We are excited to share today’s guest and her company with all your manufacturing businesses, especially those who are small to mid-sized. Today on the WAM podcast our guest is Dawn White, the founder and CEO of Perisense Inc., based in Ann Arbour Michigan. Perisense is a company that manufactures sensors to deliver performance and productivity data from legacy manufacturing assets and convert it into actionable intelligence to improve quality and results. Dawn shares with on how she started Perisense Inc. and how the company is working towards making things like the industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things more accessible to small mid-size manufacturing businesses, particularly those that operate a fair number of legacy manufacturing systems. So stay tuned, you don’t want to miss out!

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This week we welcome Noreen King of Evolve Manufacturing Technologies to the WAM podcast. Contract manufacturing is different from other types of manufacturing in that products are designed elsewhere, and then the contract manufacturers get the blueprints to assemble the goods. They have to source the parts and work with various partners to ensure compliance. Manufacturing medical devices is an even more stringent manufacturing process, and Noreen King, Evolve’s CEO is here to talk with us today on this topic. In this episode, Noreen gives us an overview of the company’s history and how they moved from the semiconductor space to medical devices. We learn more about what it takes to manufacture these devices. While most manufacturers are profit-driven and put pressure on the production process, manufacturing medical devices requires extreme discipline. Each material component has to be FDA approved, which means that no materials can be changed. With the stakes being so high, it is no wonder the standards are so strict. Noreen also talks about how Evolve’s equipment is being used in the COVID-19 crisis as well as the new self-testing kits they are producing. We learn more about labor expenses, how Evolve thrives in Silicon Valley, and much more. Tune in today!

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Welcome to the 100th episode of the WAM podcast! On today’s show, host Frances Brunelle welcomes Elisabeth Weissenrieder-Bennis, the Executive Vice President of Weiss-Aug. Weiss-Aug is a company that provides custom insert molding, precision metal stamping, and assembly solutions to the automotive, medical, electronic, and semi-conductor industries. Beth has had over 15 years in the metal forming industry. Weiss-Aug has also experienced substantial growth over the last decade with leading and launching plants in both Mexico and locally in NJ for a life science division focused on surgical devices. She is very passionate about promoting women in manufacturing. In 2017 she was named Metal Forming Magazine’s Woman of Excellence in Metal Forming and Fabricating. Stay tuned to today’s episode to hear more about Beth’s role in manufacturing and what their company is doing with regards to skills acquisition, education, apprenticeship, and promoting women in manufacturing companies.

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Today on The WAM Podcast, host Rosemary Coates welcomes Kimberly Wiefling of Wiefling Consulting. Kimberly is known throughout Silicon Valley as the Guru of Innovation. She is a physicist by training, a techno-nerd, and an extraordinary networker and today, we discover how she has come to be one of the most respected business owners by her manufacturing clients worldwide. We can all agree that innovation and creativity are essential to the evolution of any business. But what type of mindset and environment fosters innovation and creativity most effectively? According to Kimberly, nothing kills creativity and innovation quicker than perfectionism, and that making mistakes, taking necessary risks, and failing is the fastest way to rebuild it! In this episode, we hear fascinating examples of how Kimberly has encouraged failure amongst manufacturing companies across the globe and the outcomes that this shift in thinking has produced. We also discuss the new-collar jobs that are emptying factory floors worldwide, challenges of transportation, sourcing locally, and why creativity and innovation are needed more than ever before to solve and evolve the world of manufacturing today.

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Today on The WAM Podcast we have Lydia Di Liello, CEO and founder of Capital Pricing Consultants, joining Frances Brunelle for another exciting episode of the WAM Podcast.

Capital Pricing Consultants is a revenue management consultancy dedicated to helping clients grow profitability through strategic operational and tactical recommendations. Lydia has more than 23 years of global revenue management and business leadership expertise and has worked in over 16 countries with Fortune 500 and privately held firms.

In this episode, you will hear all about Lydia’s passion and her reason for starting the company and her years of experience working in procurement at General Motors. Lydia and Frances shift to discussing proactive versus reactive pricing, why constantly lowering prices is detrimental to the industry, and what manufacturers can do to avoid price wars and reverse auctions. Lydia talks about instances where she has advised her clients to “fire” demanding customers and when she has encouraged them to lower their prices under specific circumstances.

Tuning in to this conversation, listeners will also hear Lydia’s go-to advice to her clients and all about her upcoming workshop hosted by the Professional Pricing Society.

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In this episode, host Rosemary Coates discusses supply chains and the law along with our guest, Sarah Rathke. Sarah is a Partner at the international law firm of Squire Patton Boggs and coauthor, along with Rosemary, of the book Legal Blacksmith: How to Avoid and Defend Supply Chain Disputes. Sarah possesses some really outstanding legal skills along with an in-depth and unique understanding of supply chain issues, which is very rare in attorneys. Inside this episode, we talk more about Sarah’s background, the typical lawsuits that she sees in supply chain law, and how the Internet of things and data sharing affects supply chain disputes. We also dive into case studies that Sarah has faced, the importance of competent supply chain managers and understanding geopolitical policies and macro trends within the industry. So, for an intriguing conversation on supply chain and the law, be sure to tune in to today's episode!

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Christina Fuges is the editorial director of MoldMaking Technology (MMT), and today she joins Frances Brunelle to talk to listeners about their unique publication for the mold manufacturing industry. Christina has 28 years of experience in trade publishing, is the technical conference director for the annual Amerimold expo, and is a contributing editor to Additive Manufacturing.

Tuning in to this episode of the WAM Podcast, listeners will hear about the origins of MMT, what the brand focuses on, the importance of being both a print and digital publication, and how they encourage their print readership to also explore online content. Perhaps not surprisingly, Christina mentions the skills gap and the lack of motivation in newcomers as the biggest obstacles in the mold manufacturing industry, and she suggests how manufacturers can get involved in the development and training of young people to uplift the community at large. She emphasizes the importance of knowledge share among manufacturers and why the spirit of collaboration is so much more beneficial than simply competing with one another.

If you have ever considered attending the Amerimold expo, stay tuned to hear all the details around visiting and exhibiting! Tune into this exciting podcast today.

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Our guest today, Emily Soloby, has been on a mission to help women since the start of her career. From being a women’s rights lawyer to owning two companies, Emily has always placed empowerment at the core of what she does. She has moved between many different industries throughout her career, and while she found these moves tough, she also discovered some unexpected links between them. Through both her time as a lawyer and as the owner of a trucking school business, she was able to assist people – women specifically – in profound ways.

Emily’s journey started at the University of Minnesota where she received a degree in Women’s Studies; followed by a law degree from Temple University.

Shortly after, she took a job as a nonprofit lawyer, advocating for women in domestic violence cases. The years of high stress and tragic scenarios of clients led Emily to start a new chapter. She decided to go back to graduate school to get her Masters Degree. At Temple University, she met her husband Ryan and they took over a small family business in Harrisburg, PA. Together, they worked hard to recruit and train men and women for truck driving positions – an industry suffering from lack of talent. Thanks to Emily’s efforts, they took on a contract with the U.S. Coast Guard to help train drivers to move cargo, and the company quickly grew a national reach.

Emily’s entrepreneurial bug kicked in again as she noticed that many women in logistics and manufacturing industries had limited options for safety footwear that is rugged, comfortable and stylish. Enter – the premier of Juno Jones Shoes, Emily’s brand-new venture manufacturing just the kind of footwear women have been waiting for! Emily hopes that her line of fashionable steel toe boots will help to normalize the presence of women in non-traditional fields. The right gear not only helps women feel safer on the job, but creates a greater sense of belonging in what are usually male-dominated fields.

Hear Emily’s inspiring story including the role models in her life who helped her all along the way. And, please join the Kickstarter campaign for Juno Jones and be a part of something great! CLICK HERE to learn more.

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Today on the WAM podcast, we welcome Colleen Gray, president, and CEO of Consensus Orthopedics Inc. Colleen started her career in accounting, but never quite felt at home. She then gravitated to cost accounting because she felt it really gave her an inside view of manufacturing. Her career trajectory has led her on an incredible path, starting out in high tech companies in Arizona and then relocating to California, still remaining in the high tech sphere. Colleen is also the co-founder of one of the first cloud-based storage companies, called Storage Way.

A few decisions and changes later, Colleen’s journey took her to her current position at Consensus, where she has been for about 15 years. In this episode, Colleen shares more about this exact journey, the lessons she’s learned along the way, and the constant innovation that is present within her industry. So stay tuned to today’s episode to hear more from Colleen Gray, as she shares on her personal journey through the manufacturing world, more about what is happening at Consensus Orthopedics Inc., and what it’s like to be a woman CEO in a man’s world.

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Not many bakeries can brag about their pumpkin pie being ranked number one in America by Rachael Ray. Sweetie Pies Bakery holds this accolade, along with being having been featured in Bon Appetit Magazine, Food & Wine Mag, and USA Today. Today’s guest, Toni Chiappetta, is the owner of this acclaimed bakery, which she grew out of her apartment kitchen!

In this episode, Toni sheds light on the different facets of her business from wholesale to retail and how she juggles it all. Being a woman is business is not always easy, but Toni does things on her terms, treating everyone with kindness and respect. We also learn more about the different distribution channels that the bakery has, which allows people all across the country to try these delicious treats.

Although she’s been in the business for over 20 years, Toni shows no sign of slowing down and Sweetie Pie continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Tune in today!

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