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In this episode, Matthew Chang and Colin Russ go without a guest to call two things: structural steel is now the critical path on American factory builds, and the customer-funded founder is the one most likely to survive the reindustrialization wave.
If you care about manufacturing, construction, supply chain, policy, founders, this one is for you.
What we cover
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Episode Setup
01:13 Actuators and Automation Wins
02:22 Dock Lock Reindustrialization Metric
06:20 Steel Shortages and Critical Path
19:30 Permitting and State Playbooks
28:19 Customer Funded Founders and Wrap Up
Hosts: Matthew Chang and Colin Russ
Find Matthew Chang:
https://x.com/MatthewChang | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewachang/
Find Colin Russ:
https://x.com/ThaaatColin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/
Find Chang Robotics:
https://changrobotics.ai | https://www.linkedin.com/company/changrobotics/
Seven Steps to Reindustrialize America: https://www.thereforgepodcast.com/7steps
Follow ReForge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/
X: https://x.com/thereforgepod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod
Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/
Want to be a guest or partner?
If you’re building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we’d love to hear from you.
Email: [email protected]
About ReForge
ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America.
This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing.
Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ.
Produced by Chang Robotics.
In this episode, Matthew Chang and Colin Russ talk with Mason Hensley (Managing Director at American Stator) about why the stator is the real bottleneck in American robotics, and what it takes to build that supply chain here from the steel coil forward.
If you care about robotics, supply chain, manufacturing, automation, domestic production, this one is for you.
What we cover
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:45 Mason’s Path to Robotics
08:47 Stators 101 and Supply Chain Gaps
25:43 Epoxy Coating and Induction
32:14 Winding as a Service
41:22 Scaling American Stator
Hosts: Matthew Chang and Colin Russ
Guest: Mason Hensley, Managing Director at American Stator
Find Mason Hensley:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/masonhensley/ | https://americanstator.com | https://x.com/masonhensley
Find Matthew Chang:
https://x.com/MatthewChang | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewachang/
Find Colin Russ:
https://x.com/ThaaatColin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/
Find Chang Robotics:
https://changrobotics.ai | https://www.linkedin.com/company/changrobotics/
Seven Steps to Reindustrialize America: https://www.thereforgepodcast.com/7steps
Follow ReForge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/
X: https://x.com/thereforgepod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod
Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/
Want to be a guest or partner?
If you’re building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we’d love to hear from you.
Email: [email protected]
About ReForge
ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America.
This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing.
Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ.
Produced by Chang Robotics.
In this episode, Matthew Chang and Colin Russ talk with Ryan Ray (Director of Partnerships at Ad Astra Equity Advisors) about why so many small manufacturers are worth far less than their owners expect, and why removing the owner from the business is the work that fixes almost everything else.
If you care about manufacturing, capital, automation, and succession, this one is for you.
What we cover
- Owner dependency and the Thailand test
- The twenty percent customer concentration rule
- Using SBA lending as a valuation reality check
- Linking your tools and cleaning your data before automating anything
- Why talking to one buyer costs owners money
Chapters
00:00 Cold Open and Guest Intro
04:39 Ray’s Background and Deal Network
08:59 Succession, Valuation, and AI Upside
25:15 Fixing Multiple Killers
27:07 Premium for Clean Automation
32:53 Mixers Slap Fight Wrap
Hosts: Matthew Chang and Colin Russ
Guest: Ryan Ray, Director of Partnerships at Ad Astra Equity Advisors
Find Ryan Ray:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanraysr/ | https://www.adastraequity.com/ | https://x.com/RyanRaySr
Find Matthew Chang:
https://x.com/MatthewChang | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewachang/
Find Colin Russ:
https://x.com/ThaaatColin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/
Find Chang Robotics:
https://changrobotics.ai | https://www.linkedin.com/company/changrobotics/
Seven Steps to Reindustrialize America: https://www.thereforgepodcast.com/7steps
Resources mentioned
The Frackers, the book on the shale revolution Ryan references when describing his survey company's work for Chesapeake
Follow ReForge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/
X: https://x.com/thereforgepod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod
Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/
Want to be a guest or partner?
If you're building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you.
Email: [email protected]
About ReForge
ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America.
This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing.
Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ.
Produced by Chang Robotics.
In this episode, Matthew Chang and Colin Russ talk with Caleb Chamberlain (Co-Founder and CEO at OSH Cut) about building a fabrication company that competes on predictability and software instead of cash burn, and why that model scales across the country.
If you care about manufacturing, automation, supply chain, industrial AI, capital, this one is for you.
What we cover
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:11 Caleb's Journey to OSHCut
05:37 Scaling OSHCut with R&D and Smart Capacity
25:53 Why Cincinnati Matters
29:23 Scaling Shops Nationwide
40:13 Funding Moats and Wrap
Hosts: Matthew Chang and Colin Russ
Guest: Caleb Chamberlain, Co-Founder and CEO at OSH Cut
Find Caleb Chamberlain:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/caleb-chamberlain-a4029711/?isSelfProfile=false https://oshcut.com | https://x.com/CalebChamberla6
Find Matthew Chang:
https://x.com/MatthewChang | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewachang/
Find Colin Russ:
https://x.com/ThaaatColin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/
Find Chang Robotics:
https://changrobotics.ai | https://www.linkedin.com/company/changrobotics/
Seven Steps to Reindustrialize America: https://www.thereforgepodcast.com/7steps
Resources mentioned
Follow ReForge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/
X: https://x.com/thereforgepod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod
Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/
Want to be a guest or partner?
If you're building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you.
Email: [email protected]
About ReForge
ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America.
This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing.
Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ.
Produced by Chang Robotics.
In this episode, Matthew Chang and Colin Russ talk with Will Alverson (Managing Partner at Accurate Metal Products) about running a second generation steel plate business with no leverage through a demand boom he thinks is real, driven almost entirely by AI CapEx, and fragile enough to have a single point of failure.
If you care about manufacturing, capital, supply chain, workforce, policy, this one is for you.
What we cover
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:55 Will's Midwest Manufacturing Story
04:14 Family Business Origins and Rite Hite
06:52 Running Profitable Growth and CapEx
17:28 Bull Run Signals and Market Risks
30:37 MIT Workforce Program and Wrap-Up
Hosts: Matthew Chang and Colin Russ
Guest: Will Alverson, Managing Partner at Accurate Metal Products
Find Will Alverson:
https://x.com/will_alverson | https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-alverson/ | https://ampflame.com/
Find Matthew Chang:
https://x.com/MatthewChang | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewachang/
Find Colin Russ:
https://x.com/ThaaatColin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/
Find Chang Robotics:
https://changrobotics.ai | https://www.linkedin.com/company/changrobotics/
Seven Steps to Reindustrialize America: https://www.thereforgepodcast.com/7steps
Follow ReForge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/
X: https://x.com/thereforgepod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod
Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/
Want to be a guest or partner?
If you're building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you.
Email: [email protected]
About ReForge
ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America.
This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing.
Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ.
Produced by Chang Robotics.
In this episode, Matthew Chang and Colin Russ talk with Cole Studer (CTO at Miltech Manufacturing and CEO at Mericron) about what it actually takes to modernize a rural American machine shop, and why the same person rebuilding that shop floor is also building Mericron, an American chipset meant to replace the Chinese one most of our automation quietly runs on.
If you care about manufacturing, automation, workforce, supply chain, and reshoring, this one is for you.
What we cover
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Episode Intro
01:08 Meet Cole and Miltech
06:00 Shop Capabilities and Big Machines
11:34 Scaling Up in Rural Kansas
20:28 Automation and ITAR Constraints
27:42 Mericron American ESP32 Mission
Hosts: Matthew Chang and Colin Russ
Guest: Cole Studer, CTO at Miltech Manufacturing and CEO at Mericron
Find Cole Studer:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cole-studer-3323a5104/ | https://www.miltechmanufacturing.com/ | https://www.mericron.com/ | https://x.com/photoncmndr
Find Matthew Chang:
https://x.com/MatthewChang | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewachang/
Find Colin Russ:
https://x.com/ThaaatColin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/
Find Chang Robotics:
https://changrobotics.ai | https://www.linkedin.com/company/changrobotics/
Seven Steps to Reindustrialize America: https://www.thereforgepodcast.com/7steps
Follow ReForge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/
X: https://x.com/thereforgepod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod
Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/
Want to be a guest or partner?
If you're building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you.
Email: [email protected]
About ReForge
ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America.
This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing.
Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ.
Produced by Chang Robotics.
In this episode, Matthew Chang and Colin Russ talk with Daniel Scott Mitchell (Co-Founder & CTO at Takton) about what he learned touring 150-plus American factories before building anything, and why the future of American industry depends on keeping small shops alive rather than waiting for them to fail.
If you care about manufacturing, machine monitoring, industrial IoT, small and midsize shops, family businesses, or reindustrialization, this one is for you.
What we cover
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:36 150 Factories Road Trip
05:11 Capturing Tribal Knowledge
07:49 Takton Sense Explained
17:17 Adoption Barriers and Trust
31:38 What's Next and Wrap Up
Hosts: Matthew Chang and Colin Russ
Guest: Daniel Scott Mitchell, Co-Founder & CTO at Takton
Find Daniel Scott Mitchell:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielscottmitchell/ | https://x.com/danielmitchell
Find Matthew Chang:
https://x.com/MatthewChang | https://www.instagram.com/the.matthewchang | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewachang/ | https://www.tiktok.com/@the.matthewchang
Find Colin Russ:
https://x.com/ThaaatColin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/
Find Chang Robotics: https://changrobotics.ai
Resources mentioned
Seven Steps to Reindustrialize America: https://www.thereforgepodcast.com/7steps
Follow ReForge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/
X: https://x.com/thereforgepod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod
Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/
Want to be a guest or partner?
If you're building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you.
Email: [email protected]
About ReForge
ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America.
This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing.
Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ.
Produced by Chang Robotics.
In this episode, Matthew Chang and Colin Russ talk with Jack Watson (Business Development Manager at HFW Industries) about thermal spray coatings, the engineering knowledge that walked out of corporate America, and why the Rust Belt is a better bet than its reputation suggests.
If you care about manufacturing, thermal spray, industrial reliability, workforce training, the Rust Belt, or reindustrialization, this one is for you.
What we cover
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
02:11 HFW Origins and Legacy
05:32 Factory Tour and Thermal Spray
09:37 Why OEMs Need Partners
14:28 Rust Belt Revival Advantages
27:16 Workforce Training and Wrap Up
Hosts: Matthew Chang and Colin Russ
Guest: Jack Watson, Business Development Manager at HFW Industries
Find Jack Watson:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackwatson22/
Find HFW Industries:
https://hfwindustries.com/ | https://www.linkedin.com/company/hfw-industries-inc-/
Find Matthew Chang:
https://x.com/MatthewChang | https://www.instagram.com/the.matthewchang | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewachang/ | https://www.tiktok.com/@the.matthewchang
Find Colin Russ:
https://x.com/ThaaatColin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/
Find Chang Robotics: https://changrobotics.ai
Resources mentioned
Seven Steps to Reindustrialize America: https://www.thereforgepodcast.com/7steps
Follow ReForge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/
X: https://x.com/thereforgepod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod
Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/
Want to be a guest or partner?
If you're building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you.
Email: [email protected]
About ReForge
ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America.
This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing.
Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ.
Produced by Chang Robotics.
In this episode, Colin Russ runs the ReForge reindustrialization news rundown: what moved this week across defense contracting, semiconductors, aluminum, critical minerals, shipbuilding, and defense propulsion, and what it actually means for the shops and factories on the other end of those headlines.
If you care about manufacturing, defense contracting, semiconductors, industrial policy, tariffs, or reshoring, this one is for you.
What we cover
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Rundown Setup
00:46 Defense Cybersecurity Pause
04:12 Made in USA Chips
06:36 Aluminum and Minerals Policy
13:41 Shipyard and Chip Megaprojects
20:34 Defense Tech and Closing
Host: Colin Russ
Find Colin Russ:
https://x.com/ThaaatColin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/
Find Matthew Chang:
https://x.com/MatthewChang | https://www.instagram.com/the.matthewchang | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewachang/ | https://www.tiktok.com/@the.matthewchang
Find Chang Robotics: https://changrobotics.ai
Resources mentioned
Seven Steps to Reindustrialize America: https://www.thereforgepodcast.com/7steps
Follow ReForge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/
X: https://x.com/thereforgepod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod
Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/
Want to be a guest or partner?
If you're building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you.
Email: [email protected]
About ReForge
ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America.
This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing.
Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ.
Produced by Chang Robotics.
In this episode, Matthew Chang and Colin Russ talk with Const Ivanov (Founder & CEO at DigiFabster) about what American manufacturing actually looks like in 2036, and which shops make it there.
If you care about manufacturing, machine shops, automation, capital markets, workforce, or reindustrialization, this one is for you.
What we cover
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:47 From Machine Shop to DigiFabster
05:01 Operator to Technologist Lessons
09:16 What Survives to 2036
20:02 Capital Shifts and Silver Tsunami
34:21 DigiFabster Impact and Wrap Up
Hosts: Matthew Chang and Colin Russ
Guest: Const Ivanov, Founder & CEO at DigiFabster
Find Const Ivanov:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/c0nst/ | https://x.com/c0nst | https://digifabster.com/ | https://x.com/digifabster
Find Matthew Chang:
https://x.com/MatthewChang | https://www.instagram.com/the.matthewchang | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewachang/ | https://www.tiktok.com/@the.matthewchang
Find Colin Russ:
https://x.com/ThaaatColin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/
Find Chang Robotics: https://changrobotics.ai
Resources mentioned
What survives to 2036, by Const Ivanov: https://x.com/c0nst/article/2077092078237135330
The Hopium, Const's Substack: https://constiv.substack.com/
DigiFabster: https://digifabster.com/
Follow ReForge
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/
X: https://x.com/thereforgepod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod
Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/
Want to be a guest or partner?
If you're building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you.
Email: [email protected]
About ReForge
ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America.
This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing.
Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ.
Produced by Chang Robotics.
From the publisher's feed
Conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America, from robotics and automation to policy, workforce development, and the future of U.S. manufacturing.