On this episode of Industrial Talk, we are chatting with Casey King with AZO about maintenance accessibility, ergonomics and safety in your material handling solution.  Here are the key takeaways:

• Casey is the Director of Engineering and Operations at AZO, a company that designs bulk ingredient handling systems.
• AZO can handle projects of any size, from small one-offs to fully automated new production plants.
• Casey discusses the importance of maintenance and accessibility in the design of material handling systems.
• In the past, maintenance was often not considered until after the system was installed. This led to problems with access to equipment and components.
• AZO is now making a conscious effort to consider maintenance and accessibility early in the design process.
• This helps to ensure that systems are easy to maintain and that components can be easily replaced.
• Casey also discusses the challenges of finding and retaining plant resources.
• In some cases, it is no longer possible to find enough manual laborers to staff a plant.
• This is leading to a greater demand for automation.
• Azo can help companies to automate their plants and to improve their efficiency.

Here are some additional points that were made in the conversation:

• Casey emphasizes the importance of having a “owners mentality” when designing material handling systems. This means thinking about how the system will be used over the long term, not just during the initial commissioning phase.
• Casey also discusses the importance of using standardized components in material handling systems. This makes it easier to maintain and repair the system, and it also makes it easier to upgrade the system in the future.

Overall, the conversation provides a good overview of the challenges and opportunities in the material handling industry. Azo is well-positioned to help companies to address these challenges and to improve their efficiency.

Also, get your exclusive free access to the Industrial Academy and a series on “Why You Need To Podcast” for Greater Success in 2023. All links designed for keeping you current in this rapidly changing Industrial Market. Learn! Grow! Enjoy!

CASEY KING'S CONTACT INFORMATION:

Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-king-b309b31b/

Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/azo-inc./

Company Website: https://www.azo.com/en-de

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OTHER GREAT INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES:

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Industrial Marketing Solutions:  https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-marketing/

Industrial Academy: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-academy/

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The post Casey King with AZO, Inc. appeared first on Industrial Talk.

On this week's Industrial Talk we're onsite at MxD in Chicago and talking to Kym Wehrle, Director of Engagement/Operations at MxD about “The Positive Manufacturing Impact of Technology for Small to Mid Size Manufacturers “. Get the answers to your “manufacturing” questions along with Kym's unique insight on the “How” on this Industrial Talk interview!

Finally, get your exclusive free access to the Industrial Academy and a series on “Why You Need To Podcast” for Greater Success in 2022. All links designed for keeping you current in this rapidly changing Industrial Market. Learn! Grow! Enjoy!

KYM WEHRLE'S CONTACT INFORMATION:

Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kymberly-wehrle-mba-bb893517/

Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mxd/

Company Website: https://www.mxdusa.org/

PODCAST VIDEO:

THE STRATEGIC REASON “WHY YOU NEED TO PODCAST”:

OTHER GREAT INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES:

NEOM: https://www.neom.com/en-us

Hitachi Vantara: https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/home.html

Industrial Marketing Solutions:  https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-marketing/

Industrial Academy: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-academy/

Industrial Dojo: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial_dojo/

We the 15: https://www.wethe15.org/

YOUR INDUSTRIAL DIGITAL TOOLBOX:

LifterLMS: Get One Month Free for $1 – https://lifterlms.com/

Active Campaign: Active Campaign Link

Social Jukebox: https://www.socialjukebox.com/

Industrial Academy (One Month Free Access And One Free License For Future Industrial Leader):

Business Beatitude the Book

Do you desire a more joy-filled, deeply-enduring sense of accomplishment and success? Live your business the way you want to live with the BUSINESS BEATITUDES…The Bridge connecting sacrifice to success. YOU NEED THE BUSINESS BEATITUDES!

TAP INTO YOUR INDUSTRIAL SOUL, RESERVE YOUR COPY NOW! BE BOLD. BE BRAVE. DARE GREATLY AND CHANGE THE WORLD. GET THE BUSINESS BEATITUDES!

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PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

mx, technology, industrial, manufacturing, industry, organizations, upskill, innovation center, workforce, innovation, facilities, imts, individuals, partners, contact information, mst, operations, people, focused, industry professionals

00:00

Industrial Talk is brought to you by Armis. Yes, you were in the digital transformation game. Yes, you need to find trusted companies, trusted individuals to help you along with that journey. The Armis platform delivers complete asset intelligence, you know what that means, insights into your connected assets, you're in the digital transformation game, you have to have that insights into what is connected, go to Armis.com Find out more, you will not be disappointed. Also Industry IoT Consortium. At industrial talk, we always talk about education, we always talk about collaboration, we are always talking about innovation. And if you're a business that has any desire to be resilient to the future, you need to be able to educate, collaborate, as well as innovate with other industry professionals. That's a must. Industry IoT Consortium brings that all together, you need to be a part of this community. You need to be connected with these leaders that are all apart the Industry IoT Consortium, go out to iiconsortium.org. Find out more again, you will not be disappointed, you're just going to be happy.

01:16

Welcome to the industrial talk podcast with Scott Mackenzie. Scott is a passionate industry professional dedicated to transferring cutting edge industry focused innovations and trends while highlighting the men and women who keep the world moving. So put on your hard hat, grab your work boots. And let's go right once again, thank you very much for joining an industrial talk the number one industrial related podcast in the universe, Kym, and it is backed up by data so don't even go there. That's exciting. Congratulations. You know what we do? We celebrate industry professionals all around the world because you are bold, brave, you dare greatly. You are changing lives, solving problems and making the world a better place. Why not celebrate you? We are broadcasting from an incredible What'd you call it an incubator? What do you call it? Innovation Center.

02:08

English is tough for me. Innovation Center. MxD is the location it is in Chicago, Illinois. And my gosh, I'm looking at the window because we're on the outside looking in. But then it looks great. And we're going to be talking to Kym.

02:23

But engagement director of engagement. Let's get cracking.

02:27

Yeah, that's perfect. All right. Let's just wrap it up. How did he get ahold of you? Just kidding. That's that's called podcast comedy. And it's very, very loosey goosey. How are you doing? Good. This is exciting. It's been a great day. Yeah. IMTS kicked off the week. And it's just been really, really busy. So So I go to IMTS. So first time, and and if you've never been to that show, overwhelming. Overwhelming is an understatement. It is the Grand Canyon. Yeah, it's cool of all of this stuff. It's it's it's it's huge. Yeah, massive. So we were

03:04

we went into the CNC, which is the south part of the country.

03:11

And the CNC was just absolutely massive. But there are a bunch of massive ones. Yeah, just insane. When we arrived there, I went with two of my colleagues. And we all thought that someone else knew where they were.

03:22

And so we walked to the opposite part of the facility, then we were supposed to be so we got our workout in Monday morning. And it was wonderful. And we saw plenty of partners and new technology. Oops. Yeah. So you were winded right off the bat. And you know, it's a big show when it when the booths are into the 300,000 range. Yeah, yeah. It's the schematics. You have to otherwise you won't be able to map it out. Yeah. And then you'll get frustrated because you'll say Darn it, I took a left when I should have taken a right and I was like, Okay, I gotta go find a place to eat or change the time in my watch, because now we're in a different time zone. All right, let's talk MST

04:05

give the listeners First off, I got your director of engagement. That's one. Yes. What does that mean? That means that I work with our entire ecosystem. So we have over 290 members, ranging from startups, to large manufacturers, to academics, to government partners. And the purpose of NXT is to really solve problems that no one organization can solve on their own. And so those who are in our ecosystem are innovative forward thinkers who want to come together and solve large problems and complicated ones.

04:41

Yeah, so because there are some challenges out there. I don't think I think that the spirit of collaboration is even more important today than it I think has ever been. Because I know I get overwhelmed. I know that something's happening out there. I know that this is a brave new

05:00

World and everything's all wonderful and hunky dory and all that good stuff. But it's it's, it's it's way over, I might have laid off again, how do you bring it all together? How do you bring it all together. And so that is what our 20 22,000 square foot manufacturing floor does is it brings together artificial intelligence, robotics, cybersecurity, and pieces it all together. So we can advance an entire industry. It's not just one organization, if you were to talk to any manufacturer, and ask them, who's who's solving your problems, they're not going to give you a singular name. They're going to give you a handful of organizations that they're working with. And so the partners here at AmEx, see, rock, recognize they're not the only solution to their problem, and they want to collaborate and be open even with their competitors. So how many if you're sitting here, you don't get it? Because we're going to be doing some on the spot interviews at this in marvelous, marvelous location of all of the individuals in the companies that are in there. How many companies are in there? What a great question is a great question. Put me on the spot right there they over around 20, around 20, Oregon, different organizations, probably way more than that, if we were to actually tick through all the hardware that's associated with it. So between hardware and software, we're probably upwards of 5075 different organizations that are represented through the different technology demonstrations. Where did the sort of break How long is MSD? Been around eight years this year? And and how did it what's like the genesis of it? What I mean, you're, let's put it this way.

06:34

The digitization of manufacturing has is, is at a feverish pitch. That's right. And so eight years ago, it wasn't like this today. No, it was. So what was the brainchild? Yeah, so eight years ago, the government decided that in order to be a global competitor, in digital manufacturing, they really needed to create a couple of different centers focused on innovation. And so we're one of 11 different Institute's sponsored by the Department of Defense that focuses on bringing together government, so public private partnerships, to really advance technology. So our mission is digital technology, design all the way through sustainment and supply chain.

07:16

And so what we do is we bring together different partners to solve kind of larger problems. And you're right, eight years ago, and no one was thinking about it, no one really understood industry for it at all. And so it's been really exciting to be on this side of it. And educating the first three or four years was awareness and education. What are people doing in this space? What are some topics, you need to be thinking about? Focusing on small little pilots to help demonstrate and validate the ideas that are coming about? And now it's practical applications? What's my ROI in which technologies can I use today? To help me advance and which technologies do I need to be considering and beginning to

08:00

begin to?

08:04

Make it real? What but it's okay, just escaped? Which technologies they need to begin to, like tamper with, right? Like, yeah, figure out like, see, that, to me is really interesting, because so having a finance background, I see all of this is great stuff. Some of it can be shiny objects, and here's just like race and after it, and it might not mean anything within the the marketplace. Does MX D, also provide some sort of financial guidance direction? Because it's all great. I mean, it's wonderful. But is there's got to be a go to market solution for this. For what do you mean, just when you innovate something, right? Sure. So your people looking, I mean, to scale it, you're gonna have to have somebody saying, all right, cool. Yeah. So that that's one of the challenges that a lot of our partners are looking at now is moving from Pilot purgatory to how do I actually scale these technologies across different facilities? And so there is no one singular solution to that, because most global operations have different

09:15

manufacturing setups at the different facilities, right, a lot of merger and acquisition in oil and gas, aerospace and defense. And so each one of those facilities are going to have a completely different

09:27

ERP system, or you know, the yesterday they are so trying to integrate and merge all of that information together is really difficult. And so scaling is difficult. But when you come here, we can think through that we can develop architectures and

09:44

data scheme schemas that help them work through those those challenges. So if I'm a company, I'm listening to what you're saying, and I'm and come to the conclusion that I need help, or I need to work with a team of individuals that can

10:00

helped me succeed or, or pull out that knowledge nuggets. So it's becomes real. What's the requirement? Or what's the sort of the

10:10

process for MST and companies and all that good stuff? Sure. So we have a range of different membership options. And most small, all small and mid sized organizations $500 $500 they can join. But but to find what is small to midsize revenue wise,

10:28

that's defined by the Small Business Association. Yeah, just just all right, Justin, there it is.

10:35

Five 100 bucks. And we did that. So as accessible, we develop tons of free rule.

10:41

free tools and resources for organizations to really kind of understand what industry for Dotto is, and begin to break down the barriers associated with adopting this technology. And so a couple resources that we've developed is the cyber hiring guide. So as you connect things, they become more at risk, we become more vulnerable, right? The more digital technology that you're adopting, the more risky potentially your business becomes. And so to reach the small midsize manufacturers, there has been a couple of different things that we've developed for them. One is a cyber hiring guide, taking a look at the different roles that are going to be required for the future workforce to prepare and secure operations, digital operations, or using cyber hiring, hiring h I r i n Yeah, hiring guide. So basically, what roles and responsibilities and skill sets are going to be required for the workforce to support a digital operation securely.

11:42

Yeah, because everybody's just full steam ahead, digital transformation, this is where I'm going. But those are all just, you know, potentially weak penetration points could be vulnerability, whatever it is, you just, you better be on top of that. I mean, cyber is, is it could turn your digital transformation, Vision upside down relatively quick. Now, you touched on something that I thought was interesting is your members, people, we're talking about resources, we're talking about people, we're talking about bodies, we're talking about training, we're talking about getting the right people at the right time doing the right things.

12:23

And that's a challenge. What's MX? D sort of helping helping members do that?

12:30

If there's any fill the pipeline? Yeah, so we actually had a workshop today, we're hope we're hoping to help our manufacturers think creatively and differently about accessing the workforce. And so we held a workshop today that focused on diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility, specifically accessibility, how do we take a look at individuals with disabilities, either physical or not, in include them in the workforce discussion? Adam Ola,

13:00

from Tao is representative. He's been with the Institute since the very beginning and said a couple of really meaningful things today. One is I really want to give anybody with the willingness to work, the ability to work, and I feel like that is so powerful. It's just good.

13:14

I love little snippets, that you could sort of put in your pocket and say, Hey, check this one out. And our other keynote speaker, Bridget from Access Living,

13:25

noted that over 60 million individuals in the US in the US are

13:31

disabled in one way or another, how do we give them the ability to kind of fill the workforce gaps that we're seeing today in manufacturing, even if we reached a fraction of them? Yeah, there's there's an initiative out there called

13:45

15 or 15%. I can't remember what it was. But it says there's a population consists of 15%, disabled individuals various degrees, you know, that that's always conversation. But yeah, that's, that's a significant amount of that's a big population. The the area that is also of major conversation, is

14:10

how do we remove and I think, the innovation centers that you have here and others, I think that that is goes a long way of removing a manufacturing stigma. Yeah, like, hey, it's a dirty job. You know, I'm just, you know, whatever it might be, and, and I think we have to do a better job at saying, Oh, no,

14:33

it's it's sophisticated work. Yeah. So I don't know, what do you think about that? We're changing the way people interact with the manufacturing operations, right? We're no longer dark, dirty and dingy. Oh, we're leveraging robotics and data analytics and thinking critically about our operations to improve efficiency. So now these workers need to just rescale and upskill. So that's something we talk about a lot. Our Director of Workforce Development lists

15:00

I'll see if she's around here tonight, this might be a really great conversation to talk more deeply with her. Yeah. She talks a lot about rescaling and upskilling. And part of her work that she's done has created career pathways. exactly for that. How do you take it professional professionals, and upskill them and create some foundation for OT application for security and understanding some of the implications of going live with the digital technology? I gotta tell you,

15:29

you're hitting on all cylinders. Can I use it? Sure. You're hitting on all cylinders? Because I believe that there. Everybody has that whole upskill reskilling is so dark on hot, what do we do? How do we optimize what it you know? Like the robots right? If one person could do multiple things, because you got that robot, right and that's, it's all a part of it. All right. How do people get a hold of you? How do they say hey, I want to get a hold of Kym with water. Sure. Visit em mxdusa.org. Yep, you can find my contact information on online. Shoot me an email, give me a bad stead card out there on LinkedIn.

16:10

I do. Well, so there you go.

16:13

confident enough. All right. We're going to have all the contact information for Kym and MX D out on industrial toxic fear night, you will be able to contact her with no problem. So don't come to me and say I can't get ahold of him. Because you're not telling the truth. All right. Once again, we're broadcasting from MX D Innovation Center here in Chicago, Illinois. It's fantastic. Yes, it's fantastic. It's wonderful. All right, don't go away, we're gonna be right back, we're going to have another we're going to just wrap it up on the other side. And I'm going to have all the contact information. So do not go away. We will be right back.

16:50

You're listening to the industrial talk, Podcast Network.

16:56

All right. Once again, thank you very much for joining us on industrial talk. And thank you very much for your support. Give us your name. MxD is the Innovation Center. And I'm always say it got to innovate. But but one of the big keys to innovation is finding those trusted individuals, those trusted organizations that will help you along with that journey. MxD, no matter where you're at, on your journey, you reach out to MX D. It's all out on industrial talk.com I'm telling you, they're smart, they're focused, and they truly have a passion for your success MxD Do not hesitate reaching out to them. All right, as you know, we are building a ecosystem here at industrial talk. By the way, we're getting ready to launch a new website. So be on the lookout for that. And I'm sure that's gonna cause a lot of headache for me, but it doesn't matter. You're that important. Anyway, an ecosystem that is really dedicated to education. Definitely. Collaboration is a must. And of course, innovation. And an MxD definitely embodies all of that. So anyways, that's just where I'm at. Thank you again, we're gonna have another great conversation coming from MxD shortly. So be on the lookout for that and thank you once again for your support. Take care, be safe, and we'll talk soon. Bye

The post Kym Wehrle with MxD appeared first on Industrial Talk.

On this week's Industrial Talk we're onsite at the Digital Manufacturing Summit and talking to Meaghan Ziemba, Founder and Host of The Mavens of Manufacturing about “Advocating and Educating for More Women in Manufacturing”. Get the answers to your “WIM” questions along with Meaghan's unique insight on the “How” on this Industrial Talk interview!

Finally, get your exclusive free access to the Industrial Academy and a series on “Why You Need To Podcast” for Greater Success in 2022. All links designed for keeping you current in this rapidly changing Industrial Market. Learn! Grow! Enjoy!

MEAGHAN ZIEMBA'S CONTACT INFORMATION:

Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meaghan-ziemba/

YouTube: (605) Mavens of Manufacturing – YouTube

Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/38th-street-studios/

Company Website: https://www.38thstreetstudios.com/

PODCAST VIDEO:

THE STRATEGIC REASON “WHY YOU NEED TO PODCAST”:

OTHER GREAT INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES:

NEOM: https://www.neom.com/en-us

Hitachi Vantara: https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/home.html

Industrial Marketing Solutions:  https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-marketing/

Industrial Academy: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-academy/

Industrial Dojo: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial_dojo/

We the 15: https://www.wethe15.org/

YOUR INDUSTRIAL DIGITAL TOOLBOX:

LifterLMS: Get One Month Free for $1 – https://lifterlms.com/

Active Campaign: Active Campaign Link

Social Jukebox: https://www.socialjukebox.com/

Industrial Academy (One Month Free Access And One Free License For Future Industrial Leader):

Business Beatitude the Book

Do you desire a more joy-filled, deeply-enduring sense of accomplishment and success? Live your business the way you want to live with the BUSINESS BEATITUDES…The Bridge connecting sacrifice to success. YOU NEED THE BUSINESS BEATITUDES!

TAP INTO YOUR INDUSTRIAL SOUL, RESERVE YOUR COPY NOW! BE BOLD. BE BRAVE. DARE GREATLY AND CHANGE THE WORLD. GET THE BUSINESS BEATITUDES!

Reserve My Copy and My 25% Discount

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

manufacturing, Meaghan, women, mavens, kids, industrial, important, innovation, younger ages, opportunities, talk, trade, manufacturers, exposed, symposium, chicago, blinders, iot, conversations, police officer firefighter

00:03

Welcome to the industrial talk podcast with Scott Mackenzie. Scott is a passionate industry professional dedicated to transferring cutting edge Industry Focus innovations and trends while highlighting the men and women who keep the world moving. So put on your hard hat, grab your work boots, and let's go

00:21

all right industrial talk the celebration of industrial professionals all around the world. You are bold, you are brave. You dare greatly. And our guest is right there. She's working on her iPhone. Just don't go look if you're out on video, talk to him. Don't go look at that, because she's not engaged. Now. We We are broadcasting live from the digital manufacturing Summit in Chicago had a problem with the last one I said Cleveland, which was completely wrong, because we are in Chicago. Anyway, we are talking to some of the best from around the world. And we are talking about digital transformation. We're talking about manufacturing, we're talking about solving problems from you know, that you need to be aware of so anyway, you know, Hot Seat. She's been very patient. Her name is Meaghan Ziemba. I got that right, didn't I? You did. All right, man. mavens of manufacturing. And we're going to be talking about women in manufacturing. inspiring women. Let's get cracking. Hey, Meaghan.

01:19

Hey, how are you, Steve?

01:21

Ah, see you. My name is Scott. I'm Scott Mackenzie with. Yeah, that's okay.

01:27

We need to start over now. No,

01:28

absolutely not. Now see, that's, that's what makes podcast real. Right. It's just as you know, what's the funny part about this? Meaghan, is the fact that for my life, everybody thought that my name was Steve anyway?

01:41

Well, that's terrible for me, because I should just remember your name. And I totally thought I had it. I did it.

01:53

Okay, no, because what's important, what's important is what we are going to talk about, before we get into that. Let's just sort of level set on who Meaghan is so that people understand. Oh, Meaghan is oh, if that's who Meaghan is.

02:11

Yeah, so I am in technical writer by trade, I actually have been writing for manufacturing since 2008. And I started in a trade publication industry, which was really fun because I was able to talk to a variety of different companies and learn about their products and their processes and share their stories. And then throughout the years, I've entered in the marketing aspect of things and helped industrial manufacturers, talk about their brands, and really bring their story to life and take the boring out of the technical information and humanize it a little bit. But about two years ago, I decided that I wanted to start my own freelance company. So now I'm a freelancer. And that's been pretty fun. And I also started mavens a manufacturing, in hopes to inspire the next generation workforce by sharing the stories of the amazing women who are in the sector, to inspire other girls to come join. So

03:09

noble purpose, I like that great focus must needed type of service and solutions. So I like the fact that when you're in your, your background, I think that simplifying, or the ability to simplify or communicate in such a way that is consumable for people to the manufacturing and manufacturing process, and is very important, because sometimes it's it's, I'll just be real. All flatline. Yeah, I will flatline and a jet second, if it's too hard for me to if I have to consume too many gray matter calories to figure it out. I will, I will, I will just

03:56

Yeah, and we're definitely a sector of acronyms. So if you are not familiar with engineering, or manufacturing, and you hear all these three to four letter, sometimes five letter acronyms you can start to really get confused and think.

04:15

And, you know, the best part about it is it never stops. So here, we're here, and we're talking digital transformation. So number of years ago, it used to be IoT, great, fantastic IoT, and then all of a sudden IoT was the miscellaneous file, which then included AI cloud edge, you know, data analytics, everything that you could possibly imagine is all of a sudden IoT. Yeah, no, that's not it and and, and it never stops the the lexicon continues to expand and if you can simplify, it's great.

04:50

Well, and then it turned into industrial internet of things. So I OT. Just complicated even a little At my,

05:00

yeah, I was okay with IoT I got it I stick a device out on an on a motor and it just starts reading data. And I got that. But what what's what's the industrial component to it? Why why is that so? Doggone important? So with with? What is the problem that you perceive within women in manufacturing? Why is it important for this amplification to occur in women?

05:29

Yeah. So if you read a bunch of the studies that have already been put out one in specifically is by Deloitte, we're only representing a small percentage of the entire sector. So we're around I've heard different percentages, it's usually between 23 and 30%. When you break it down, in discipline, it's even less. So it's one to 2%, sometimes 3%. And the whole thing about innovation and all of these advancements in technology, you really want to have the entire talent pool included when it comes to innovation, and innovation of thought. And in order to do that, you have to kind of include everyone from different groups and different cultures in different areas. And in the United States, manufacturing sector has been predominantly male. It's also been predominantly white men. So how can we change that? And what can we do and there's a lot of different theories of why women have avoided this sector. But you know, now it's a great time to be because we are seeing a lot more women coming in, especially in leadership positions, but we're still not quite there, of having that balance. And that's one of the things that I want to work on. Because I believe that balance, hopefully, we can actually have higher numbers than the guys just because I'm competitive. And I always want to win. So we can get that balance, I feel like we have a better opportunity for more advanced innovations and technology. And that's going to actually help us to on a competitive level on a global level of competitiveness, where if we have a better manufacturing foundation versus other countries, then we can be stronger as a nation and have a lot of advantages for that as well.

07:19

You pretty much thought through this. Yeah.

07:21

Another thing that we need to consider too, is the skills gap. So we have all of these open, opportunities coming up. I think one of the studies said 2.3 million by 2030. Again, that's from the Deloitte study that I read. And if we don't start filling up those positions, we're going to lose some of that strengthen our manufacturing Foundation. And that's a national security threat. So we don't really want to do that. So

07:49

I believe we're already there. I think from a manufacturing from a security from a vital economic, you know, vital economic to our our country. I think that I think we're already there. And we've got we've got to play catch up.

08:04

Yeah.

08:05

How do you when we start talking about women in manufacturing, what do we need to do to begin, you know, inspiring these, these women have to do this to go down that road.

08:21

So I think we need to start earlier at younger ages, and we need to bring, we need to start prioritizing trades. Again. A long time ago, trades were really important, and they had a budget in our curriculum. At some point, though, that was lost. And they were sort of put on the backburner. And we're feeling that now. So we need to reprioritize the trains. And we need to incorporate that in the curriculum in our educational systems. And we need to start younger, so elementary school, middle school, we need to start exposing these kids to some of these trade skills that are very needed. And in order to do that, we need to bridge the gap between manufacturers and the communities that they're headquartered in. And they need to be more involved with what is being taught to our students, and more present, so that when, you know things are coming up, they can show the students Hey, this is what we're making in this factory. And here's some of the stuff that you can learn to help make this product that we're making. I know that you know, in kindergarten through fifth grade kids are not going to care what an engineer

09:34

I'm gonna know I'm gonna argue or push back on that

09:39

here but not know, like, really fully understand what an engineer is. That was the wrong way of saying no, no,

09:45

no, no, no, no, there's no right or wrong, but I have a I have a situation where when I was boy, and in elementary school, and I think this I remember it was second grade, and somebody brought it into film. You about how do you get baked goods to the store shelf? You know, those old ratty one is like, hey, hey, Joe, what are you doing? And this is a guy, and we go, and then I'm making that kind of sound. But it but I still remember it today. And I think that there was there's some value in just sharing, sharing what what is taking place, and I think you're absolutely spot on.

10:26

So like when you ask, so I have two toddlers at home. They're three and four. And they always talk about wanting to be a police officer. And the reason why they are talking about that is because my husband is an officer. And we actually would go and visit him and we would show the firetruck. So anytime you ask them, hey, what do you want to do? What do you want to imagine? They always say police officer firefighter, because that's what they're being exposed to. So if we can take that same thought process, and take things like what you just mentioned, where we're bringing in these videos that show how something is manufactured all the way up to the shelf life, I think kids would get more excited about these opportunities that are here in engineering and manufacturing, because it's not the dirty, dark, dark place that it used to be. Yes, there's still areas that that exists. But there's so much more with additive manufacturing, robotics, automation, it's more advanced technology is more problem solving. And I think the younger generations are attracted to that kind of stuff. Because, you know, they're the generation of technology, they've probably had a cell phone in their hands since the moment they were born. And they know how to use some of the stuff that we had to relearn ourselves because we weren't exposed to it at younger ages. So if we can figure out creative and fun ways to expose the younger kids to these opportunities, I think that's a great way to start. in the right direction. Nicholas, I

11:56

can't I can't agree with you more, because I agree. I think that we have to do a better job. And I think we have to really begin recognizing the necessity for doing more trade stuff. And when I was in high school, yep. I learned how to weld. Yeah, to this day, I know how to weld. Because I learned in high school. And and I think that that's, we just have to do a better job. Because to your point, manufacture is not, you know, a dirty job is sophisticated. It's it's important. And and it's not going away. Right? I just think that your purpose behind it and getting women involved?

12:41

Yeah. So I mean, for awhile, there was a way that schools were guiding boys and girls to a certain career pathway. It just happened to be that way. And it still is sort of happening today, we're getting a little bit better. And it's coming more of a priority in some of our conversations. But one example that I have is the high school that I graduated from, I did an event back in October. And it was a virtual event. And it was to show these kids in the VO tech program, the opportunities available to them from the basics that they were learning in the courses at the high school that they were taking. It was to show them Hey, yeah, these are just the basics. But these basics could lead you to here. And out of the 30 students that attended there was only four girls. And the four girls were only participating in those classes because either their family member encouraged them because their family member was in engineering or manufacturing, or the teacher in the VO tech program actually pulled them out of the hallway and said, Hey, I think you would like this class because of a, b, and c. And kudos to the teachers that did that because that meant that they were paying attention to the interest of the students that they were showing in the school setting. I think we have a lot of work to do in terms of retraining some of the school counselors because there's so much change happening on a continuous basis that school counselors aren't going to know how to talk about some of these opportunities or how to look for other skills that could be transferable over into some of these opportunities within engineering manufacturing.

14:19

I think to your point I think that that was one real challenge because I think that conventional traditional education the way it is today, there is a real disconnect between the speed at which innovation is happening. The importance of of manufacturing in other professions. I don't know if our our school systems all the way from elementary old up are a nimble enough to be able to address the realities that exist in the market today and the needs because I just don't see it and in I think that if I can, or if we can start to educate early on, and not make it as like a bunch of guys, you know, pushing a wheelbarrow, but something really sophisticated, I think you I think you plant the seed of interest and excitement at an early age and it's just a natural progression. Do you agree with that?

15:22

I do agree with that. Because I feel like when you get to a certain point in your schooling career, so when kids are at a younger age, they just have an innate curiosity about things like they want to know how things work, they, they're more, they don't have any boundaries or blinders set up. And then as they progress through school, you know, they're pointed in all different kinds of directions based off of their testing and everything. So for example, I was always good at English. I loved woodworking,

15:54

say, dog got a good, good thing. Yeah, you do, right?

15:58

Why I loved woodworking class. But I was always encouraged not to do that. I was encouraged to do home Mecca, sewing, and I hated sewing, my sewing teacher did not like me at all. And I think that was a missed opportunity for me, but because I always tested well, in English, I was always told, Well, you're going to be an English teacher. And I'm like, that's really boring. I don't want to do that. So I think we need to stop, like putting those blinders on kids, and see what their interests are, and pick up on how that can be transferable across disciplines. Because just because someone's going to English doesn't really necessarily mean they want to be an English teacher or a college professor, because that's what was attractive.

16:41

I taught college and I gotta tell you, I hit it's, it's challenging.

16:45

Yeah, I, I, my sister is a teacher, and I give her all the credit in the world, because that requires a lot of patience, and I just wouldn't be able to do that. So working with kids that aren't my own would be a huge learning experience for my patients level, I think.

17:05

Well, I just think that the reality of the future, from a workforce perspective is clear. We're not getting it done. We're not getting it done the way it is. So what do we need to do? We need to do a lot of I just begun to education. Yeah, Kashinath beginning.

17:26

But I think to what manufacturers need to do, as well as the women that are working within their companies put them in a position where they can go to these schools and have conversations to because when those younger girls see these women, and they're gonna be like, I want to be like her.

17:41

Yes. It's all gone it. How do they get holy Meaghan,

17:47

you can get a hold of me on LinkedIn. Or you can go to mavens and manufacturing.com. And I have a link at the bottom of the homepage where you can schedule some time with me and I'd love to chat with you and learn more about your story.

18:01

doggone good. Her last name Z.I.E M. B. A. So if you go out to I'm sure there's not very many Ziemba’s buzz out there.

18:10

In Chicago. There is, is you're really

18:13

Yeah. So if I go on LinkedIn, and I say Meaghan Ziemba now I'm gonna pull up a bunch of Meaghan Ziemba.

18:20

Meaghan Ziemba.

18:23

Yeah, got that. All right, listeners. That was Meaghan, thank you very much for joining industrial talk. Once again. We are broadcasting from the digital manufacturing symposium in Chicago, Illinois, great venue, great people solving problems. Important important. You need to be a part of it. So put that on your bucket list. So that's important. All right. Do not go away. We will be right back with another great conversation shortly.

18:49

You're listening to the industrial talk Podcast Network.

18:53

All right. Again, thank you very much for joining industrial talk and a hearty thank you to mega Ziemba. You got to check out her podcast mavens of manufacturing. She brings a tremendous amount of passion and desire to help help manufacturing succeed and definitely an advocate for bringing in more women in manufacturing. Absolutely love the purpose. Meaghan brings to the table also. You got to at least for 2023 Go out to transformative media transformative media. They're the ones that put on the digital manufacturing Summit, no symposium, excuse me, get it all confused. And I was very impressed with the caliber of professionals that are that were at the event the desire to collaborate, the desire to educate and really solve or attempt at work to solving the challenges that exist today in manufacturing that is the digital manufacturing symposium. You Go out to transformative media and find out more. They've got a ton of other events. And if it's anything like the digital manufacturing symposium, you will not be disappointed. All right. We're gonna have other great conversations. You have to be bold. Yes. Brave. Yes. dare greatly. Please, please do that. Don't Don't settle for comfort. Settle for sacrifice. Keep pushing. We need you, manufacturers. We need you. Alright, hang out with Meaghan. You're gonna change the world. Thank you once again for joining the industrial talk. We're gonna have another great conversation from this symposium shortly so stay tuned.

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