Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast

Leadership lessons from Toyota

IndustryWeek columnist, leadership coach and author Katie Anderson recently won the Shingo Prize for publications for her book, "Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn," a collection of stories and lessons from Isao Yoshino, a longtime Toyota executive who played big roles in the development of that automaker's business culture.
Anderson discusses key leadership lessons from Yoshino, offering a glimpse into Toyota's evolution from a company that only made vehicles in Japan into the global powerhouse it is today.

Kickstarting your plant’s reliability journey — Where are you now, and where do you want to be?

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. Plant Services managing editor Anna Townshend recently spoke with Joe about the importance of leadership and how to establish a successful reliability culture at your plant.
Key takeaways
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why leadership is critical in maintenance and reliability
How to establish a reliability culture at your plant
Why reliability is a continuous process and why you need to sell reliability to your organization
On the record
"Operations owns reliability. The simplest example is, Anna, who owns the reliability of your car? You’re the one that drives it. You're the one that listens to it. You take your car into the maintenance shop for the 100,000-mile check. And they say, yeah, man, this belt looks bad. Your tires are bald, and your transmission is making noises. And then you say, I don't want to fix that. And then you drive on down the road. You're going out to Yellowstone National Park on vacation, and your car breaks down. Do you blame the mechanic?"
-Joe Kuhn
Learn more
Read Joe's column, Leadership in Action
Buy Joe's book, Zero to Hero: How to Jumpstart Your Reliability Journey Given Today's Business Challenges
Watch Joe's YouTube videos

Rapid shift to Tesla’s charging standards challenges manufacturers

Ford, GM, Mercedes, Volvo and Rivian have all agreed to adopt Tesla's plug standards for their electric vehicles, forcing charging station manufacturers to rethink how to make the next generation of chargers.

New technologies impacting the compressed air industry

Ron Marshall is the founder of Marshall Compressed Air Consulting, a compressed air energy efficiency consulting firm, where he provides technical advice, system auditing, and training. He first developed his skills as an industrial compressed air systems expert at Manitoba Hydro, where he worked for 38 years, supporting more than 600 energy efficiency projects. Ron is a level 2 instructor with Compressed Air Challenge and conducts training internationally. Ron recently spoke with Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk about training and professional development in the compressed air industry.
Key takeaways
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why training is an essential component of a successful compressed air program
What resources are available to help professionals get certified and improve their compressed air skills
Which new technologies are impacting the industry
On the record
"The lack of knowledge is the biggest obstacle in having an compressed air system running optimally. So yeah, that's quite important, and that was recognized back in the 1990s, right? And you know, as time went on, people working in Compressed Air Challenge and in the auditing field we get older and older, and the new people need to learn as well, so we can leave the field secure in the knowledge that people come coming to replace our vacancy know a lot about compressed air and auditing."
-Ron Marshall
Learn more
Marshall Compressed Air Consulting Compressed Air Challenge Compressed Air Challenge Training Calendar Compressed Air & Gas InstituteCertified Maintenance & Reliability Professional (CMRP) program Compressed Air Training and CertificationSee compressed air leaks with acoustical imaging Ask the Experts: How important are storage receivers in a compressed air system?

The ROI of automated packaging

In this special “Supply Chain Insider” episode of The Tool Belt, Sean Webb, director of sales and operations for North America with Sparck Technologies, looks at the impact of e-commerce on supply chains, and he explains when, why and how companies should automate their packaging processes.

The impact of AI – How technological innovations are affecting the industry

Terri Lewis is a senior executive at Planet Connected and a 32-year veteran of Caterpillar. She began her career in technical field support before embarking on several "mini careers," including aftermarket parts marketing, service operations, product marketing, heavy construction marketing, product development, M&A, electronic supply chain, and end of life support. Terri then spent six years in digital strategy where she learned how digitalization could completely transform a business, from customer activities to client interactions and overall company goals. Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk and managing editor Anna Townshend recently spoke with Terri about how to successfully implement digital transformation initiatives.
Key takeaways
In this episode, you'll learn:
How companies are utilizing digital transformation to improve business operations and decrease downtime
The connection between smart cities and smart manufacturing
How artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the industrial sector and how evolving technologies will impact companies in the future
On the record
"I think that the really interesting stuff is taking data and technology and knowledge, right, and my take away was making unplanned downtime a myth. And that seems a bit bold, but I think it's doable, right? It's bringing together the elements of people, process, and technology together, and leveraging that, starting with people – emphasize people, right, it's not just about tech – and I think most companies can get there."
-Terri Lewis

A family legacy of product innovation

Massa Product Corporation engineers and manufactures sonar and ultrasonic products for use in ocean, air, and fluids. Founded by the man who pioneered the field of electroacoustics 75 years ago, Frank Massa, the company specializes in solving problems in various fields and environments.
Massa transducers and sensors have been operating in air for industrial non-contact distance measurement applications for over sixty years. The company has designed hundreds of devices for use in many applications including liquid and bulk level monitoring, vehicle collision avoidance, distance measurement, web break detection, and tensioning. Massa technologies also function as “the eyes and the ears for naval ships and submarines to protect the US coastline with our undersea technologies.”
Dawn Massa Stancavish recently spoke with Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk about the wide range of applications for ultrasonic technologies.
Key takeaways
In this episode, you'll learn:
The history of Massa and how the company came to be
How Massa develops products for secific industries and applications
Trends in the wireless sensing market
On the record
"Sound goes all the way up to the megahertz range and all the way down to the infrasound range. Sometimes people dismiss ultrasonics based on what’s out there, and that’s really the wrong thing to do. I would say challenge your perception of what’s possible."
-Dawn Massa Stancavish
Learn more
Massa

The ABCs of EHS — How the industrial safety profession is evolving

Dave Blanchard is editor in chief of    Material Handling and Logistics and EHS Today. During his career, Dave has led the editorial management of many of Endeavor Business Media's best-known brands, including Industry Week, Logistics Today, Supply Chain Technology News, and Business Finance, in addition to the two titles he currently manages. He also serves as a senior content director of the annual Safety Leadership Conference and literally wrote the book on supply chain management, which is called Supply Chain Management Best Practices. He is also a voting member of the jury of the Logistics Hall of Fame and is a graduate of Northern Illinois University. Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk recently spoke with  Dave about the evolving fields of safety and logistics, and what companies can do to keep supply chains and workers healthy and productive.
Key takeaways
In this episode, you'll learn:
The state of industrial supply chains
How the roles and responsibilities of safety professionals is changing
What to expect at this year's Safety and Leadership Conference
On the record
"A lot of times it's the safety person that the CEO is coming to and saying, 'we need you to help us figure out how we're going to comply with these regulations from the EPA' and everywhere else that not necessarily you would think would be a typical safety problem. The old stereotype is there: the safety cops, they're the ones that make sure you you're wearing your hard hat and you're wearing your gloves and you're wearing your boots, and you’re not running around when you're in a warehouse, you're keeping your eye out for things. "
-Dave Blanchard
Learn more
Material Handling and LogisticsEHS TodaySafety and Leadership Conference

The changing role of control system integrators in the automation industry

The Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) is a global trade association with over 500 member companies in 35 countries that seeks to advance the industry of control system integration. Control system integrators use their engineering, technical and business skills to help manufacturers and others automate their industrial equipment and systems. For this year's System Integrator Roundtable episode, Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk spoke with three veteran system integrator professionals about how the industry is changing and which new technologies are poised to make a big impact. Kurt Wakeman is the business director for Materials Handling group at E Tech Group. Bob Pusateri is director of business development at Electronic Drives and Controls. Sam Hoff is President and CEO of Patti Engineering.
Key takeaways
In this episode, you'll learn:
The role and responsibilities of system integrators within the industry
Which new technologies are impacting industrial automation
How sustainability is changing the way integrators approach the business
On the record
"What that allows you to do once you have a true digital twin is instead of conjecture or experience to say “What can I do to improve this system?” you can actually model your improvements in the digital world before wasting any money actually performing changes in in the real world. We're using a lot of the digital tools that have been used traditionally for design of these systems up front to create the digital twins."
-Sam Hoff
Learn more
Control System Integrators Association (CSIA)E Tech GroupElectronic Drives and ControlsPatti Engineering

Making reliability a core value in American manufacturing

Bill Leahy is the Chief Executive Officer at Renaissance Reliability, a veteran-owned and operated reliability and maintainability engineering consultancy dedicated to American manufacturers. Bill has worked in manufacturing as an engineering superintendent, maintenance team leader, consultant, and service provider and is an expert in root cause analysis (RCA), reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), and design for reliability and maintainability (DfR). Bill served for 10 years in the United States Army as a West Point Cadet, NCAA Division 1 hockey player, and infantry officer where he learned the values of leadership, self-discipline, resourcefulness, integrity, and teamwork. Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk recently spoke with Bill about why reliability is the cornerstone of manufacturing success, and how veterans can help companies achieve their reliability goals.
On the record
"Reliability has to be a core value, has to be something we embody. The part that I struggle with is that it is so evident to us in our industry at how these things tie together, because we know if you improve reliability, you improve safety; if you improve reliability, you improve environmental scores; you improve reliability, your OEE goes up. Everything improves with reliability."
-Bill Leahy
Learn more
Renaissance Reliability