Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast

How Modern Networks Are Helping Industrial AI Deliver on the Promise

Joining Smart Industry’s Scott Achelpohl for this episode is Rajeev Shah, co-founder and CEO of Celona, who helps explain how manufacturers can overcome “legacy” infrastructure challenges—particularly their older OT—to harness the potential of AI-driven operations.

Reshoring in 2025 – Strategies for Navigating Tariffs and Trade Uncertainty

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Rosemary Coates, executive director of the Reshoring Institute, shares insights on how companies are navigating the changing business environment and reshoring trends in 2025.

Proactive Safety Planning Can Help Prevent Falls on Construction Sites (Talking EHS)

In this “in case you missed it” podcast, you'll learn why Travis S. McConnell, a construction attorney with Ready Legal, believes that implementing a comprehensive safety program is essential to preventing injuries and complying with OSHA’s standards. 
You can also read the full article here.

Operational, Financial Excellence in Building Materials Manufacturing

Armstrong World Industries set a goal, nearly a decade ago, to be an outlier, the kind of company that maintains 5% profit growth for five or more years. Those efforts have paid off with the ceiling-tile and architectural components making landing No. 2 in IndustryWeek’s annual IW U.S. 50 Best Manufacturers list.
Vic Grizzle, CEO of Armstrong, sat down with IndustryWeek’s Robert Schoenberger to discuss the management philosophy behind that performance. Some key elements:
Investing in the business: Armstrong dedicates more of its cashflow to operational improvements than many of its peers, part of an annual push to increase productivity by about 3% every year
Championing stability: Customers and employees know what to expect from a company that has stable management and rarely changes big-picture strategies
Adaptability: While it champions stability, Armstrong also looks for adjacent opportunities, experiments with new technologies and constantly updates its processes

From Detect and Diagnose to Decide: How Evolutions in Ultrasound are Driving More Effective Plant Maintenance

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Thomas Wilk, chief editor of Plant Services, is joined by Blair Fraser, the VP of technology at UE Systems to discuss how ultrasound tools are evolving. Many maintenance technicians use machine condition monitoring technologies for two related goals: detect a problem, and diagnose the root cause. However, Fraser argues that these technologies are evolving quickly to help teams achieve the next-step goal of deciding on the best corrective course of action that fits overall plant goals.

AI in Motion: How TE Connectivity is Transforming Transportation

David Brown, vice president and CTO of Transportation Solutions at TE Connectivity, shares how AI is driving faster product design, smarter factories, and a better-trained workforce. From generative design to predictive maintenance, learn how TE's AI strategy keeps them ahead in a rapidly evolving industry. Visit te.com for more information. Read TE’s 2025 Industrial Technology Index here.

Reliability Program Not Working? Here’s What Might Be Wrong

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 explains some of the problems that can go wrong when you are starting your reliability journey, and what folks should be on the lookout for along the way.
Key takeaways
Prioritize reliability by choosing where to excel—get a C on less critical tasks to focus on what truly drives plant performance.
Reliability success demands active operations ownership—learn failures, engage on the floor, and earn credibility.
Promote small wins visibly—selling reliability outcomes prevents loss of sponsorship and ensures long-term buy-in.
Without structured problem-solving, best practices fall short—embed it into your process to triple reliability results.

Additive Manufacturing: Bridging the Gap Between Prototypes and Production

In this episode, American Machinist editor in chief Robert Brooks analyzes the current state of the additive manufacturing (AM) sector, after several years of organizational turmoil among the top suppliers of AM systems. Brooks argues that this turmoil had virtually nothing to do with AM processes or technology developments, arguing that investors have been impatient with the rate of worldwide AM adoption. 

Safety+ 2025 Preview: Continuous Improvement in Health and Safety (Talking EHS)

Chris Williams, executive director of the Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association (VPPPA), offers a preview of the upcoming Safety+ Symposium, to be held August 11-14 in St. Louis. This annual event provides attendees with the opportunity to see safety from all angles and better understand its role in the modern workplace.
EHS Today's Safety Leadership Conference is an official media sponsor of this event.

Thermography, Ultrasound, and the Power of Partnership in Condition Monitoring

In this sponsored episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Thomas Wilk, chief editor of Plant Services, is joined by Maureen Gribble, North American sales enablement leader for UE Systems, and John Gould, director for global business development for condition monitoring at Flir. Ultrasound and infrared thermography tools are increasingly used together by maintenance teams that want to get a fuller picture of asset health. In this podcast episode, sponsored by UE Systems, Tom talks with Maureen and John about the ways these tools are being used in the field, including hybrid tools like acoustic imagers, as well as what the future hold for the partnership between Flir and UE Systems.