Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast

Join Laura Davis, editor-in-chief of New Equipment Digest as she breaks down six of the top technology trends reshaping the manufacturing industry in 2024.
About the Article
Embracing the Future: The Tech Trends Reshaping Manufacturing in 2024 and BeyondWritten and ready by Laura DavisRead the article 

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 insight on who should take ownership of reliability at your facility.

The annual Leading Reliability Conference provides participants with the opportunity to learn more about maintenance and reliability by attending live presentations, workshops, and trainings. Held this year May 14-16 in Clearwater Beach, Florida, the intimate event offers participants the opportunity to build relationships with influential professionals from across the country. Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk recently spoke with the four sponsoring organizations of the conference about what to expect at this year's event. The podcast guests include:
Shon Isenhour, founder and owner of Eruditio
Jeff Hay, CEO at RDI Technologies
John Waldron, product manager at ACOEM USA
Maureen Gribble, director of marketing for UE Systems. 

Manufacturers and tech companies have suffered severe cyber attacks in recent months, timing that coincides with new Securities and Exchange Commission rules that force publicly traded companies to disclose when they've been hit by hackers, as long as the damages are "material" to the companies' performances. 
Smart Industry Managing Editor Scott Achelpohl discusses cybersecurity trends and the new requirements with Dennis Scimeca, senior technology editor at IndustryWeek.

Things got a lot better for manufacturers in 2023 when it came to getting raw materials into plants and finished goods to customers. But, the supply chain was still fragile and had to deal with several shocks, including massive capacity reductions at the Panama Canal.
Editors from several IndustryWeek parent company Endeavor Business Media’s publications discussed how 2023 shaped up and what to expect in the new year. Major topics of discussion were challenges in the Red Sea, continued problems in Panama, nearshoring and onshoring shortening supply chains and labor availability.
Speakers were:
Adrienne Selko, senior editor at Material Handling & Logistics 
Anna Smith, news editor at IndustryWeek
Kevin Jones, editorial director of the commercial vehicle and a infrastructure group which includes brands such as FleetOwner and Bulk Transporter 
Tyler Fussner, managing editor of Supply Chain Connect and director of the Market Moves Supply Chain newsletter that draws logistics and supply chain material from all of Endeavor’s publications  
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Hear about the latest regulatory updates coming from OSHA, as well as current developments in mental health awareness.

High-tech businesses, creative types, luxury retailers, and property developers all want something that is inherent to operations at manufacturing’s most basic level – and if they cannot earn it they’ll just take it. 

Luke Clark is a reliability professional and senior program manager for HECO Apollo. In his current position, Luke identifies reliability value for clients by utilizing vibration analysis and IoT technology. Luke recently spoke with Plant Services editor in chief Thomas Wilk about how the skillset for reliability and maintenance engineers has changed over the past 10 years. In addition, the two discussed the table stakes skills necessary for current professionals to succeed in their jobs. 

Electric vehicle sales were flat in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to the third quarter, but automotive experts are still calling last year the Year of the EV because of the market's rapid growth. EVs accounted for 8% of vehicles sold last year, more than 1.2 million units. 
Still, the industry mood has been less optimistic lately as slowing growth rates have led GM, Ford and others to slow investments in new plants and lower some of the lofty sales targets they'd initially offered for 2024 and beyond. 
In our bi-weekly manufacturing livestream, Production Pulse, we discuss those issues with two automotive experts.
Speakers
Kristin Dziczek is a policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and a long time analyst of all things automotive. As she notes in the podcast, the opinions offered are her own, not an official report of the Federal Reserve.
Stephanie Valdez Streaty is director of Industry Insights for Cox Automotive, a retail automotive giant with brands such as Kbb.com and Manheim Auto Auctions. Before joining Cox to spearhead EV research, Valdez Streaty spent decades in the auto industry including 15 years at Nissan.

Do you love the world of manufacturing technology? Are you always looking for news about the next cool tech invention? Do you wonder how everyone always knows about new products for the industry? Or maybe you just want to know how to choose between different machines. Listen to New Equipment Digest’s new podcast series for all things products for manufacturing.