Manufacturing Tomorrow's Workforce

Whether it's a global pandemic, inclement weather conditions, or other unforeseen challenges, being a good leader is key to making it through difficult times. In this episode, Jay Richards, a member of the founding team and senior consultant at Denison Consulting, returns to the show to discuss a little bit about leadership in a post-pandemic world and going forward. Learn more about Denison Consulting: https://www.denisonconsulting.com/ Read the transcript: https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce/leadership-and-the-future-of-work 

For the past year or so, many manufacturers have struggled to keep up and running, maintain staff, and adjust to the digital changes the pandemic required. Making these changes or funding a new project, like a digitalization effort, for example, can be expensive, but there are grants and funding available to help. Micki Vandeloo, president of Lakeview Consulting, returns to keep us up-to-date on the changing grant landscape for manufacturers. Read the transcript: https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce/navigating-the-changing-grant-landscape 

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many employers to reduce their staffs, but having workers who have the know-how and nurturing their growth is still important. Amanda Del Buono and Tom Strong, director of employer action for the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, discuss the importance of investing in and training employees for the long haul. Read the transcript: https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce/how-a-training-program-can-solve-many-of-your-workforce-problems 

With the change that 2020 brought, it might be time for us to get used to change. Business Enterprise Mapping's Donald James speaks with Amanda Del Buono to help us understand how manufacturers can manage that change in their organizations going forward. Learn more about Business Enterprise Mapping: https://www.businessmapping.com/ Read the full transcript: https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce/how-to-better-manage-change-in-your-organization  

With vaccines rolling out, some workers are returning to their normal duties. Some manufacturers, however, may find themselves short-staffed and back in search of employees, a difficult endeavor prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. With more people out of work, can manufacturers more easily recruit from a larger pool of potential workers? In this episode, Amanda Del Buono discusses how manufacturers can recruit in a post-pandemic environment with Tom Moriarty, professional engineer, certified maintenance and reliability professional, certified asset reliability practitioner, MBA in business administration, President of Alidade M.E.R. Inc., and columnist for Putman Media’s Plant Services magazine. Read the full transcript at https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce/how-can-manufacturers-recover-their-workforces-post-pandemic

Amanda Del Buono is joined by Deanna Nord, Principal of Nord Strategy Group, speaker and contributing writer to plant services in the journal magazines, as well as other publications, to discuss how the industry was impacted by 2020, and what 2021 has in store.  Read the full transcript: https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce/a-look-ahead-what-does-the-next-year-hold-for-u-s-manufacturers

Putman Media social and digital media coordinator, Alexandra Ditoro, spoke with Greg Paulsen, director of application engineering at Xometry, and Tressa Gardner, associate vice president of Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMT), which is a manufacturing trade school that has partnered with Xometry for both training and revenue and is dedicated to help funding university operations.

In this podcast, Amanda Del Buono interviews Dirck Schou, CEO of Taqtile (https://taqtile.com/), about the use of augmented and virtual reality for training in the manufacturing industry. Read the full transcript here: https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce/augmented-and-virtual-reality-training-in-industry 

Dean Steadman, CNC Education program manager for FANUC, joins Amanda Del Buono and Thomas Wilk, editor in chief of Putman Media’s Plant Services magazine, to share how the company built its training program to help manufacturers throughout the United States find the trained CNC machinists they need. Read the full transcript here: https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce/how-fanuc-build-a-cnc-training-program-for-us-schools/   Learn more about FANUC education programs: www.fanucamerica.com/education/cnc-robodrill 

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, employee health and safety has come to the forefront of many leaders’ minds. To help those leaders put thought into action, Amanda Del Buono interviews Kylene Zenk, director of manufacturing practice at Kronos, about how digital technologies can help manufacturers be more attentive to their employees’ overall well-being. Read Kronos U.S. Workforce Activity Report: www.kronos.com/about-us/newsroom/update-us-workforce-activity Learn about Kronos' employee contact tracing capability: https://www.kronos.com/about-us/newsroom/kronos-introduces-employee-contact-tracing-capability-support-covid-19-response Read the full transcript of this episode: https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce/prioritizing-employee-mental-and-physical-health-and-safety/ 

Digitalization is reliant on a workforce that's willing to accept the change. To discuss how manufacturers can bridge that gap and gain buy-in from their workforces, Amanda Del Buono interviews Jonathon Hensley, founder and CEO of Emerge Interactive, a company that assists organizations in achieving digital transformation. Read the full transcript here: https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce/advice-for-gaining-buy-in-to-digital-transformation/ Learn more about Jonathon’s new book, “Alignment”: https://www.emergeinteractive.com/podcast/

Amanda Del Buono interviews Jay Richards, a member of the founding team and senior consultant at Denison Consulting, a consulting firm that helps its clients improve their culture and build leadership development. They discuss leadership during the coronavirus pandemic and then step back to take a broader look at leadership development in U.S. manufacturing. Read the full transcript here: https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce/leadership-during-covid-19/ Visit Jay's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJix0XVFhLJvqO1EFIw_Z8w 

Illustrating the success of apprenticeship programs, Putman Media intern Alexandra Ditoro interviewed Melody Whitten, director of development for 58 Inc., a part of Shelby County Alabama's Economic Development Committee (http://58inc.org/). Whitten explains how the local organization built an apprenticeship program and how this program is helping local manufacturers build their own talent pipelines. Whitten also offers advice to manufacturers considering implementing an apprenticeship model. Read the full transcript.

Amanda Del Buono interviews Joe McMurry, peer group solutions consultant for the Purdue Manufacturing Extension Partnership, about how manufacturers can reduce turnover by improving their employee retention strategies. Read the full transcript here: https://www.controlglobal.com/podcasts/manufacturing-tomorrows-workforce/what-you-need-to-know-to-retain-employees/ 

While many are able to work from home during the current pandemic, field service workers by nature don't have this option. In this special edition episode, Amanda Del Buono is joined by Stacey Epstein, chief marketing officer and customer experience officer at ServiceMax, to discuss how organizations and individuals can stay safe while keeping essential equipment up and running. Read the full transcript. Visit the new Field Service Job Finder from ServiceMax and Krios at https://www.fieldservicefinder.com/

Peter Coleman, president and CEO of Buffalo Niagara Manufacturing Alliance, joins Amanda Del Buono to discuss how the coronavirus pandemic is challenging the manufacturing industry and its workforce. Read the full transcript.

Amanda Del Buono is joined by Terry Iverson, founder of ChampionNow!, a nonprofit organization with the goal of changing the image of manufacturing in the eyes of the next generation of workers. They discuss attracting the next generation of workers and changing their perception of manufacturing as well as in their parent's eyes. In line with the podcast, Iverson is offering 30% off his book "Finding America's Greatest Champion," here https://championnow.org/podcast/

Randy Heisler, vice president of Life Cycle Engineering, a consulting firm serving private industry, public entities and government organizations, chats with Amanda Del Buono about retirement and how manufacturers can better prepare for their retiring workforce and manage new workers.

Alexandra Ditoro, a current journalism student at Loyola University in Chicago, builds on our last podcast about the academic-practice gap with her interview with Jack Ferguson, a recent graduate of Clemson University and a seal reliability engineer at SEPCO. Alexandra and Jack discuss Jack’s transition from a student to a practitioner, what he felt confident about and what he maybe didn’t feel so confident about as he started his career.

Amanda Del Buono interviews R. Russell Rhinehart, CONTROL magazine columnist, engineering coach and professor at the Oklahoma State University’s School of Chemical Engineering, about the academic-practice gap. Russ explains what the gap is, why it exists and if it can be closed. Read Rhinehart's column on ControlGlobal.com: http://bit.ly/2HnSWsZ

Erin Hallstrom, leader of Putman Media’s Influential Women in Manufacturing program, talks gender diversity and inclusion with Charli Matthews and Cieana Detloff of Empowering Women in Industry. Learn more about Empowering Women in Industry at  empoweringwomeninindustry.com/ For more information about Smart Industry Base Camp, visit event.smartindustry.com/

Kicking off season two, host Amanda Del Buono is joined by Erin Hallstrom, head of Putman Media's Influential Women in Manufacturing recognition program to discuss the results of IWIM's recent Career Development & Gender Diversity survey, along with the special report that came from it. Learn more about IWIM or nominate at influentialwomeninmanufacturing.com Join the conversation on LinkedIn and Facebook.

In this pod, Christine LaFave Grace speaks with with Cheryl Thompson, CEO and founder of CADIA, the center for automotive diversity, inclusion and advancement. In this interview, Christine and Cheryl discuss the new CADIA 2.0, diversity, inclusion, and much more.

Christine LaFave Grace speaks with Michelle Ledet Henley, president of TMG Frontline Solutions and principal at The Manufacturing Game, about change management and building buy-in from employees.

Christine LaFave Grace sits down with Dee Karabowicz, a mechanical engineer for Thales Defense and Security in Aurora, Ill., and co-program director with the FIRST LEGO League Junior program in Chicago's far western suburbs. They discuss how Dee’s experience with the FIRST program inspired her to follow an engineering career path, and the impact that current professionals can have on the workforce of the future. Get involved with FIRST LEGO League in Illinois here: https://www.firstillinoisrobotics.org/fll/volunteer.html

Christine LaFave Grace sits down with John Mitchell, president and CEO of IPC, a global trade organization serving the electronics industry. They discuss IPC’s recent commitment to creating 1 million new skilled workforce opportunities during the next five years.

Christine LaFave Grace is joined by Ryan Chan, founder and CEO of Upkeep, a provider of CMMS and EAM tools as well as centers to support predictive maintenance. They’ll discuss Plant Service’s recent Workforce Survey results, the growing importance of maintenance personnel and the need to better sell these jobs to the potential workforce.

Christine LaFave Grace and Manas Mehandru, COO of mHUB, discuss how the innovation center connects Midwestern manufacturers with right talent to make high-quality products more efficiently.

Dr. Jennifer van de Ligt wants to help the future generations of leaders evolve from siloed-skilled doers into problem-solving thinkers.  As the head of the University of Minnesota's Integrated Food Systems Leadership program, she helps professionals bridge the gap between traditional education and professional leadership. In this episode, Dr. van de Ligt explains why critical thinking is important now more than ever for the food and beverage industry and how future leaders can help create a sustainable future for our food system. Click here for more information about the University of Minnesota's Integrated Food Systems Leadership program.

Amanda Del Buono is joined by Neil Ridley, Georgetown University, Center on Education and the Workforce, state initiative director, to discuss the center's recent "The Way We Were" report, which analyzes the industry from the 1940s through today and how the workforce has been impacted. Read the report here: http://bit.ly/2lYpVNk

Christine LaFave Grace is joined by Stacey Patch of Raymond Corp. to discuss the benefits of virtual reality for training in the manufacturing industry. Patch shares how the innovative technology has helped the company and its clients better train its lift truck users. Additional links: Register for the IWIM Awards Luncheon

Christine LaFave Grace and Nandita Gupta, process controls engineer at Georgia-Pacific and a 2019 Influential Women in Manufacturing honoree. They discuss Gupta's experience entering the workforce with a mentor, and how she hopes to provide new engineers with a similar or better experience through a formal mentoring program at Georgia Pacific, which is set to launch soon.

David Riojas, president of the PCIT advisory board and past president of the ISA Will-DuPage chapter; Jeff Bradford, Joliet Junior College (JJC) technical department chair; and Joe Limon, PCIT instructor, explain the joint program to educate young process automation technicians.

A roundtable of Putman Media editors discuss workforce trends and challenges in their industries. You’ll hear from Control's Jim Montague, Food Processing's Pan Demetrakakes and Plant Services' Christine LaFave Grace.

Christine LaFave Grace interviews Anthony Nighswander, president of APT Manufacturing Solutions about APT’s training program for area high school students, which helps bring new talent into the company.

Amanda Del Buono interviews ABB’s Hampus Scharing, who authored the recent whitepaper titled "Attracting generation 'G' to 24/7 control rooms," about the benefits the gaming generation can bring to savvy organizations.

Christine LaFave Grace interviews Micki Vandeloo, president of Lakeview Consulting, to discuss how manufacturers can obtain grants to support their major projects and initiatives.

Sheri Plain, director of workforce services at Owensboro Community and Technical College (OCTC), and Amanda Saam, a new instructor at OCTC, explain the program they’ve developed with manufacturers in their community, and how they’re working to remove the barriers to entrance for women in the field.

Christine LaFave Grace, Plant Services' managing editor, interviews Aisha Lawrey, director of engineering education at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). They discuss how industrial companies can partner with schools and training programs to ensure young engineers are prepared for their careers.

Plant Services’ Christine LaFave Grace interviews Keith Barr, CEO and president of Leading2Lean, about its recent Workforce Index study, which looked at impressions of the U.S. manufacturing industry. They discuss how these perceptions impact workforce and potential solutions.

To further discuss the need to attract young people to manufacturing and share some innovative digital training methods that can help to fill the skills gap, ControlGlobal.com's digital engagement manager Amanda Del Buono is joined by Samer Forzley, CEO of Simutech Multimedia. 

Christine LaFave Grace, of Plant Services magazine, and Chandra Brown, of the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII), talk about combining innovative digital technology and workforce development to make manufacturing more competitive.

In the first full-length pod, Amanda Del Buono interviews Guy Loudon, president of the Jane Addams Resource Corp.(JARC), about the skills gap and 2019 workforce trends. JARC, which has an affiliated corporation in Baltimore, trains workers and connects them with employers in their manufacturing sector.

In this podcast series, we focus on workforce issues impacting companies and individuals across industries through in-depth interviews with experts using new approaches to enact change in their plants, attract up-and-coming workers and overcome the skills gap.