The past decade or so in the manufacturing sector has brought lots of hype about robotics along with it. But sometimes the flexible systems that many small and medium-sized business leaders were promised have been too complex to effectively deliver on the jobs to be done on the plant floor.

Colin Riggs and Diane Abruzzini Riggs, Co-Founders of Rigorous, have set out to change that. They're passionate about local economies and helping smaller manufacturers access the robotics technologies that will let them stay competitive. And one niche manufacturing application at a time, they're working to make that happen.

Lots of business like to talk about things like "work culture" and "core values". But for many of those businesses, these are just aspirational concepts. My guest today, Doug Eisenhart, is the President of a manufacturing organization that truly lives and breathes its core values, and has built a work culture second to none.

Doug will talk about how creating this kind of strong organization health internally translates into customer success. Because when your people are all rowing in the same direction, and they're owning and embracing their roles, amazing thing start to happen for your customers too.

To quote Dave Chrysler, Founder and Principal Consultant at The Crysler Club, "In the fast-paced world of operations, leaders are often looking for the silver bullet that can solve all their challenges."

He'll tell you that although there may not be a one-size-fits-all solution, there are some fundamental tools that any manufacturing leader should consider putting in his or her tool belt.

From SOPs to Kaizen Events to Strategic Planning, he'll break down some of these tools that together can put your organization on a path to operational excellence.

Large amounts of data are only helpful if you can make it all actionable.

In today's conversation, Founder and CEO at IndustrialML, Arjun Chandar, will tell you that as IIoT technology continues to advance, so much of the data being pulled off manufacturing floors is being holed up in the back offices of factories.

Arjun will share his perspective about how to harness this data and put to use in ways that address some of the biggest challenges facing manufacturers today – especially for workforce training and retention.

Customer research. Customer interviews. Voice of customer. Whatever you choose to call it, this is something that many companies THINK they're doing.

But in reality, most are just trying to create a setting for hearing what they want to hear from their customers, for collecting testimonials and ultimately, for selling them more stuff.

In this episode, I talk with author and President of Loomis Marketing, Dave Loomis. A deep expert in voice of customer with well over 10,000 hours of customer interviews under his belt, Dave will tell you what voice of customer work REALLY is, how to do it right and how to put what he calls "customer outsights" to work in a way that benefits both you AND your customers.

Imagine not having a home owner's insurance policy when you live in tornado alley. This is the analogy today's guest makes to a manufacturer without a strategic inventory plan.

Harrison Wells, VP of Professional Services at LeanDNA, will tell you that in today's "Disruption Economy", supply chain management and specifically, inventory optimization, are more important than ever before.

And in this conversation, he breaks it all down.

More than half of all revenue from goods produced in the US come from factories with 500 people or less. But so many small factories operate without a digital backbone to manage all of their data.

In this conversation, Co-Founder and CEO of Pico MES, Ryan Kuhlenbeck, talks about the impact of creating a digital through line of data – from suppliers and manufacturers along the supply chain, all the way up to the OEMs.

Over the past few decades, we've seen two of the five human senses digitized:

With sound, we've witnessed music go from analog to digital, and technologies like Siri and Alexa infiltrate our personal and professional lives.

With vision, we've watched facial recognition software emerge on our phones, video surveillance and super advanced vision inspection systems on manufacturing production lines.

Youssef Benmokhtar, CEO of GelSight and the guest on this episode, is leading the company that's pioneering the digitization of a third human sense – touch. And what they're doing right now will open the door to limitless applications in manufacturing technology, and also in our daily lives.

Change. How. American. Manufacturing's. Perceived. In. Our. Nation. Put the first letters of those eight words together and you have the word "CHAMPION".

Terry Iverson is the founder of the nonprofit organization CHAMPION Now. And he's on a mission to change the image of manufacturing from the stereotypical “dark and dirty” industry to one filled with advanced technology and innovation, and promising careers for the next generation.

In this episode, he's here to tell you why this mission is so important, what he's doing to fulfill this mission, and hopefully, to inspire you to take action as well.

Advancing sustainability. Reducing downtime risk. Creating a more profitable future through energy efficiency. These are positive side effects of implementing a modernized energy system.

And in the manufacturing sector, where incredible amounts of energy are consumed every minute from a century-old power grid, it's time to start looking toward to the future.

In this episode, Gareth Evans, CEO and Founder of energy transition platform VECKTA, shares his wealth of knowledge on the subject.

Veckta's Company Website: https://www.veckta.com

Veckta's Company Podcast: https://www.veckta.com/renewable-rides-podcast/

Gareth's Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-evans-41015726