Jeff grew up around manufacturing in the mid-west. In his youth, he had a job that involved delivering milk and refilling vending machines in plants that look nothing like what modern manufacturing plants do. Post-college he would go on to spend 30 years in the automotive industry. Today, he is now providing passionate leadership to one of the most important … [Read more...]
Education and Promotion of Advanced Manufacturing
When this podcast was just an idea to help manufacturing in the US, many a brainstorm of ideas occurred. During those sessions, the foundation of the Manufacturing Advocates Podcast was gradually emerging. The resulting notes contained ideas, such as how broadly to classify "manufacturing", who the possible guests might be, and even how long should an episode be. In those "the … [Read more...]
Proud Advocate of the US Made Brand Al Stimac EP10
This week's episode showcases a gentleman who has an impressive list of accomplishments. Al Stimac is a champion for the "Made in America" brand, Florida manufacturing, and US manufacturers in general. He possesses a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge and unlike some big thinkers, he puts what he learns to work rapidly. Listen to hear how he has helped US … [Read more...]
Making a Difference in Florida for US Manufacturing
The story about next week's guest on the MFA podcast is full of examples of tenacity and flexibility. The former Siemens exec wondered why so many parts were being outsourced offshore, so he did something about it. He started a shop to make those parts in Florida and proudly slap the favorable Made in the USA label on them. He then wondered why Florida was not participating in … [Read more...]
Catching up with the Difference Makers
March has been busy over at Managed Solutions thanks to my friends at CIMCO giving me new tools to play with, so I have been a little slow with my episode bookings for the Manufacturing Advocates Podcast. I did take a little time today before writing this to reflect back and revisit the 9 episodes we've recorded so far and even created a page and menu item to make it easier for … [Read more...]
Mr. Bezos, a Simple Request
Last year I made a plan to start buying and reviewing US-made products off Amazon. I was going to post the reviews to my personal blog and "practice what I preach" as a US manufacturing advocate. To get started I was able to find some camouflage cloth tape for a Halloween project somewhat by chance. I was then starting to look for other practical things and I really struggled … [Read more...]