy it because it does have a cost associated with it, but it's less expensive than buying a new solvent.

Heather Johnson: The ultimate goal is to minimize what is wasted. If you can prolong the use, the longer you do that, instead of using a new product, you're doing the environment a favor every time.

Lisa Ryan: Absolutely. Discuss hazardous risk because assessing and managing hazardous waste is crucial in industrial operations. So what can businesses do to mitigate their hazardous waste risks so that they're in compliance and safe?

Heather Johnson: Call ingenium? No, calling a company like Ingenium can help them understand both from a compliance standpoint. What are you required to do based on what you're generating? What are your hazardous processes? And then what are the requirements and regulatory risks around what you're doing? It's a whole world that most people don't think about regarding tracking and managing.

If you have a chemical, for example, that you're using, only when you say you no longer have a use for it, and there is no longer a use for it, then it's a waste. So once you determine something is a waste, new regulations kick in. And. A lot of businesses don't necessarily understand what the requirements are around managing hazardous waste, so they can bring in a consultant who does understand that, or bigger businesses, often, will have a full-time environmental health and safety manager who is responsible for the hazardous waste and the tracking and management of it.

Either way, from a safety standpoint, a lot of training goes into place so that people know what they're handling. And then, from a regulatory requirement standpoint, there are holding time issues. There are manifest paperwork-type issues. There's also something called cradle to grave, which means once you have a waste, it's yours until you know it's been managed to the end.

So you must know what's happening to the waste. And you're using a company that's properly disposing of it at the end of the day. And there's a paperwork trail on that. And there's a time requirement for that. So, if you understand all of the needs, you should be good to go, but if you don't, I highly encourage you to have a consultant on board to help you with everything because there is a lot.

Lisa Ryan: Yeah, it sounds like it. And I think about this when we're looking at attracting younger people into manufacturing and the industry. Sustainability is a huge topic because they want to protect the planet in whatever they do, or at least not cause additional harm.

What are some things businesses are doing to use eco-friendly practices, or are there specific success stories or examples you can share?

Heather Johnson: Yeah. And you're right. As it pertains to younger people in any industry, they want to work for a company that is environmentally friendly and conscious and doing something if they can to better protect the environment.

Many businesses that can make a difference are pushing back on their suppliers to use greener materials, whether shipping materials or things that can be recycled or reused. That's a big one I'm seeing because many businesses we work with receive chemicals in styrofoam, for example.

And the styrofoam is it's voluminous. If you will, it's lightweight. It's got a recycle value, but It's costly to move it unless you can condense it. And so I've seen companies pushing back on people that use styrofoam to take it back and use it again, for example, instead of the stuff going into the landfill because it takes up a lot of space and doesn't break down easily.

Additionally, they should look at more environmentally friendly products they can use in their processes instead of highly toxic chemicals if there's a way that they can introduce something more environmentally friendly. They're doing that and then ultimately downstream on the wayside. How can they reduce or reuse materials before they become a waste, prolonging the use of something?

Lisa Ryan: Yeah, one of the arguments you hear from people is that the more environmentally friendly products don't. They don't believe they work as well. As the horrifically hazardous materials that they've been using forever. What are you seeing as far as the advances in technology, or is that still true?

Heather Johnson: Yes. And no, I totally know what you're talking about. I know. We also work with a lot of research and development. And they use mercury thermometers. And I remember when they made a play to use cause mercury is highly toxic.

And so, what else can we use in lieu of that? And it took a long time, but they've come out now with a good alternative to the mercury. But there are several products that people will argue are nothing better than radiation isotopes in some cases. However, it's become more challenging to manage that stuff, so people have almost been forced to move away in many situations, but over the last 25 years, I've seen a lot of movement in that area.

Lisa Ryan: Yeah, that's a good thing. Then, we also look at things like community service and corporate responsibility, which you are big on in your organization. How do you tie in what you're doing with sustainability goals regarding focusing on the corporate responsibility efforts of the companies you work with?

Heather Johnson: We have a big push in innovation. On top of what exists today, we're always looking for what is coming in the future that we can leverage and introduce to people. We are the experts in the technology as it presents itself. We don't own any technology, nor do we create any technology. Still, we understand what other people are doing and how it can benefit our customers - from manufacturing businesses to pharma and any industry that uses chemicals and produces hazardous waste. There's more and more technology that's greener to manage this stuff in the future. Historically, it's gone for landfill or incineration, and we want to minimize what goes to the landfill.

More and more, there are conversations about that. But if it's not going to landfill, where is it going? What can we do? And so, more and more, you're seeing new technologies present themselves that minimize the need to send things to the landfill.

Lisa Ryan: What are you seeing regarding some of those new technologies that you've been the most impressed with, or have changed the game in waste management or your zero waste initiatives?

Heather Johnson: I've seen more people figuring out how to prolong the life of things. If you have to dispose of it, there's something called fuel blending, where you can use hazardous waste as a secondary fuel in a cement kiln. So, a lot of hazardous waste qualifies instead of using natural resources.

To make cement as an example, I'm also seeing people clean up waste reuse. It can't say clean up waste because once it's waste, you have a different right to prolong the use of a chemical. We have something called an orphan chemical program. For example, a large manufacturer with quality controls can't use products past their shelf life, but that doesn't mean that a smaller business with fewer funds can't use those chemicals in their research.

We can take them from the large manufacturer to the small startup, and they can continue using them without buying new chemicals. It may end up as waste in the future as well.

Lisa Ryan: How did they find out about you? I mean you because you're, we talked earlier about the companies reusing themselves, or it goes to other companies.

How does that whole process work? How would somebody even find out what you have in the list of products that you have that you can make available to people?

Heather Johnson: Right now, that program is Largely amongst our current customer base because we haven't figured out how to leverage AI, which I think would be our next play.

But right now, we have a list of all our customers who are interested in being potential recipients of chemicals. So when a customer wants to donate, there's the donor and the recipient. Let's call it: the big manufacturer has a list of chemicals they no longer need, but there are still good chemicals, right?

They're not crystallizing around the caps or inherently waistline. They will go out as waste unless we find a home for them. So we'll take their inventory of chemicals, and we'll send it to our customer base of recipients. And then those guys will look at it and say, okay, I'd like to have the following chemicals, and then we will arrange.

The transportation from point A to point B of those materials and the way they find us when they find us is frequently a Google search for hazardous waste recycling because more and more people want to be sustainable. And so it's more complex than hazardous waste disposal, which we'd still come up with in a search for that, but it's word of mouth or Google search.

Lisa Ryan: How does a company know they need to talk to somebody like you? What is the first clue that making the call to Ingenium is a good option?

Heather Johnson: If they're generating hazardous waste and they understand they can't throw it in the trash, that's the first clue.

And then, what type of business do they want to work with? I would say the majority of business. Businesses today have gotten on board with sustainability. When we started Ingenium 17 years ago, sustainability was not a big deal to people. It was. I don't even know if it was a word used in our industry.

And then, when the markets crashed in 08. We saw a huge influx of chemicals that had to go for disposal because businesses were shutting down. These would be chemicals that had never been opened, but the business is closing, and part of the closure process is that all of the chemicals have to go out as hazardous waste.

And it was crazy for us to see just how much good material was being wasted. So, we started to promote sustainability back in 2008. However, it comes at a cost, so traditional disposal is less expensive than some screener opportunities. And early on, businesses weren't willing to take on additional costs to do that today.

Fast forward 15 years later, and it's a big initiative at the leadership level for many of these businesses. In addition to just having hazardous waste and saying, Hey, I need to dispose of this, many people managing it know they also want to try something greener. So they'll be looking for companies who have these innovations.

Lisa Ryan: So what's the process? They call you for the first time because they have some waste or want to look at more sustainability. What happens next?

Heather Johnson: We send somebody out to their facility and talk to them about what they're doing. We want to understand what they're doing and why they're doing it because if there are things they can change upstream, and we can help consult with them on that to reduce the amount of waste or use less toxic materials, all kinds of those things that I spoke to earlier.

And then, in that conversation, what are their goals? Again, most companies will tell you that they have some sustainability goals. Some will say we want the lowest cost. Based on what they're trying to accomplish, we will tailor a program for them that meets those needs.

Lisa Ryan: And are you cleaning up the chemicals and stuff? Do you have a pro, so you have a whole processing facility?

Heather Johnson: We don't have a processing facility, but we have the trucks and the people. So, we will go to the manufacturer and ensure everything's properly labeled and packaged so that it can go on a truck for safe transport to the disposal facility or wherever the material will ultimately end up.

Lisa Ryan: Is there anything I haven't asked you about that you think is important for people listening to? No,

Heather Johnson: I think you touched on it, but ultimately, what I believe is the most important for people to know if they are not aware and understand is the cradle-to-the-grave element of the waste generation that they, it's crucial that they're working with a dependable company like Ingenium, because, again, if you're working with somebody you're getting a cheap price or, these people aren't on the up and up.

If your waste ends up somewhere it shouldn't, you're going to pay for cleanup a second time, and possibly, if other companies have waste in that area and are out of business, you're going to be paying for other people's waste as well. So it's most crucial that. You know that you're working with a reliable vendor.

Lisa Ryan: If somebody wanted to continue the conversation or learn more about how Ingenium can help them and you, what would be the best way to contact you?

Heather Johnson: The best way to contact me and learn about Ingenium services is to visit our website, www.pureingenium.com, and that's P U R E I N G E N I U M dot com slash podcast. This podcast will be listed there with others, and they'll be able to get all of our other information on the website from there.

Lisa Ryan: Heather, having you on the show has been a pleasure today. Thank you so much for joining me.

Heather Johnson: Thank you for having me, Lisa.

Lisa Ryan: I'm Lisa Ryan, and this is the Manufacturers' Network Podcast. We'll see you next time.