Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast

Maria DeLorenzis Reyes, CEO of Training Innovations/MDR Brands, explains why a workplace culture is most successful when it encourages interactive feedback and takes a long-term view for safety training.

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Plant Services chief editor Tom Wilk is joined by Maureen Gribble, the sales enablement leader for North America at UE Systems, to preview the upcoming Leading Reliability conference. The event takes place May 12-15 in Clearwater Beach, Florida, with four days of workshops, practitioner sessions, and networking in a gorgeous venue. Anyone interested in attending a conference with like-minded professionals from all kinds of verticals will find people at this event who have lived your experience and have something to say about how they solve problems.

Joe Kuhn, CMRP, former plant manager, engineer, and global reliability consultant, is now president of Lean Driven Reliability LLC. He is the author of the book “Zero to Hero: How to Jumpstart Your Reliability Journey Given Today’s Business Challenges” and the creator of the Joe Kuhn YouTube Channel, which offers content on starting your reliability journey and achieving financial independence. In our monthly podcast miniseries, Ask a Plant Manager, Joe considers a commonplace scenario facing the industry and offers his advice, as well as actions that you can take to get on track tomorrow. This episode offers how to use observation to be a better manager, why you should have a mentor and how to be a better mentor yourself.

Discover the differences between AI types, explore real-world applications, understand the challenges around adoption, and get actionable insight on strategic implementation to boost efficiency on your factory floor.

President Donald Trump's 10% tariffs on all imports to the United States, rising to as high as 49% for some countries, promise to upend the manufacturing landscape, forcing many producers to look for new suppliers and creating dramatic opportunities for companies that already have their production here. 
It's too soon the know all of the impacts, but a few things are clear:
Costs will go up on manfacturers that rely on foreign suppliers for key components
Companies will continue facing labor shortages, especially for skilled positions
Good management principles won't offset all of the changes, but they'll be more important than ever
And technology could provide some relief, but it's not going to be a cure all
Discussing these topics are InudstryWeek's editors. Below are some written thoughts that each of them had on the topic.

Falling from heights is a recurring safety problem at workplaces. Mike Van Bree, president of the American Ladder Institute, explains why training, education and efforts like National Ladder Safety month are helping to reduce the number of reported ladder accidents.

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Francisco Almada Lobo, CEO of Critical Manufacturing and an Industry 4.0 evangelist, educator, and author, joins Smart Industry's Scott Achelpohl to chat about what real transformation looks like, which steps to use, and how not to leave outdated processes still in place.

James Lane is a plant manager with Trivium Packaging. He works out of their Youngstown plant, which is the largest of many plants that Trivium operates, and he's skilled in operations management, continuous improvement, and business process improvement. James is also a strong media and communications professional, having earned a J.D. degree focused on corporate law from Capital University Law School, which has informed his leadership in union environments and contract negotiations. James recently spoke with Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk about his journey from military service to manufacturing leadership in the packaging industry.

This podcast discusses the opportunity around digital commerce for mid-market manufacturers. It explores how digital commerce can drive growth, how AI-powered solutions reduce barriers to entry, and how companies can scale their approach strategically. Businesses that invest in digital now can position themselves ahead of the competition, creating seamless buying experiences that meet customer expectations and drive efficiency through the automation of operations.

ProMat 2025 continues this week, bringing tens of thousands and supply chain and material handling professionals to Chicago to see what's new and innovative.
Several major themes were apparent in talking to exhibitors and show attendees:
Labor reduction. Most distribution center operators say they're struggling to find enough people to do the daily work, and finding seasonal help when they want twice as many people. Exhibitors presented dozens of technologies that minimize training, simplify work or automate functions.
Going up. Vertical systems are everywhere at the show. New facilities are building higher and higher roofs to be able to stack material vertically and minimize real estate costs.
OEM-backed startups. IndustryWeek's Dennis Scimeca has been writing about this trend for a few years—major companies starting in-house incubators or venture capital operations to capture new ideas and product innovations. At ProMat, I talked to companies backed by Toyota, Nokia, Piaggio and several others. 
Cool technology. Well, not exactly a trend, but something I definitely noticed. Whether it was robots that charge themselves while moving through a facility, AI-driven picking systems that automatically re-sorted misplaced goods or drones running inspection, there were just a bunch of cool, nifty ideas on display.