Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast

Why Agentic AI Is Revolutionizing Enterprise Asset Management

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Thomas Wilk is joined by Chris van den Belt and Berend Booms of Ultimo, an IFS company, for a conversation on the rise of agentic AI in enterprise asset management. The discussion explores how AI is moving beyond traditional copilots to become autonomous digital coworkers that enhance safety, streamline maintenance, and support frontline workers in dynamic environments. Together, they highlight real-world use cases, from improving incident reporting to optimizing preventive maintenance and inventory management.

Fastenal's Journey to Safety Excellence (Talking EHS)

Fastenal's Ryan Tucker and Sara Weaver share how the company has transformed and grown their workplace safety program over the past 12 years and what they’re focusing on next. A preview of Safety Leadership Conference 2025, held Oct. 20-22 in Phoenix: www.safetyleadershipconference.com

Ford Offers Hype, Investment Promises for EVs in Louisville

There's more than a little bit of Tesla talk in Ford's announcement on Aug. 11, that it would invest $2 billion to retrofit its Louisville Assembly Plant to make a small electric pickup in 2027. It's a bold, ambitious plan that's equal parts going after Chinese competition, heating up leftover Tesla ideas and taking advantage of the scale of a massive global automaker. 
Pieces of the plan touch on multiple aspects of the manufacturing industry that we care about at Endeavor B2B's Manufacturing Group -- safety/ergonomics, manufacturing procedures, casting technologies and what the vehicle factory of the future might look like.
IndustryWeek Editor-in-Chief Robert Schoenberger, who spent four years earlier in his career writing about the Ford plant for The Courier-Journal in Louisville, discusses Ford's plans, where it's fudging the numbers a bit and how it hopes to create a new manufacturing paradigm in Kentucky, with a little help from Ford executives and engineers who spoke at the investment announcement.

The Truth About “Capable of ASTM A388” and Ultrasonic Testing

When a forged part is labeled “capable of ASTM A388,” what does that really mean? And more importantly, what does it not mean? In this episode, we break down the difference between a part that could theoretically pass ultrasonic testing and one that’s actually been tested. We’ll look at why that difference matters in industries where safety and reliability are critical, explore common internal defects in forgings, and explain why proper surface preparation is key to accurate ultrasonic inspection. If you’d like to dive deeper into the details, you can read the full article here: https://www.newequipment.com/55279288

Ask A Plant Manager: Leadership insights on coaching, reliability culture, and overcoming maintenance challenges

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. In this episode, Joe shares his leadership experience on turning maintenance mistakes into learning experiences.

Podcast: What Manufacturers Need to Know About the Shift Toward Recycled Aluminum Alloys

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Robert Brooks explores three key developments in non-ferrous metallurgy that promise to reshape industrial manufacturing. The discussion highlights breakthrough research from the Pacific Northwest and Ames National Laboratories, including advances in solid-phase alloying of aluminum scrap and the discovery of a new multi-element alloy for high-temperature turbine applications. Robert also examines Arconic’s collaboration with spectroscopy experts to enhance real-time analysis of molten metals. Together, these innovations point to a future where metallurgical progress drives both performance and sustainability across sectors.

How to Create a Culture of Care (Talking EHS)

Rocky Rowlett, vice president of safety, and Alyssa Kwasny, wellness program director, explain how their energy and construction firm, Faith Technologies Inc., has become an exemplar of world-class safety excellence by developing a culture of care.

Manufacturing Careers Straight out of High School: 1950s Throwback or Modern Possibilities

The problem sounds so simple: Manufacturers need large numbers of new employees to replace retiring Baby Boomers. Lots of Millennial and Gen Z young people want good jobs
One reason why the sides aren't connecting, workforce watchers say, is that young people are often unaware of the opportunities being offered in factories and job shops nationwide. At least one plant is addressing that. 
International Motors' commercial truck plant in San Antonio, Texas, has been working with greater:SATX, the city's economic development organizations, to encourage high school students to intern and the recently opened manufacturing facility. Several of those recent high school grads have since taken full-time positions at International. 
Hear more about the program from students-turned employees, International's leadership team and from the people who are training and worth with those young people.

Industry 5.0, Putting People Back into the Loop (Production Pulse)

Industry 4.0 is still a vague term to many in manufacturing. To some, it’s projects that fit the strict standards of the German consortium that developed the term. For others, it’s synonymous with Industrial Internet of Things connectivity – systems that draw data from machines to optimize processes.
Most agree, however, that it’s a tech thing. Industry 4.0 advocates talk about the need to manage workers differently, but the thrust of the movement is machine learning, data collection, data-based decision modeling and data-driven process improvement.
So, where do people have a say? To Sarah Tilkens, a former GE Healthcare lean guru who now runs the KPI Lab, that’s why we need Industry 5.0.
“The problem (with Industry 4.0) is with the focus so much on productivity and efficiency. People became really, really burned out and disengaged,” Tilkens said. “So, a lot of the systems became very rigid. They weren’t as flexible. They weren’t as creative. And I think that’s what led to… Industry 5.0, which again is all around human led innovation.”
Tilkens shared her thoughts with IndustryWeek editor Jill Jusko, someone who’s spent 25 years writing about continuous improvement and operational excellence.

How Amazon and UE Systems partnered to scale up a global condition monitoring program

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Thomas Wilk, chief editor of Plant Services, sits down for a roundtable discussion with:
Chris Hallum, UE Systems operations manager for North Europe
Chad Coleman, Amazon senior reliability engineer
Pat Caron, Amazon reliability engineering manager
Jeremy Bey, UE Systems strategic accounts leader. 
The discussion explores the evolution from isolated maintenance efforts to a unified, data-driven strategy that emphasizes standardization, training, and cross-regional collaboration. This episode offers practical insights for anyone navigating the complexities of reliability at scale.