Another episode sponsored by MaintainX - see the link below! #milk #dairy #dairyfarm #robot #lely Milking cows no longer involves the three-legged stool and frozen farmers' hands of years past. Check out this video on the new robotic milking system the Ziegler family at J-Springs Dairy in Freedom, Wisconsin, installed and started up earlier this year! Not only is milking automated, but robotic and computerized systems handle feed, barn climate control, and monitoring of production and animal health. That makes the lives of these hard-working dairy farmers a lot better! And it makes the cows happier too, which means they produce more milk at better prices for you and your family Tune in and learn all about it in our latest how-it's-made video! Credits: This episode sponsored by MaintainX (https://www.getmaintainx.com/) Manufacturing Talks logo: John E. Vinoski Title concept: John A. Vinoski Intro music: Kassogtha, “Welcome to the Machine” (a cover of the Pink Floyd original) – used by the band’s kind permission (https://kassogtha.com/) Background music: "Burn The World Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Many thanks to Gracie and Jay Ziegler and the whole family at J-Springs Dairy, and to Tom Dietzler for the story idea and help in making it happen!

Grace Stanke is back! Our inspiring friend - former Miss Wisconsin, former Miss America, accomplished classical violinist, and now working nuclear engineer - join us again to give us the lowdown as she wraps up her first year in her new career. Here are the highlights. Chapters: 00:00 - intro 02:20 - the hottest things going in nuclear right now 05:30 - Grace's pre-career diversion to go climb Mt. Kilimanjaro 11:00 - Grace is engaged!! 11:15 - the first half of Grace's job: nuclear fuels engineering for pressurized water reactors 12:40 - the second half of Grace's job: advocating for nuclear energy 16:30 - the boost nuclear is getting from tech companies 22:00 - the new public support for nuclear 25:30 - create your own success! 26:30 - an update on nuclear fusion 30:00 - the battle of the silverware 31:00 - advances in nuclear fuels What an educational discussion it was! Tune in for the whole thing.

Another episode sponsored by MaintainX - see the link below! #pickleball #3dprinting #additivemanufacturing Pickleball is great fun - but noisy, am I right? But it doesn't have to be - not with this 3D-printed ball made by Accel Digital Sports, a part of Accel Digital Solutions in Grand Rapids, Michigan! Tune in and see just how it's made! Credits: This episode sponsored by MaintainX (https://www.getmaintainx.com/) Manufacturing Talks logo: John E. Vinoski Title concept: John A. Vinoski Intro music: Kassogtha, “Welcome to the Machine” (a cover of the Pink Floyd original) – used by the band’s kind permission (https://kassogtha.com/) Background music: "Burn The World Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Many thanks to our friends at Accel Digital Solutions (https://www.acceldigitalsolutions.com/) Buy the quiet pickleball here! (https://acceldigitalsports.com/)

Episode 138 features longtime manufacturing hand Mush Khan. He co-founded an industrial consultantancy called Alchemy Industrial, and he's got an encyclopedic knowledge of the world of manufacturing, the state of industrial affairs these days, and what it takes for producers to succeed. And he's here to share it with all of you! Here are some highlights. Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 01:45 - Talking about his parents, a pipefitter and a seamstress 4:00 - Why he launched Alchemy Industrial 8:00 - The South Park episode about skilled trades 10:00 - Re- and near-shoring 11:30 - The pandemic supply chain wake-up 12:00 - US industrial advantages 13:30 - How we can rebuild our industrial base 18:00 - The need for automation 19:00 - Capturing tribal knowledge 21:30 - International trade and the supply chain implications 23:30 - The regulations situation 26:30 - The warning Germany represents 28:30 - Entrepreneurship 32:30 - Mush's first job as a reliability engineer and the importance of your network There is so freakin' much here of huge value to everyone in industry! Tune in for the whole thing. Tell us your thoughts on the state of American manufacturing in the comments section. Please be sure to like and share this episode, and if you're not subscribed already, please do that too! And follow us on LinkedIn and X: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/manufacturing-talks-webshow-and-podcast/ X: @MfgTalks

The Stormy Kromer is the most iconic product ever to come out of the Northwoods of the Upper Midwest, and it's proudly made in Ironwood, Michigan. Check out our video on just how they produce this must-have bit of winter wear - sponsored by MaintainX! (https://www.getmaintainx.com/) Video credits: Manufacturing Talks logo: John E. Vinoski Title concept: John A. Vinoski Intro music: Kassogtha, “Welcome to the Machine” (a cover of the Pink Floyd original) – used by the band’s kind permission (https://kassogtha.com/) Background music: "Burn The World Waltz" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Many thanks to the wonderful folks at Stormy Kromer – Jacquart Fabric Products for the video footage! (https://www.stormykromer.com/)

Entytle co-founder and CEO Vivek Joshi joined us for Episode 137 to talk about how his company can help you use big data and AI to do all the above. Here are the highlights: Chapters 00:00 - Intro 03:30 - Why he founded Entytle 07:00 - The Installed Base Intelligence Platform 07:45 - Where equipment data comes from: ERP and CRM 10:00 - Baby boomer retirements and the tribal knowledge challenge 11:30 - Massively mixed equipment fleets 13:30 - How generative AI helps 16:45 - The problem of being caught up in firefighting 17:30 - The IT challenge: no new systems 20:30 - Benefits: gaining market and wallet share 22:00 - Future opportunities for Entytle: asset action plans and streaming data directly from assets And much, much more! Tune in to the whole thing and learn all about it.

Today's manufacturers have to tackle a lot of challenges: lack of skilled labor (or any labor, for that matter!), product differentiation, business direction, where to invest capital, and on and on. It's been a while since we had a thorough dive into all things manufacturing, so it was great fun to have Chuck Coxhead join us to offer his views. Chuck is General Manager at Koaxis, a maker of coaxial RF cable assemblies. Plus he has decades of frontline manufacturing experience, so he's just the guy to help folks navigate all those thorny industrial challenges. Here are the highlights: Chapters 00:00 - Intro 04:30 - what manufacturing workers do is cool! 09:30 - the general state of manufacturing - it varies by sector 12:45 - the Boeing example 14:45 - Men in Black paraphrase: "A person is smart... but people are stupid, nervous, etc." 15:45 - Lucent - "too big to fail" 23:45 - how to differentiate 25:45 - advice for US manufacturers 21:30 - automation and robotics 30:30 - some things can't be automated 32:00 - autonomous mobile robots 32:45 - reshoring 34:45 - brainstorm with beer! Tune in and check out the whole thing - it will be worth your while!

Here's a video of how an uber-cool shotgun suppressor is made using 3D printing by Next Chapter Manufacturing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. #manufacturing #shotgun #suppressor The intro music is by Kassogtha, used with their kind permission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQAqtkVi6KM If you need metal 3D printing services, contact Next Chapter Manufacturing through their website: https://nxcmfg.com/ Ditto for manufacturing business advisory and copywriting from our sponsor, Cosgrove Content and Consulting: https://www.cosgrovecontent.com/

#manufacturing erp #erp software #best erp for manufacturing She's back! Joining us once again for Episode 135 is Kerrie Jordan from Epicor. She gives us all the latest on ERP software custom-built for manufacturers, along with some big news for the Epicor business. Here are the highlights: Chapters: 00:00 - show intro 02:15 - Kerrie's start in manufacturing at Oakley 05:00 - "Manufacturing the Future" podcast 08:45 - worker engagement 12:45 - worker-management gap 16:00 - ideas portal 18:30 - fitting upskilling into a busy day 20:30 - addressing turnover 25:00 - set your plant up for success with new tech and modern tools And there's so much more! Tune in and check out the whole thing. Share it with your like-minded friends, offer your comments and questions in the comments section, and subscribe! Voice of the Manufacturing Manager report: https://assets.epicor.com/m/35c5d217e82f89ba/original/Voice-of-the-Manufacturing-Manager.pdf