Toll Manufacturing Minute

In the 25th episode of Toll Manufacturing Minute, Custom Processing Services Master Data Manager Eddie Murray marks his own 25-year anniversary with the company. Eddie started as a part-time chemical mill operator and has since worked in quality control, inventory and logistics, and technical sales before taking over CPS’s data systems. He explains how that range of experience helps him make decisions that work for every department, and what customers gain when the people handling their projects have seen the whole operation from the inside.

With a career spanning production, quality, logistics, technical sales, and data management, Eddie discusses:

• His path from part-time mill operator to Master Data Manager across five departments
• How cross-department experience solved a customer’s packaging, GMP, and trucking challenge on a single shipment
• What a long-tenured team means for bottlenecks, turnaround, and commercialization of new products
• How CPS has grown in 25 years and why internal career mobility is part of its culture

Custom Processing Services partners with manufacturers to deliver high-quality toll processing solutions that exceed industry standards.

Connect with us: https://www.customprocessingservices.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/custom-processing-services-inc-/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CustomProcessingServicesInc/

Food and beverage companies are racing to replace synthetic dyes before regulatory and retail deadlines catch up with them. In this episode of The Toll Manufacturing Minute, CPS Director of Quality Jen Smith and Quality Systems Manager Brita Levengood explain what that shift actually requires — from FDA timelines and state-level pressure to the plant-floor realities of processing a natural colorant. They cover the mistakes that derail reformulation projects and what CPS does to help manufacturers scale up without losing color, consistency, or customers.

With deep experience across food safety, quality systems, and plant operations, Jen and Brita discuss:

• Why the FDA's synthetic dye phase-out is a supply chain decision as much as a regulatory one
• What changes on the plant floor when a formula switches from synthetic to natural color
• The most common mistakes food and beverage companies make when they rush reformulation
• How CPS helps manufacturers prioritize and de-risk the transition

Custom Processing Services partners with manufacturers to deliver high-quality toll processing solutions that exceed industry standards.

Connect with us: https://www.customprocessingservices.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/custom-processing-services-inc-/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CustomProcessingServicesInc/

In this episode of Toll Manufacturing Minute, CPS Director of Quality Jen Smith breaks down one of the most frustrating problems in product development: powders that behave perfectly in the lab and then fall apart once they hit production-scale equipment. Jen works alongside CPS's internal teams and customers to ensure dry ingredients, functional blends, and particulates meet quality and compliance standards, with deep experience across the food and beverage industry.

With a background rooted in quality assurance and hands-on scale-up troubleshooting, Jen discusses:

• Why powders that pass every lab test can still fail at production scale
• The core mechanisms behind scale sensitivity, from mixing energy to ingredient addition order
• How powder behavior at scale shows up in consumer-facing issues like texture, flavor, and dissolution
• What food and beverage teams should nail down before moving a formulation from bench to plant

Custom Processing Services partners with manufacturers to deliver high-quality toll processing solutions that exceed industry standards.

Connect with us: https://www.customprocessingservices.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/custom-processing-services-inc-/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CustomProcessingServicesInc/

In this episode of the Toll Manufacturing Minute, Charlie Casale, Senior Business Development Manager at Custom Processing Services, breaks down exactly what a complete RFQ for tolling looks like — and what’s almost always missing.

Charlie draws on years of quoting and project development experience to walk through the most common gaps he sees: packaging format, particle size specification depth, bulk density, testing frequency, labeling requirements, and hazard classification. He also explains how a single detail like incoming feed packaging can change labor costs dramatically, and why even technically sophisticated customers routinely leave it out.

Whether you’re submitting your first tolling RFQ or you’ve been working with contract processors for years, this episode gives you practical insights into the details that matter and the reasoning behind them.

Connect with us: https://www.customprocessingservices.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/custom-processing-services-inc-/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CustomProcessingServicesInc/

In this episode, CPS President Gregg Shemanski breaks down one of the most persistent challenges in advanced powder processing: how do you push throughput on high-performance materials — battery-grade powders, functional additives, and precision particulates — without letting your specs slip?

With 44 years of processing expertise, Gregg walks through the science and systems behind scaling production while maintaining tight particle size distributions, density, shape, and surface area. He covers where drift really happens (hint: it's usually the raw material), why batch optimization is a whole-ecosystem problem — not a single-variable fix — and how CPS's installed capacity, engineering depth, and process knowledge help energy materials customers go from R&D to repeatable commercial production faster than going it alone.

Gregg and host Jen Lepore also explore:

• Why energy storage materials demand such unforgiving specs, and what variables matter most
• The most common self-optimization mistakes process engineers make
• How CPS uses real-time data collection (up to 3x per second) to catch drift before it becomes a failure
• The benchtop-to-pilot-to-production pathway that de-risks scale-up
• What a tolling partner brings to battery materials customers that in-house manufacturing typically can't

Custom Processing Services partners with manufacturers to deliver high-quality toll processing solutions that exceed industry standards.

Connect with us: https://www.customprocessingservices.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/custom-processing-services-inc-/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CustomProcessingServicesInc/

What works in the lab doesn’t always work in production, and that gap can be costly.

In this episode of Toll Manufacturing Minute, CPS Vice President of Business Development Albert Medoro breaks down one of the biggest challenges in manufacturing: scaling a process from lab to full production. Drawing from real-world experience, Albert explains why scale-up is inherently non-linear and where companies most often run into trouble.

From material flow and equipment differences to throughput, yield, and cost constraints, this conversation highlights what separates successful scale-ups from expensive failures.

You’ll learn:

• Why processes rarely scale proportionally
• The hidden risks in equipment selection and material behavior
• How pilot trials uncover issues before they become production problems
• The relationship between throughput, yield, and commercial viability
• Why the “crawl, walk, run” approach leads to better outcomes

If you’re moving from R&D to production, this episode offers insights needed to reduce risk and improve results.

Custom Processing Services partners with manufacturers to deliver high-quality toll processing solutions that exceed industry standards.

Connect with us: https://www.customprocessingservices.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/custom-processing-services-inc-/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CustomProcessingServicesInc/ 

What does the future of contract manufacturing actually look like? How are companies navigating uncertainty, reshoring pressures, and a shifting workforce?

In this episode of the Toll Manufacturing Minute, CPS Marketing Team Coordinator Jen Lepore sits down with Jenny Gaines, SOCMA Vice President of Membership, and Joe Dettinger, SOCMA Vice President of Manufacturing & Commercial Programs, to take a big-picture look at the specialty chemical industry in 2026.

Jenny and Joe break down the many benefits of SOCMA membership, from advocacy on Capitol Hill and B2B business development to safety training, peer connection, and real-time industry intelligence. They also dig into findings from SOCMA's 2026 Contract Manufacturing Outlook Report, sharing what the data reveals about regional manufacturing trends, cultivating trust and reliability in supplier relationships, and the urgent need for workforce development and technology adoption.

Whether you're a specialty chemical manufacturer looking to get more from your industry involvement, or a procurement professional working to stay ahead of contract manufacturing changes, this episode delivers perspectives you won't find anywhere else.

Learn more about CPS: https://www.customprocessingservices.com/

Subscribe to the CPS blog for more insights and episodes.

What really happens after you submit a purchase order?

In this episode of the Toll Manufacturing Minute, Marketing Team Coordinator Jen Lepore sits down with Client Services Manager Mike Weinhold to break down what goes on behind the scenes, from PO submission to project completion.

With more than a decade of experience at CPS, Mike shares how proactive communication, attention to detail, and cross-team collaboration help CPS support customers throughout the processing journey. You’ll also hear real-world examples of how CPS teams act as an extension of their customers’ businesses, catching potential issues early, adapting to changing conditions, and keeping projects on track.

If you’re curious how CPS approaches customer care, communication, and long-term partnerships, this episode offers an inside look.

Connect with us: https://www.customprocessingservices.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/custom-processing-services-inc-/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CustomProcessingServicesInc/ 

In this special anniversary episode, CPS co-founders President Gregg Shemanski and Vice President Jeff Klinger reflect on 25 years of growth from two people and a single line to a multi-site team tackling complex projects across food, pharma, minerals, and more. They share the early grit (yes, a brand-new starter blew on day one!), the moment customers’ lead times dropped 4x, and how CPS’s team-based culture and process integration keep products moving from R&D to scalable, compliant production.

You’ll also hear why “custom processing” was always the primary focus, how strategic technology investments enable consistency, and what’s next as CPS aims to be the global, first-call partner for processing solutions.

Gregg and Jeff reflect on key turning points and what’s next for CPS, including:

• From idea to industry leader: planning, naming, and the Ben Franklin “tiger sessions” that set the course
• Early setbacks, smarter systems, and a relentless quality mindset
• Cutting customer lead times by a factor of four and keeping partnerships for decades
• Team-based leadership, training, and people-first benefits
• The next chapter: larger, integrated programs and true “front-to-back” processing

Custom Processing Services partners with manufacturers to deliver high-quality toll processing solutions that exceed industry standards.

Connect with us: https://www.customprocessingservices.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/custom-processing-services-inc-/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CustomProcessingServicesInc/ 

In this episode of Toll Manufacturing Minute, CPS Chief Operating Officer Ken Zrebiec shares how his decades of experience in specialty chemicals and pharmaceuticals are contributing to the future of Custom Processing Services. Hear how his leadership philosophy, operational initiatives, and focus on safety, quality, and communication are helping CPS strengthen consistency, streamline processes, and enhance customer value.

With a background spanning engineering, production management, and supply chain leadership, Ken discusses:

• The importance of structure and shared vision in scaling operations
• How CPS is improving scheduling, communication, and accountability
• Why safety and compliance are foundational to innovation and customer success
• His personal commitments to leadership, training, and continuous improvement

Custom Processing Services partners with manufacturers to deliver high-quality toll processing solutions that exceed industry standards.

Connect with us: https://www.customprocessingservices.com/ 
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/custom-processing-services-inc-/ 
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CustomProcessingServicesInc/