The Manufacturing Executive

If you’ve ever been curious how well management takes care of its employees at any given organization, there is one really simple way to find out: Check out the employee bathroom. That may seem funny, but… think about it — if management can’t take care of the bathrooms, how well can they really be taking care of its employees?That simple test is wisdom today’s guest, Mark Whitten , President & CEO at Spartanburg Steel Products , has learned over years of successful leadership in which he has lived by a maxim that seems to have fallen by the wayside: Lead by example. In this episode, we discuss:-Why leaders should work alongside their employees (and keep the bathrooms clean)-How to achieve 2.0 transformation as a leader-How leaders in manufacturing should respond to Gen Z’s entrance into the workforceTo ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

You hear people talk a lot about a labor shortage in manufacturing and automation and robotics are a great way to tackle it. Not just to replace jobs — but to find more workers. If only we could get over manufacturing’s technology hesitancy problem. Today’s guest, Erik Nieves, Founder at PlusOne Robotics, can help you do just that. That’s because, in his years of experience in robotics, he’s seen a solution to every excuse for why automation won’t work.In this episode, we discuss:-The problem of technology hesitancy (and how it hurts smaller manufacturers more)-How to build a strategy around automation-Whether there really is a labor shortage and why, if there is, robots can helpTo ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Without our dealers and distributors, who would sell our products? Without us, what would they sell? We need each other. Why then is the relationship so often strained? Today’s guest, Tom Paul, Founder & CEO at BAM!, says it doesn’t have to be. All it takes is a little work from both parties… and maybe reading at least one 25-year-old article. In this episode, we discuss:-Why the manufacturer-dealer relationship is so often fractured (and 3 steps to fixing it)-The solution BAM! has created that helps address these very issues-Why you shouldn’t pick your SaaS solutions based on Lord of the RingsTo ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify..Tom Paul can be found on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-paul/ Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

If your content strategy starts with whether there’s keyword search volume around your SEO terms, you’re starting at step five.Here’s step one: conduct customer interviews to learn what they value and prioritize.In this episode, I interview Gorilla 76’s own Grace Wright and Aaron Weekes, both Thinker and Strategist, about creating winning content that starts with customers, not keywords.In this episode we discuss:-Making your customer’s success the object of your content-Getting the right messages to the right people-Providing one of these three qualities: best, first, or different-Starting your content strategy with the right questions (lots and lots of them)-Forecasting the future of SEO tacticsGrace Wright can be reached at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-wright-76940312a/ Aaron Weekes can be reached at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronmichaelweekes/ To ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Show in your favorite podcast player.

Data collection, automation, robotics — these are things reserved for the budgets of the biggest companies out there, right? Wrong. Anyone can do it with one simple trick:Just get started.That’s the simple advice shared by our latest guest, Aaron Prather, R&D Evangelist for FedEx Express, who is deeply passionate about both topics — and if you don’t believe me, just check out his LinkedIn. In this episode, we discuss:- The benefits of data collection, automation and robotics for your business- Why you don’t need to fear robots stealing your jobs- Why success in either involves getting started and employee inputTo ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

You’ve probably heard about the infamous skills gap in manufacturing — a problem only made worse by the pandemic. It has the potential to affect our lives in profound ways; even our national security is at stake.And if we expect to solve it, we need to get creative — like, say, starting a nationally-televised Skills Draft?That’s one of the creative solutions today’s guest, Dr. Jason Scales, Business Manager, Education at Lincoln Electric, proposes to avoid the coming skills depression.In this episode, we discuss:- Why COVID widened the skills gap- What a Skills Draft is and why it could change the national culture around high-skilled employment- What manufacturers should be doing to help today’s youth get excited for —and see a viable future in — the industryTo ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.

At first, his entry into the manufacturing industry was out of a need for survival. But it quickly grew into a passion to encourage those who want to become a better version of themselves to embrace the hope, pride, and success to be found in manufacturing.In this episode, I interview Tony Gunn, General Manager at MTDCNC Global and Founder and CEO at Your Tea of Life, about his amazing career trajectory from being kicked out of three colleges to entrepreneurship.In this episode we discuss:How manufacturing equips us to create our own futuresTony’s discovery of his passion for learning and creatingWhy manufacturing is such a welcoming and uplifting career3 stories about struggle, success, and advocacyCheck out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:Tony’s podcast is The Gunn ShowTo ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

The manufacturing sector is desperate for more diversity in gender, generation, race, ability, and other underrepresented populations. Quite frankly, the situation is dire. Your business won’t survive unless you create a more diverse and inclusive culture, both organization- and industry-wide.In this episode, I interview Andrew Crowe, Founder of the Elevate Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Justin Sherman, Founder at Equity Machine Works SPC, about attracting young, diverse talent in manufacturing. Here’s what Drew, Justin, and I talked about:The extreme numbers that show the need for diversity in manufacturingThe strong connection between culture and diversityStrategies to attract young folks to a manufacturing careerWhat leaders of diverse teams should and shouldn’t doFirst steps in how to grow a more diverse teamTo ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.

Video messaging is not just a new technology to learn, it's a way to connect with human beings that aligns better with how people prefer to communicate these days. It allows you to lead with your very best asset — yourself. In situations where face-to-face sales meetings are not always possible, recording a video allows others to take in your message when it’s convenient for them, builds a feeling of psychological proximity, and offers more personalized interaction than a wall of text. On this episode of The Manufacturing Executive, we connect with Ethan Beute, Chief Evangelist at BombBomb, author, and host of The Customer Experience Podcast, and discuss all the ways in which using video messaging in your business can increase trust, make complex issues more digestible, and boost customer relations with humanization.Here's a sneak peek:Getting into the routine of utilizing video messaging helps you develop a healthy habit of gratitude.A video message is the modern day handwritten note when used as a thank you or encouragement message.The Video Adoption Guide is the fastest way for you and your team to get going (and keep going!) with personal video messages.Overcoming the initial technology barrier can be challenging, so begin with simple, heartfelt messages like thank you, congratulations, and job well done. OPTIONAL: Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:Rehumanize Your Business: How Personal Videos Accelerate Sales and Improve Customer Experience, but Ehtan Beute and Stephen PacinelliJoe Sullivan, Gorilla 76 Thinker & FounderYou can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to the The Manufacturing Executive Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on our website, or on Spotify.

You know you need clearer insight into your customer to build better products or deliver more valuable services. One way to get that insight is by listening to your sales and customer service teams. What are they hearing firsthand?But there's another source of insight that you might not have thought about — search data. What can you learn from the words your prospects and customers type into Google or YouTube before they decide what to buy?In this episode of The Manufacturing Executive, Derek Mabie, former president and partner at Evolve Digital Labs, talks about how real human beings search for and buy products online.Here's what Derek and I discussed:What you can learn from the search confessionalTools and tactics you can use to process search informationHow to marry qualitative and quantitative data to get fresh insightsTo ensure that you never miss an episode of The Manufacturing Executive, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or here.Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for The Manufacturing Executive in your favorite podcast player.