Behind the Ops

Increasingly, companies are choosing to bring manufacturing back to the United States for a variety of reasons, including increased labor costs in other countries and supply chain disruptions caused by events like the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chips Act, renewable energy, and geopolitical tensions with China are additional contributors to the reshoring trend. Companies need to carefully consider their reshoring strategies, as it can involve various approaches, such as setting up new facilities in the US, diversifying manufacturing locations, and partnering with local contract manufacturers. It's also necessary to discuss the importance of incorporating digital technology and adaptability into new facilities to avoid repeating past mistakes. In this week's episode, Madi and Natan discuss manufacturing in the United States, with a focus on reshoring and its potential impact on workers and our economy. LINK DUMP: * Axios: "A manufacturing investment supercycle is starting" (https://www.axios.com/2023/06/16/manufacturing-supercycle) * BCG: "Honing US Manufacturing's Competitive Edge" (https://www.bcg.com/publications/2017/lean-manufacturing-operations-honing-us-manufacturings-competitive-edge) * BCG: "The Shifting Economics of Global Manufacturing" (https://www.bcg.com/publications/2014/lean-manufacturing-globalization-shifting-economics-global-manufacturing) * Reshoring Initiative (https://reshorenow.org/)

Have you come to subconsciously dread the sound of a Slack ping? In a world where you're constantly being bombarded with notifications coming from apps, emails, instant messages, and other channels, it's easy to feel like you're paying for less work with an influx of distractions. In this week's episode, Madi and Natan reflect on the role that a constant stream of alerts has on our cognitive load, discuss how the right technology can empower people to have more problem-solving capacity, and introduce Automations — an exciting new Tulip capability that enables you to run logic in the background of your manufacturing operations. LINK DUMP: -Read "Phone Notifications Are Messing With Your Brain (https://www.discovermagazine.com/technology/phone-notifications-are-messing-with-your-brain)" for insights on how endless notifications can influence important decision-making -Check out Tulip's Automations landing page (https://tulip.co/platform/automations/) to learn more about how Automations empower you to make your people more efficient, accurate, and productive -Follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/behind-the-ops/) to join the conversation and find out when we post new episodes

Have you ever thought about how government espionage is not all that different than corporate sabotage? We have! (Consider tactics along the lines of "let blades go dull so people can't sharpen their saws"...) In this week's episode, Madi and Natan reflect on how the CIA espionage manual relates to the ways in which many big corporations create a bad work environment, discuss Natan's "obsession" with "The Fractal Company," and break down how to build a corporate structure that encourages innovation. LINK DUMP: -Dive into the CIA's "Simple Sabotage Field Manual (https://www.hsdl.org/c/abstract/?docid=750070)" booklet for insights into the ways in which agents instructed civilians to inflict sabotage through ordinary means -Check out "The Fractal Company: A Revolution in Corporate Culture (https://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Company-Revolution-Corporate-Culture/dp/3642781268)" to learn about how to develop an organization that utilizes its strengths and remains competitive -Read "The Organization of the Future Is Fractal (https://www.bcg.com/publications/2022/fractal-companies-are-the-organizations-of-the-future)" for a break down of fractal design principles -Follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/behind-the-ops/) to join the conversation and find out when we post new episodes

Vroom vroom. In this week's episode, Madi and special guest Kyle Oberholtzer, program manager of the Tulip Experience Center, discuss all things Formula 1. Madi quizzes Kyle (a Formula 1 fan, though a bit of a "Netflix newbie") on racing terminology (what in the world is a pole sitter?). And they reflect on the many ways in which the Formula 1 space is relevant to manufacturing. After all, the fact that these cars exist in the first place is a huge manufacturing achievement, right? LINK DUMP: * Check out A beginner's guide to F1 slang (https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.a-beginners-guide-to-f1-slang.1Pg6tvGZ2y7u4KAnc8WXGl.html) for definitions and context around important Formula 1 terms * Read Insider's guide: How is an F1 car made? (https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/how-is-an-f1-car-made/7626324/) for insights on what is used to construct a Formula 1 car * Follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/behind-the-ops/) to join the conversation and find out when we post new episodes

Are buzzwords a necessary evil, or do their costs outweigh the benefits? In this week's episode, Madi and Natan dive deep into this question — exploring the difference between useful buzzwords and those that obscure the meaning of evolving concepts. They also discuss how Industry 4.0 and IoT have mutated into new terminologies, and play a fun game to identify popular buzzwords! LINK DUMP: * Check out 15 Frequently Misunderstood and Misused Tech Buzzwords (https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/06/07/15-frequently-misunderstood-and-misused-tech-buzzwords/?sh=54d1ca61768b) for insights from a panel of experts on specific tech terms that are often used incorrectly * Read How Industry 4.0 is Transforming Lean Manufacturing (https://tulip.co/blog/how-industry-4-0-is-transforming-lean-manufacturing/) for a breakdown of the new technological developments that are driving Industry 4.0 forward * Follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/behind-the-ops/) to join the conversation and find out when we post new episodes

Hallo from Hannover! In this episode — recorded on-site at Hannover Messe 2023 — Madi and Natan provide a breakdown of everything they saw and heard (and ate!) on the show floor. (P.S. Madi says German hotdogs are just “fine.”) Listen in to hear our co-hosts discuss the history of Hannover Messe, break down trends from this year's event (in case you were wondering, the cloud has become like “khaki pants and polo shirts for our industry”), and reflect on the surprising lack of physical, interactive demos. As Natan points out, how many flat screens with PowerPoint can we survive? LINK DUMP: * Dive into The Top 5 Manufacturing Trends in 2023 (https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/03/29/the-top-5-manufacturing-trends-in-2023/?sh=493685d95875) for insights on what to expect from AI, IoT, and other technology throughout the rest of this year * Read Cloud computing, SaaS, and the ‘new normal' for manufacturers (https://www.iotinsider.com/industrial/cloud-computing-saas-and-the-new-normal-for-manufacturers/) for an overview of how more and more organizations are adopting a cloud-first stance when it comes to selecting technology * Follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/behind-the-ops/) to join the conversation and find out when we post new episodes

Sources, and data, and insights, oh my! We live in an information era, but how do you know that what you measure actually means anything if you don't start with a baseline? In this episode, Madi and Natan discuss their love of benchmarks, highlight the challenges of knowledge sharing in the manufacturing industry, and reflect on the growing need to break out of the limitations of a paper-based world. LINK DUMP: * Dig into “Lean Math: Figuring to Improve (https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Math-Figuring-Mark-Hamel/dp/0872638812)” by Mark Hamel and Michael O'Connor for an overview of every lean manufacturing formula you may want to know * Read Indirect manufacturing costs: An overlooked source for clear savings (https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/indirect-manufacturing-costs-an-overlooked-source-for-clear-savings) to learn more about the requirements for successful benchmarking * Check out Manufacturing KPIs: 40 Key Production Metrics You Should Know (https://tulip.co/blog/manufacturing-kpis-key-production-metrics-you-should-know/) for insights into the most important metrics you can measure to help transform your operations * Follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/behind-the-ops) to join the conversation and find out when we post new episodes

Happy International Women's Month! Did you know that this holiday is only 36 years old? If it were a person, it would only be a millennial! While we've seen some progress for women in the manufacturing and tech sectors, we still have a long way to go. In this episode, Madi and Natan discuss historical challenges for women in these fields, dive into the latest career advancement trends and data, and reflect on the ongoing pipeline and retention concerns in a world where women are over-mentored, but under-sponsored. LINK DUMP: * Read Why Women Leave Tech: It Isn't Because 'Math is Hard' (https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/why-women-leave-tech-it-isnt-because-math-is-hard/238036) for real-life stories on why women are unhappy with the tech work environment * Dig into the Career Advancement for Manufacturing Annual Report (https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/242200/UA%20Assets/Career%20Advancement%20for%20Manufacturing%20Annual%20Report%202022%20-%20Thomas.pdf) for data on the percentage of women in leadership roles and how their recruitment opportunities differ from those of men * Learn more about Women's Roles After WWII (https://vphibbswomensroles.wordpress.com/womens-roles-after-wwii/) * Check out the Women in the Workplace (https://wiw-report.s3.amazonaws.com/Women_in_the_Workplace_2020.pdf) report for insights on how Covid-19 impacted women workers in particular * Follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/behind-the-ops) to join the conversation and find out when we post new episodes

We talk about AI a lot on this podcast. So, who is better to bring into the studio than Head of Artificial Intelligence at Tulip, Dr. Roey Mechrez? In this episode, Dr. Roey brings expert insight into how consumer-focused AI tools like ChatGPT and Dall-E 2 work, examples of industrial use cases of Computer Vision, and plays a game of "Can AI Fix It?" LINK DUMP: * Follow Dr. Roey on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/roey-mechrez/) * Learn more about computer vision capabilities with Tulip (https://tulip.co/platform/vision/) Special Guest: Roey Mechrez, PHD.

Happy New Year! In this episode, Russ and Madi reflect on the past year by presenting categories to each other and having the other choose and justify their favorite winner from a pre-selected list of nominees. Hear why people are the true unsung heroes of manufacturing in 2022, how retargeting algorithms once almost ruined Madi's engagement proposal, and the predicted frontrunner for Category of the Year in 2023. LINK DUMP: * Try out the best new artist of 2022 (https://openai.com/dall-e-2/), but don't use it to create your next LinkedIn profile photo * Taylor Swift's “Midnights” is the first album to sell better on vinyl than CD (https://www.nme.com/news/music/taylor-swifts-midnights-is-the-first-album-to-sell-better-on-vinyl-than-cd-since-the-1980s-3372071) since the 1980's * Learn more about Augmented Lean (https://www.augmentedlean.com/book) and get a copy of the book

How would Santa produce and deliver presents to all of the good children around the world in a modern manufacturing environment, sans magic? He would face all of the same problems you do – an elf shortage, increasing consumer demands, quality management. In this episode, Russ and Madi propose an elf-centric approach to digitizing Santa's Christmas operations. See ChatGPT's answer to the prompt "How would santa optimize his production processes?": https://cdn.brandfolder.io/GDDASP4K/at/mgjxv7gs2b8t54sfqc65c5gp/Screen_Shot_2022-12-14_at_73735_AM.png

Glitter. It's everywhere. But since at least 2018 there's been a semi-dark corner of the Internet turning over a revolving door of conspiracy theories about shortages of the sparkly stuff. Lately, Tik Tok has been awash with armchair detectives trying to find out who the top buyer is. Nevermind that Boston-based podcast “Endless Thread” have already done a full investigation based on a Reddit r/UnsolvedMysteries post back in 2019 claiming to identify the buyer. Assistant Host Russ makes the case that the vagueness and secrecy in Big Glitter might not be as rare (or mysterious) as it seems. Rather, a little manufacturing know-how. LINK DUMP * Watch the TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRCxdW5T/) that made its way to Producer Jasmine's "For You Page" * Read the 2018 New York Times article (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/style/glitter-factory.html) that sparked the widespread conspiracy (https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/a8hrk0/which_mystery_industry_is_the_largest_buyer_of/) around Glitterex's largest buyer * Listen to WBUR's "Endless Thread" podcast (https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2019/11/08/the-great-glitter-mystery) Join the conversation on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/behind-the-ops_demystifying-glitter-activity-7009250127689220096-9Rhg?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop) to drop your theories on how glitter is made and where it's all going.

Things go wrong constantly in manufacturing. It's a competitive environment and a lot of businesses have slim margins. Amazing manufacturing organizations are good at building relationships at scale, which is much easier when you have information close at hand and easily shared. Sometimes, you're going to get rained on (metaphorically) so prepare the best you can and make your mind up about how you want to face it. Madi coaxes a two-step plan out of Assistant Host Russ on how to accept and plan for everything being mostly broken, most of the time. LINK DUMP * Washington DC gets more rain (https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/move-over-seattle-washington-dc-actually-gets-more-rain-every-year/65-21736366-ca0a-4821-b89b-a0b0342c49bb#) than Seattle. * When you need rain gear commentary, go find (https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/80230/) the (https://www.cleverhiker.com/best-rain-jackets) backpackers (https://sectionhiker.com/best-dwr-treatment/). * From computer bad guys/antiheroes (https://cybersecurityventures.com/movies-about-cybersecurity-and-hacking/) to business (https://play-media.org/guide-to-the-best-growth-hacking-strategies/) buzzword (https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/learn-the-art-of-culture-hacking-for-culture-change)! Where do you stand on self-identifying as a hacker? * A helpful guide (https://safetyfirst.airbus.com/system-reset-use-with-caution/) to turning it off and turning it back on again…for your jet airliner!

Do your non-manufacturing friends think about where things come from? Or when? Or how much? In this episode, Madi and Russ discuss mainstreaming of manufacturing technology problems from supply chain management to skilled worker shortages. Manufacturing has accounted for less than 10% of all US jobs (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=UZ6B) going back to the 2008 recession, which means limited reach for shop talk at the dinner table. But the 2020s have been weird, and these days you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a manufacturing-related headline. LINK DUMP * Shortages of all (https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/18/health/formula-shortage-census-survey/index.html) kinds (https://www.clickondetroit.com/health/2022/10/17/fda-declares-nationwide-adderall-shortage-what-you-need-to-know/) of (https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/why-is-there-a-chip-shortage-the-semiconductor-supply-chain-explained) things (https://www.freshplaza.com/north-america/article/9469610/weather-and-supply-chain-issues-causing-potato-shortage/) have gone mainstream; also, shortages of people (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/16/worker-shortage-strikes-economy/) * Apple's AirTag brings consumer-grade track and trace to airline baggage, then gets banned (https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/lufthansa-bans-apples-airtags-5459052/) * UPS was a pioneer (https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2013/11/01/meet-orion-software-that-will-save-ups-millions-by-improving-drivers-routes/?sh=20d463a84fc7) in delivery route planning (https://www.reddit.com/r/UPS/comments/f4btcl/orion_makes_sense_to_me/); the R&D torch may have since passed to Amazon (https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/amazon-deploys-new-delivery-route-algorithm-condor/630747/) * When it comes to the manufacturing labor market in the US, the numbers paint a sobering picture (https://tulip.co/blog/importance-of-education-in-manufacturing/) for what's yet to come * #supplychaintok (https://www.tiktok.com/@joshuaturek/video/7060300504567418158?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7150307441108944430)

Fresh out of the judge's panel reviewing the 2022 Tulip Groundbreaker Awards nomination submissions, Russ and Madi could not wait to discuss the who, how, and why of the program. This leads to a discussion of the evolution of problem-solving in the digital era of manufacturing, and how this year's nominees embody dynamic engineering thinking and the spirit of citizen development. Learn more about the Tulip Groundbreakers Awards Program (https://tulip.co/groundbreakers/) Tune into the Tulip Showcase (https://tulip.co/events/tulip-showcase-2022/) on November 17 to see a virtual showcase of the latest features in the Tulip Platform and livestream of the 2022 Tulip Groundbreaker Awards ceremony Check out last year's winners (https://community.tulip.co/t/congratulations-to-the-tulip-groundbreakers/2044) Follow Tulip on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/tulip-interfaces/) to see the recording of Tulip Showcase event and announcement of the winners on November 17.

Relationship building and maintenance is multi-faceted in business and in regular life. The hosts take a middle ground stance, but take it firmly. Old ways of selling heavy equipment are applied to a new crop of younger buyers, but hope springs eternal for virtual showrooms. Internet friends become once-a-year friends thanks to experiential selling, and an attempt is made to pry out the “versus” from “digital versus physical” and segue ways to an inadvertent indirect plug for Behind the Ops' big brother podcast Augmented with Trond Undheim. LINK DUMP Academics making the case for virtual (https://www.aerospacetestinginternational.com/opinion/how-integrating-the-virtual-and-physical-will-make-aerospace-testing-and-certification-smarter.html) airplane and parts testing (https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/departments/the-case-for-more-virtual-testing/) and flight qualification Lengthy how-to on relationship selling that may have been written by a computer says to always “show your authentic self (https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/selling-relationships)” “Tradeshows Aren't Dead” has been a clickbait headline since at least 2014 (https://www.foodonline.com/doc/tradeshows-aren-t-dead-packexpo-recap-0001); search index volume for “tradeshow” bottomed out exactly when you think it did. Get yourself a new pair of THE tradeshow-goer approved Banana Republic pants (https://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=35878&style=1077638) (or find them second-hand (https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=banana+republic+traveler+pants&_trksid=p2380057.m4084.l1311&_sacat=0) like Russ) #notsponsored See the Real Life Iron Man from Gravity Industries (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/imtschicago_richard-browning-jet-pack-flight-activity-6975851464992727040-Q0nB) Boston Dynamics x Sam Adams Superbowl Commercial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUQnduNzsw8) Order a copy of Trond's new book: Augmented Lean (https://www.augmentedlean.com/book) Follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/tulip-interfaces/) to catch us at our next in-person event.

Part 1: Pop Quiz! Madi and Russ answer difficult questions to prove their personal worth. Failure is an option. Part 2: Community Service From the Tulip forum, Russ presents recent top posts. The hosts discuss the relative merits of Dark Mode, and infinite looping steps in software. Preparations are made for opening an interdimensional portal. LINK DUMP * The Tulip Glossary of Industry Terms (https://tulip.co/glossary/), but make it a nice flashcard game (https://quizlet.com/606876488/tulip-glossary-flash-cards/). * Hubspot's marketing trivia quiz (https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-trivia) might break you. * Top posts from Tulip Community are release notes with new features (https://community.tulip.co/top). * Dark mode is sometimes user-configurable, sometimes inherited (https://community.tulip.co/t/dark-mode-for-community-and-knowledge/6088/5) from an OS or browser, and always fertile ground for zealotry (https://gizmodo.com/stop-hating-dark-mode-because-it-s-different-1843550777) and backlash (https://www.reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/comments/bbpo72/darkmodeisinferiortolightmodeonevery/). (also (https://gizmodo.com/dark-mode-is-for-suckers-1838544708)) Follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/80330559/admin/) to join the conversation and find out when we post new episodes Transcript Intro: Welcome to season three of Behind the Ops presented by Tulip. This season, we are welcoming a fresh pair of co-hosts bringing a whole new energy. Russell Waddell and Madilynn Angel tackle the pointed questions challenging industrial operations as we know it, and sometimes even answering them. Russ: Madi, how's your dog? Madi: She has recovered. Yeah, she finished her antibiotic, so she's all, she's all set. Russ: How old's your dog? Madi: She'll be five in April. Russ: And she's small, right? One of those long lived dogs. Madi: Just a 95 pound baby. Russ: Oh, I'm thinking of a different dog. Madi: She's a Bernese Mountain dog. Russ: Did I meet your dog? There's no way I missed your dog. Madi: No, you haven't met her. She, uh, she doesn't come into the office. So, quick story. I got Elsie like a few months before I started at Tulip. And so I brought her to the office as a puppy. And all the other office dogs were veterans and a couple of them were a little spicy and she had a run in with one of the small veteran dogs and is uncomfortable coming in the office now. So even though she's 95 pounds now, puppy Elsie's feelings we're so hurt that she's unable to come back into the office. Russ: She had a bad experience. Madi: Yeah. Childhood trauma. Puppyhood Trauma. Russ: Welcome to, Welcome to Pet Chat. Brought to you by Tulip, by the way, Madi: new segment Russ: yeah. New segment of Behind the Ops. What are we gonna talk about today? Madi: I think that we are gonna do a pop quiz. Russ: Oh God, I didn't prepare Madi: well. I'm like, I'm a striver, so I feel like I'm always expecting a pop quiz. you gotta be ready just in case. Russ: So you, so you didn't prepare in the sense that you're always prepared, um, pop quiz, Should we make this, should we make this medium difficult or hard difficult? Madi: Uh, let's do it hard, like a hard difficulty level. Okay. And then if we bomb the pop quiz, it was a surprise. Russ: So, Okay. So here I have a first, Can I ask the first question? I have one that's, that's gonna be good for gauging how good you're gonna be at this. Who said, Sorry, this is a marketing question, but I think it's incredibly hard. Who said "creativity is intelligence having fun"? Madi: Was it Steve Jobs ? Russ: That's a great guess. It was the Steve Jobs of Science. Albert Einstein. Okay. Okay. So that, So that, I thought that would be a basically impossible question without being multiple choice. Okay. And from your long silence, I feel like it was a basically impossible question without being multiple choice, do you wanna, do you want it to be just as hard as that or do you want me to dial it down a little? Madi: Well if, if it's hard questions that will be fun facts that our listeners can share at dinner parties, Yeah, then I feel like that's the way to go. Russ: So, Okay. So keep it, keep it difficult. Madi: No shame in failure. Russ: That's a good point. What if I just feel consistent shame whether I've failed or succeeded? Cuz I only think about the failure. Madi: I have some good counselors that I can recommend to you. Welcome to Mental Health Cast, brought to you by Tulip. Do you want another one? I got another one queued up, or do you have one? Let's keep them coming. Russ: Okay. This micro blogging site's iconic bird logo was named after Celtics legend Larry Boer. Larry by not Larry Boer. Larry Bird. This is, This is a Boston question for you. Madi: Can you repeat the question? Russ: Yeah, sure. This micro blogging site's iconic bird logo was named after Celtics legend, Larry Bird. Madi: Uh, is it Twitter? Russ: Nailed it. Twitter. Amazing. Larry Bird, Not a Tweety bird or some other bird. Do you want you want another one? I got another one queued up right here. It's good. Madi: Go for it. I'm sure I'm in the right place for this. Oh wait Russ: mentally? Madi: Yeah. Call those counselors. Yeah, go for it. Go for it. Russ: Okay, here we go. This is a marketing history. In what year did the United States ban advertising cigarettes on TV and radio? And I'll give, I'll give you multiple choice. Was it 1960, 1970, or 1980? Madi: 1970. Russ: Nailed it. Two in a row. Two outta three. What's your, tell me about your marketing, like your marketing credentials and why we can trust you as a marketing person and your expertise here. What's your cv? Madi: Well, the, the first thing that I think makes me trustworthy is I didn't study marketing in college and tip to all the kids don't study marketing in college because the professors and programs are 10 to 20 years behind and it's a waste of time. Russ: I was not expecting that answer, I'll be honest with you. Madi: Yeah. I studied anthropology. I care about understanding people and what they do and culture. I think that's a great background for marketing, but I'm biased. And you know, I, I went through kind of the, the agency flow for years, uh, before coming to, to Tulip, wanted to join a mission driven company. Russ: And when you took, when you were, when you were in school, how many semesters of marketing anthropology did you. Madi: Zero. But ask me how, how many semesters of Mayan writing and archeology I took and the number's pretty high . So we, we all learn fun, fun things in liberal arts schools. Russ: Did it stick? Madi: There are a few Chipotles that have really great mind writing installations that they've obviously stolen and I can identify them when I walk in there. And I love visiting. Central America, but I have very poor qualifications there as an adult. Russ: That's, it's just, it's one mind blowing fact after another amazing work. Do another question or is it my turn in the hot seat? Madi: I think it's your turn in the hot seat. And I'm going to, uh, focus on some Manufacturing questions. Is that fair? Okay. Russ: Please. Well, the whole point is not to be fair. The point is to be tough and give good trivia . Madi: Okay, so I'm gonna start with like a softball just to like get you ready, Russ: Okay. I'm act, I'm terrified of this cuz see, like, right what I said about my failure, my relationship with failure, Please. Madi: What is a bill of materials? Russ: Can I use the words bill or materials? In the answer? Madi: The one rule is gonna be, you can't use the words in the answer. Russ: The bill of material is a list of all the things required to make a thing. Madi: That's a good enough definition. Russ: Am I close? What's the textbook answer that we're going for here? Madi: So textbook says, "Complete inventory of the raw materials, assemblies, parts, and quantities of each needed to create a specific product". Russ: Okay, So I'm gonna answer in plain English and the technical English will be the officially correct answer this. We're gonna put this in the show notes. By the way, the Manufacturing questions are from the Tulip glossary, right? Madi: Yeah, yeah. We'll, we'll share the Tulip gloss. Can I throw you a more difficult question? Maybe a more contentious question. What is Industry 4.0? Russ: How long do we have ? Because there's also, so I'm gonna cite to a source. Industry 4.0 is a term coined by a program of the German government in the mid 2010s. Where they created an industrial policy that said, you know, here's eight pillars of our official industrial policy of the country of Germany, and what we'll spend money on and what we wanna accomplish. And that was published as Platform Industry 4.0. And, um, after that it went crazy. In Industry 4.0 has been used for all sorts of non-cited uses where there's no actual traceability of what the definition means. So I, I don't know. No one knows. I, I, I go with the formal definition based on German industrial policy and I disavow any other definition because there's not a source other than the tool of glossary of terms, which I feel like you're about to tell me what that definition is. Madi: No, actually, I just like decided to pull that one out. This one, it's not in the glossary Russ: and it shouldn't be. Cause what would we even cite to ? You picked a real bur under my saddle of a question there Madi: well, I like that you talked about it historically. I'd say this is a, a contentious topic. Like what is mes? Yeah. So you know, you can give like really technical definitions that are agreed on, which is great for pop quiz. You can give some nuanced essay questions, which are great for, you know, more of a final exam, midterm situ. Russ: Do you know what my favorite terrible rhetorical mechanism is? Digital twin. I saw this lot for digital twin. What's the, what's the definition of the digital twin? Well, the thing about digital twin is everybody's got their own definition. I'm like, No, no, no, no, no. They don't. They don't all have their own definition. There are places that you can cite to, whether that's academic papers or companies or uh, international organizations or governments there, just cite a source, like pick one, because as soon as you say everybody's got your own definition, what that means is what you're about to do is make one up off of, like just out of thin air, you're about to make another one. So you're literally complaining that everybody's got a different definition and therefore you will contribute to that problem by making your own new definition. Madi: I think to challenge it a little bit, I think that people can also want to take a position and so they share their own definition, knowing like, Hey, you might challenge this, but I actually maybe have looked up the Google Scholar papers and I just have a perspective that is not necessarily commonly held. Russ: Right. That makes sense. Yeah, that works Perfect. That makes perfect sense to me. I should stop complaining. People can say whatever they want. Madi: Oh, well the best thing about strong opinions is that you can disagree with them . Russ: So you disagree. Do you know who defines robots? That's almost, almost nobody. It got, the term was coined a long time ago in a, in a work of science fiction. But then it got picked up across a whole bunch of different things. And at this point there is no universally cited definition of robot, and yet most people know robot when they see one. Madi: I love this story. I just wanna like google more about robots. Russ: Because it's a anthropological story. Yeah, it's an anthropological story. Through and through. What's my next question? I was, I was actually, to be honest with you, I was kind of stalling cuz I didn't want the next one cuz the first one was too hard. Madi: So the next one, uh, is I think in your wheelhouse, what does no code mean versus low code? So I'm gonna change the format a little bit. What's the difference between no code and low? Russ: That one I can handle. No code is fully graphical with no, well, I can't use no, uh, without any typing out code in a specific language. So you don't actually have to write, you don't have to know any syntax. You can drag graphical elements or use menus. Low code is still mostly graphical or mostly accessible to non-professional software developers, but also does involve some amount of knowing syntax. Often for a, a simpler language like JavaScript, where you can do a little bit of actual writing out, uh, typing out code, and then also that fits seamlessly in an environment with, you know, drag and drop blocks and menu items and stuff like that. Madi: So from your definitions, no code and low. They can coexist. Russ: They, they do coexist. Yeah. I don't think that's my definition. There's a bunch of places where Tulip is a good example, but I'll use a non Tulip example just to be semi fair, unbiased about this. Like Squarespace, you can drag things from place to place to make a website. And if you get to a point where you have the ability to write HTML and or JavaScript and you wanna do something that is not a built in feature, you copy somebody else's code or you write your own code and you basically have a block that you put, you drag that block and that block is an empty space where you're gonna have code execute in what would otherwise be a no code website. And Tulip is the same thing with custom widgets. You have a no code environment, you add a custom widget, and I let you inject the piece of code into the Tulip platform. So yeah, they definitely coexist. The marketing term for no code would be a Wysiwyg editor, and by marketing term, I mean circa 2012 when I was aware of these things. Madi: Yeah, it's kind of amazing that we're still talking about definitions as a quiz for these, but you also asked me, Larry Bird Twitter question earlier, so I feel like it's all open for, for discussion. Russ: Oh my God. What else were we talking about besides pop quiz? Look at how desperately I am I am to leave the, the pop quiz that I proposed as the segment. Madi: Well, there are a few things we wanna talk about, um, that people feel passionately about. Kind of like the low no code piece, um mm-hmm. , but maybe going into something that I know developers care a lot about and that is dark mode. Pros, cons, importance. Why do people care so much? Russ: I don't know if it's funny to me or ob just an observationally funny thing or just amazes me, but the strong opinions that people feel about dark mode versus light mode, and the extent to which choosing one or the other reflects on people's, you know, like their core identity and value as human beings. It kind of boggles my mind a little. Madi: It is shocking. Russ: People who love dark mode, they just love dark mode. We were evaluating a tool a couple years ago and they only offered it in dark mode. Madi: A marketing tool only in dark mode.Shocking. The power the engineering organization had at that company, was easily represented to the market by their dark mode only product. Russ: Um, that's a really subtle and good point you're making. Yeah, you're right. Madi: Well, I think that you can probably dive into this a little bit more. Like it, it does seem like, you know, engineers have a strong preference for dark mode and there are benefits of it. So, you know, maybe you can kind of talk through like why people are so zealous. Russ: I can, I mean, it's speculative, right? But I can, I can talk a little bit about it. It's basically like, it's a combination of wanting to make a thing your own and there being an objectively right way that it should be. In certain circumstances and then like wanting that to be applied rigorously because of things like, you know, the time has come for light mode to go. I have another example that I actually know better than dark mode/ light mode. So when you're looking at online texts, like text presented on a screen, everybody who does any design or web design or anything like that, they al they all know, like text on screen supposed to be sans serif. That means it doesn't have the little dangler at the end of, of your t or the end of your letters. It's just plain letters. Think about Helvetica or Arial. That's sans serif font. But if you have print on a page, actually physically on a page then serif fonts are easier on the eyes. I have no, like, I don't know if this is even all the way true, this is just from like way back when, when I was learning about, about layouts and stuff like that. It was, you know, the rule across the board was sans on web, serif on print. And that was just like a thing that everybody knew. But until everybody knew that, You know, Times New Roman was the font online, so I think Dark Mode is in the same fit, and I'm like, I'm totally punting on this because I, I'm not a dark mode expert, but the phenomenon of there's a right way, there's a wrong way. Everybody knows the right way. It just takes some time to transition from one way to the other. I think. I think that's, that's mostly where we're at. Dark mode wise. When did you run into Dark Mode the first time? Do you remember your first dark mode? Madi: I do. It was when we were redesigning the Tulip website, we needed to have, Dark versions of the, the pages a nd light versions. It's not something I opt into. I like, feel like I can't see true or not, it just feels like I can't see in dark. Russ: I had a, I had a first interaction with it that was pretty minor in passing, and then I had a second interaction that was much more stark and I think a lot of other people shared this, this experience. So the first interaction was, this is not the shared one I think was a little more uncommon. So there was this text editor, Notepad ++, and I saw somebody else using it and they had set up a completely different interface and I was like, I didn't know enough to realize that all they'd done was change their setting. So I didn't even realize they were in the same application that I was in. And they just applied a theme to their editor. Text editor. Yeah. So then like, Oh, everybody I knew that was a developer, they all had some dark variation of the theme and all of the social scientists such as myself, all had light mode. And I'm like, Well, what, what do they know that I don't know? I need to find the secret. Madi: The Secret Club. Russ: Yes. Yeah. So that was the first time, which made me feel like a failure for not knowing what was going on. And then the second time was way, way, way after that was Slack versus Discord. And people would would ask like, Oh, you're, you're on Discord. What's, What's Discord? I'm like, Well, think about Slack. But dark mode , like I, the very first thing I used over and over again for distinguishing, you know, Slack versus discord was, well, you know, it's, it's dark mode. Which I feel like that would drive me bananas if I worked for either of those companies to know that people were out there distinguishing it that way. Madi: Well, I think Slack would probably like the comparison, just like bring Slack up as much as possible, and I think they'd appreciate it. Bring it up as the reference for messaging apps? Yeah. Like the more that they like are, you know, referenced to define a category of tool, like a messaging app against other messaging systems. I feel like that's a win for Slack. Just don't mention teams, don't say that Discord is the dark mode of teams that that would offend. Russ: Am I allowed to share it a completely based on nothing vision of the future of what that's gonna look like with teams? It's teams related. Madi: I think so, yeah. Russ: Can I speculate? And also sort of trash three companies at the same time. teams is gonna win out. Like IT directors, they wanna bundle, so they're gonna buy office and they're gonna get teams and they're gonna say, Zoom's done, cuz it can't be bundled And Slack is done cuz it has to be deployed separately and discord. What even is that? My kids use that for chatting about video games. That's how it's gonna shake out. I'll bet. I'll bet you $50 we can, We can document this bet in the show notes if you wanna take My bet. Madi: What does winning mean? Russ: Okay. You're right. It's a very poorly framed bet. Maybe I should rethink this. Madi: I just wanna be able to collect 50 if I'm gonna put some money down, I don't leave checks on the floor, you know? Russ: Okay, so action items for today. Revisit the bet and put some terms in place. The reason dark mode came up was cuz it was listed on community, uh, community.tulip.Co. Speaking of people on the internet talking to each other. That's frothy. There's a lot of conversation on there about Tulip stuff. There's a good amount of conversation about Manufacturing stuff. It is a fast way to get in touch with people who work at Tulip on the engineering team and the product team. Basically, the product team is watching all the time and listening and taking in inputs and feedback and putting it into the sausage making machine to make the better Tulip that never, never stops getting better. And so the other thing I wanted to bring up from community besides dark mode was looping. So we were talking about low code and no code in the quiz show. And I have this idea in my mind about what Tulip does for people and it puts code, One of the things it does is put coding concepts in front of people that don't have to then learn syntax and they don't really have to learn to code anything, but they're still led to things that are inherited from coding best practices. So I thought it was really interesting that we had a ton of back and forth and comments on this idea of looping in Tulip. And can you build something that loops through a series of steps or through a, a series of lines in a table? do you use the Looper as a substitute for like a batch upload process? Can you use the looper as one off, can you loop forever? It didn't come up on community, but it came up in my mind that if you create an infinite looper in Tulip that it's possible we would open an interdimensional portal. Madi: Love that. Russ: Which could be a liability for both our, our company and the universe. Do you mind checking with engineering on that? Madi: Yeah, I will message them right now. In a dark mode slack window. Dear Engineering team, I have a metaphysical question for you today. Russ: Can I wrap us up? Yeah. I had this wrap up in my mind even before we did the episode because I have nobody knows all the stuff and my feelings about not knowing how to do trivia, just gotta get past it, right? Like everybody needs somebody else to help them out. And we're all in this together on some level. And there are the gaps in, in other people's knowledge are as big as the ocean and bigger. But if we focus on the stuff that, like Madi knows how to do all this amazing marketing stuff and I know how to do things that I know how to. To be revisited later. The, the idea is match. One of the things that's really fun about Manufacturing is getting diverse skill sets together to solve big, interesting problems in a systematic way. And that's only possible when you have the people that that can work together and the tools and approaches that facilitate that teamwork and that working together. So better visibility into what's happening, and then the ability to communicate about what's happen. and then pick the problem apart. I mean, that's one of the things that kind of kept me in Manufacturing to see out what's, you know, what's beyond Industry 4.0. And I'm very optimistic, and I know a lot of people in Manufacturing are, they're, they're like optimistic curmudgeon where they are spending all their time and, and think the things that are messed up and they're trying to get to the things that are better. But at the end of the day, they're like, I see the light about what this is, what's good about this and why I enjoy it and, and where we're gonna take things. And I think a lot of that comes down to the people. Madi: Yeah, and we want people to feel like you do though, Russ, where you know they might be uncomfortable getting it wrong, but they still try to answer the question and learn what the textbook definition is. Russ: Cite your sources. See you next time? Madi: See you next time. Outro: Behind the Ops is brought to you by Tulip. Connect the people, machines, devices, and systems used in your production and logistics processes with our frontline operations platform. Visit Tulip dot co to learn more. The show is produced by Jasmine Chan and edited by Tom Obar. If you enjoyed listening, support the show by leaving us a quick rating or review. It really helps. If you have feedback for this or any of our other episodes, you can reach us at behindtheops@tulip.co.

In this episode, we're joined by Jean-Paul Moniz, Technical Services Coordinator at Cameco Fuel Manufacturing. JP talks about his 20+ year career in industrial automation, how nuclear fuel is made, and the rise of open source software and interoperability in manufacturing solutions. Links: * How It's Made - Uranium Part 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x7DozCqLxU) * How It's Made - Uranium Part 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7ehyxRBMbw) * Connect with JP (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jean-paul-moniz-a6605b6/) Special Guest: Jean-Paul Moniz.

In this episode, we're joined by Continuous Improvement Engineer Sofiya Baran from Stanley Black & Decker. Sofiya talks about how she fell in love with manufacturing despite never learning about it in her mechanical engineering classes, designing transportation carts and tabletops to improve operator safety and efficiency, and the unique challenges of manufacturing custom storage solutions. Now that Sofiya has implemented Tulip apps in the Detail Fabrication department to digitize job scheduling, she plans to expand her digital transformation efforts across all departments and is rethinking her earlier manual process improvement projects. Once you go paperless, you never go back! Connect with Sofiya (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiya-baran-2020/) Special Guest: Sofiya Baran.

In this episode, we're joined by Sam Feller, Product Manager of the Edge team at Tulip. Sam talks about teaching an engineering course with popsicle sticks, designing the Amazon Dash Cart, and his current book recommendations. He's an eclectic guy. Links: * "Collegiate Level Popsicle Sticks" (https://www.awkwardengineer.com/blogs/awkward-engineer-blog/collegiate-level-popsicle-sticks-with-the-awkeng) * Continuous Discovery Habits (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58046715-continuous-discovery-habits) - Teresa Torres * Decisive (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15798078-decisive) - Chip Heath, Dan Heath * Connect with Sam (https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-feller-0461b736/)

In this episode, we're joined by Samir Patel and Justin Cook from Sequence Inc., a Tulip partner. Samir and Justin talk about how they fell into the Life Sciences manufacturing solutions industry working with some of the top pharmaceutical companies in the world. They discuss the unique challenges that come with quality, compliance, and safety that have held back digital transformation in Life Sciences industries.

In this episode, Gio introduces Kyle Oberholtzer, the host of the second season of Behind the Ops, premiering March 24, 2022. Kyle joined the hardware team at Tulip 2 years ago and has recently transitioned to managing the Digital Factory, the demonstration shop floor at Tulip's HQ. From Lincoln Logs to edge devices, Kyle has always been in love with building things and can't wait to hear about all the cool things you've built too. 

In this episode, hear from Peter Hartnett, Manufacturing Engineer at Protolabs focusing on injection molding and the last-mile delivery of custom orders. Peter discusses how he extended Protolabs digital thread to the packing and shipping part of the production, the paper-based tracking they replaced, the tools they tried, navigating change, and the effective solutions that stuck.Peter talks about how Tulip has enabled them to gain real-time visibility, better align with processes, and uncover insights to improve operations and reduce scrap. Gio and Peter discuss problem-solving, limiting the distance between the people experiencing the problem and those solving the problem, and the importance of solutions that enable rapid iterations.

In the episode, we're joined by Jackson Weise, from SWIFT Components, a manufacturer of sound installation for automotive applications. Jackson is a computer science student and has been learning hands-on at SWIFT Components. There are a wide array of use cases at SWIFT that Tulip is solving for, and Jackson is going boots on the ground building and implementing solutions.

In the episode, we're joined by Eddie Carrillo, Senior Manufacturing at Bellwether Coffee. Eddie's rich and diverse experience has enabled for a unique perspective on the state of manufacturing at large. Previously, at PFF, Eddie took a consumer robotics product to production using Tulip as the backbone of the operations. And currently, Eddie is at Bellwether Coffee starting to scale production of coffee roasting solutions

In the episode, we hear from Mike Rousch, Manufacturing Engineer at TICO Tractors. As global demand for yard tractors dramatically increased, TICO had a need for controlled processes to maximize production and Mike's ability to build solutions with digital systems enabled him to lead a growing team. As TICO's need for more apps to error-proof frontline workflows and track production, Mike and the Manufacturing Engineering team are building solutions to ensure that quality standards are consistently met for TICO's line of terminal tractors.

In this episode, Lorena Mayen, process engineer from International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) shares how, across 3 roles at IFF, she worked to help build solutions to streamline processes, audits and data collection. Through learning new technologies, Lorena became a point of reference for several builders at the IFF facility in Mexico, and is helping IFF scale their digital transformation by building solutions to use at sites across the globe.

In this episode, we hear from Dave Staehle, Manufacturing Change Manager at RBW, a LED lighting production company, on his journey from fine arts student to production manager. Dave talks about how he helped scale the lighting production company from “wild chaos” with out-of-sync systems and manual time studies and lead it on an Industry 4.0 journey. He shares the lessons he learned, why the frontline worker and streamlining their experience matters, and how design and wisdom from his fine arts background served him well in the end. 

Behind the ops will release episodes on a bi-weekly cadence, and we'll be launching our first episode on October 11th. Enter your email in the form below to receive updates as we release new episodes.