The Manufacturers’ Network is where manufacturing leaders, plant managers, and industry innovators come to talk straight about what’s working and what’s not, on the shop floor and beyond.
Each week, host Lisa Ryan sits down with people who live and breathe this business: operations executives, HR directors, engineers, and founders who are building stronger teams and smarter systems in the face of nonstop change.
Listeners gain real-world insights on:
• Employee retention and workforce engagement
• Automation, AI, and the future of skilled trades
• Supply chain and operations leadership
• Safety, sustainability, and company culture that lasts
If you’re tired of generic “leadership talk” and want practical conversations from people who get it, this podcast is for you.
New episodes drop every Monday and are short enough for your commute, sharp enough to shape your week.
Subscribe and be part of the conversation that’s connecting manufacturers across industries, one story at a time.
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Beyond the Hype: Making AI Work in Manufacturing with Sebastian Chedal
Season 5 · Episode 7
Monday, February 16, 2026 • Duration 28:53
In this insightful and practical episode, Lisa Ryan welcomes Sebastian Chedal, founder of Fountain City and co-founder of TestFox.ai. Sebastian helps executives implement AI strategies that actually work, focusing on one critical question: How do you join the 20% of AI initiatives that succeed instead of the 80% that fail? With 60% of his work in manufacturing and industrial sectors, Sebastian brings a grounded, practical perspective where implementation matters more than hype.
A Journey Through Digital Transformation
Sebastian's journey began in 1998 when he started Fountain City in the Netherlands. Over more than two decades, his work has evolved through network security, website and app development, creative projects, and ultimately into digital transformation with a focus on AI implementation—predominantly in manufacturing.
As a self-described generalist at heart with diverse interests, Sebastian has founded five businesses total (two non-profits that didn't make it), giving him an entrepreneurial track record that includes both successes and failures. This real-world experience informs his practical, results-oriented approach to AI implementation. Fountain City has been the anchor and core of his professional life, adapting and evolving as technology has transformed over the past 26 years.
The Catalytic Moment: Why AI Is Different Now
Sebastian draws a powerful parallel between today's AI landscape and the mid-1990s internet era, when people would ask, "What's a website? I don't need a website. Why would I need a website?" People didn't understand the benefits, how it worked, or how much effort it would take to implement.
Like many technological innovations, AI has finally reached a threshold catalytic point where it becomes truly useful, effective, and mainstream. The real breakthrough with large language models (LLMs)—what most people refer to when discussing AI today—is the ability to create qualitative automations, not just deterministic ones.
The Fundamental Difference
Deterministic automation (traditional): If this number is above this number, do this thing—straightforward logic gates we've had for decades.
Qualitative automation (AI-powered): Integration of nuanced, context-dependent decisions into automation processes, opening entirely new categories of automation.
This capability works at multiple levels:
Workflow automation: Eliminating time-consuming, mundane work like data transformation and entry that used to require hours or intern labor
Strategic support: Brainstorming, strategic planning, code planning, and design patterns
Knowledge work: Tasks requiring judgment, context, and understanding rather than simple calculations
The last year in particular has brought proposals and curiosity from people wanting to understand what it actually takes to put these systems in place—but the hype also leads to overestimation of capabilities and underestimation of implementation effort.
Becoming AI-Ready: The Foundation for Success
Sebastian outlines several critical dimensions of AI readiness that organizations must address:
1. Management and Strategic Vision
The wrong approach: "We need to make sure 30% of our processes are run by AI by the end of the year."
This mandate isn't inspiring and doesn't give teams something meaningful to rally behind, even if it's the directive from stakeholders or management.
The right approach: Transform mandates into meaningful vision:
Manufacturing Without Borders: Technology, Culture, and the Future of the Industry with Tony Gunn
Season 5 · Episode 6
Monday, February 9, 2026 • Duration 33:57
In this energetic and information-packed episode, Lisa Ryan welcomes Tony Gunn, who leads global operations at his new venture TGM Global Services after a successful five-year run with MTD CNC. Tony has spent two decades on shop floors and in boardrooms around the world, traveling approximately 300 days a year to over 60 countries, giving him an unparalleled front-row seat to the technologies, trends, and people shaping modern manufacturing.
Tony shares his remarkable journey from mopping floors on weekends for minimum wage and learning to use basic presses, to mastering CNC machining through the mentorship of industry veterans who taught him line-by-line programming. His story exemplifies the power of workplace mentorship and the importance of taking skilled workers under your wing—lessons that continue to guide his mission today.
The Smartest Person in the Room
Tony lives by a powerful principle: "If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room." He thrives on being the "dumbest person in the room," learning from experts across the manufacturing spectrum—from garage shops with three or four machines to CEOs of the world's largest manufacturing companies. This humility and hunger for knowledge informs everything he does in media and content creation.
His approach to sharing stories and technology stems from remembering his own starting point—when he was just learning to turn raw material into something of value. He's passionate about explaining concepts at a level that empowers everyone, avoiding the industry jargon and acronyms that can leave people behind. He never forgets the experts who gave their time to an amateur, and now pays that forward by putting others under his wing.
The Technology Challenge: Keeping Up When It's Your Job
Tony candidly admits that even though it's his full-time job to know as much about the manufacturing industry as possible and share it with as many people as he can, he still can't keep up with how fast everything is moving. He can only imagine how difficult it must be for shop owners and operators whose day-to-day activities involve actually running their businesses.
From a global perspective, Tony sees shops still running machines that are 15, 20, 30, even 40 years old—machines that run good parts but can't complete a part on one machine, requiring five machines and much longer cycle times compared to modern technology. He draws a powerful contrast from his visit to the American Precision Museum in Vermont: 200 years ago, they were making micron parts, but it took two weeks. Today, it takes two minutes.
The Labor Shortage and Automation Imperative
Rethinking Manufacturing Through Additive Innovation with Jason Rolland
Season 4 · Episode 43
Monday, December 8, 2025 • Duration 28:06
Welcome to The Manufacturers Network Podcast! In this insightful episode, Lisa Ryan sits down with Jason Rolland, Senior Vice President of Materials at Carbon Inc., to explore the rapidly evolving impact of additive manufacturing on how products are designed, produced, and scaled. Jason offers an insider’s view informed by years of expertise in polymer chemistry, entrepreneurship, and industrial material science.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn:
How Additive Manufacturing Evolved
Jason Rolland traces how 3D printing moved beyond prototyping, now enabling the production of finished parts with improved speed, precision, and material properties.
-Key Innovations Driving Production Viability
Discover the breakthroughs in materials science, hardware speed, and software that allow for faster print times, better mechanical properties, and digital-driven production processes.
- Breaking Down the Technology
Not sure about acronyms like FDM or SLA? Jason explains the main categories of 3D printing in clear, simple language and describes their pros and cons.
- Where Additive Manufacturing Makes the Biggest Impact
From footwear and sports equipment to medical devices and dental models, Jason shares real-world examples where 3D printing offers a competitive edge—especially for customized parts and foam replacements.
- Barriers to Adoption & How to Overcome Them
Find out why manufacturers hesitate to adopt new technologies, and how issues of cost, awareness, and application fit can be addressed.
- Evaluating If Additive Manufacturing Is Right for Your Business
Breaking the Stigma: Why Autistic Workers Make Great Employees in Manufacturing with Peter Mann
Season 3 · Episode 5
Monday, May 29, 2023 • Duration 32:19
Connect with Peter Mann
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-mann/
Lisa Ryan: Hey, it's Lisa Ryan. Welcome to the Manufacturer's Network podcast. I'm excited to introduce our guest today, Peter Mann. Peter Mann is the CEO & Founder of Virginia-based Oransi, a leading air purification company known for its efficient, intuitive, and reliable products for consumers, schools, organizations, and businesses. He is the Chair of the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers' Air Cleaner Council. Peter is late diagnosed autistic and now advocates for autism awareness in the workplace. Peter, welcome to the show.
Peter Mann: Yeah, thanks, Lisa. I am excited to be here.
Lisa Ryan: share a little about your background and what led you to do what you're doing with Oransi.
Peter Mann: Sure. Yeah. I grew up in Syracuse, New York, and attended college in Rochester nearby. I didn't know what I wanted to do. So I took a Navy ROTC scholarship which effectively paid for my college. Then I was in the Navy for four years, which was interesting and unexpected since the first Gulf War started. We got sent over to the Middle East and didn't anticipate that.
After four years, I got out; I got a job at a company called Tech Data in Clearwater, Florida. They're a large computer distributor. I was there for seven years. It was exciting because this was in the nineties, was the computer industry started to take off. We went from Fortune 500 to Fortune 100, and I moved up from an individual contributor to director of Marketing Operations.
In 2000, Dell recruited me. I moved to Austin, Texas, and did some development work for dell.com, and then I moved to a marketing role where I was a marketing leader with the Dell printer launch, managed pricing strategy, and a few other things. That's when the.com bubble burst.
I was at Dell for about three years, which pushed me to start something on my own. So I co-founded an e-commerce business with another guy in Austin. I sold my part in 2009 and used those proceeds to create Oransi, focusing on indoor air quality and, specifically, air purifiers. My interest in that was because my son suffered from asthma as a child. It was rough, especially in my younger years in elementary and middle school. So I've always been interested in trying to help him and others like him who suffered from respiratory issues.
Sustainability and Manufacturing: How New Technologies Can Help Save the Planet with Renan Devillieres
Lisa Ryan: Hey, it's Lisa Ryan. Welcome to the Manufacturer's Network Podcast. Our guest today is Renan Devillieres. Renan is the visionary Founder and CEO of OSS Ventures, who is dedicated to shaping the future of the manufacturing sector through startups and innovative solutions. With substantial operations, SaaS, and venture capital background, Renan is an inspiring leader committed to driving sustainability and fostering adaptability in the ever-evolving industrial landscape. Renan, welcome to the show.
Renan Devillieres: Thank you for having me.
Lisa Ryan: Please share your background and what led you to do what you're doing with OSS Ventures.
Renan Devillieres: Sure. I'm 36, and I started my career as an operations guy. I was working in factories. I was a factory director and supply chain director. Then, I became the assistant director of Richmond Co., a luxury company. And I got to see the incredible world that produces physical things, and I loved it. And then, as I was always a geek, I started coding something in my bedroom and ended up creating a good tech company, leaving my job and ending up in San Francisco, setting my startup to Google, and having a lot of traction there.
I discovered the world of tech. And when I sold my company and my shares in the company, I told myself the World of Tech is just incredible. I love operations. Let's bring those two worlds together. And as I had a bit of money, I chose the investor slash venture builder path.
What we do at O US Ventures has been three years and a half. We either create or invest in startups technological startups that are exclusively helping the physical world, operations, retail, and those kinds of things. So we've been doing that for three years and a half. We are based in Paris, but we are all around the world. We created 15 companies. We live in a little over 1000 factories worldwide, and 350 people are working for all those awesome tech solutions for the manufacturing world.
The Human Connection in Manufacturing: Bridging the Gap between Operations and Supply Chain Management with Tom Pierce
Lisa Ryan: Hey, it's Lisa Ryan. Welcome to the Manufacturer's Network podcast. I'm excited to introduce today's guest, Tom Pierce. Tom is the President of Integrated Information Systems with decades of experience; Tom brings a unique perspective to solving complex problems in integrated business planning, cost and schedule analysis, and cross-functional collaboration.
His ability to combine human intelligence with innovative software solutions makes him an invaluable resource for those in the manufacturing sector seeking to improve efficiency, streamline operations, and drive sustainable growth. So Tom, welcome to the show.
Tom Pierce: Thank you so much, Lisa. It's a pleasure to be with you.
Lisa Ryan: Share a little about your background and what led you to do what you're doing now with integrated information systems.
Tom Pierce: Certainly. I'll cover the mountain peaks. I took my one and only one computer course in seventh grade. That would've been about 1972. After that, I never took another course. I was self-taught and was fascinated with how computers and technology can help solve problems. It was a side interest for a very long time. Then, I went to college on an Army ROTC scholarship. On my first day of reporting for duty, they plucked me out, seeing my math major, knowing that I loved computers.
I was on an analysis team and did simulation modeling for the Army missile maintenance, ammunition, and logistics. After I left the Army, I started working for a defense contractor, developing logistics models for the Army. From there, they put me in with a defense manufacturing facility in Louisville, where I help install an MRP system.
The Surprising Ways AI is Making its Mark on the Supply Chain Industry with Jonathan Porter
Lisa Ryan: Hey, it's Lisa Ryan. Welcome to the Manufacturer's Network podcast. I'm excited to introduce our guest today, Jonathan Porter. Jonathan Porter, a renowned supply chain professional, is the founder and CEO of PorterLogic, the supply chain stack for ambitious brands. As a Georgia Tech alumnus, Jonathan's warehouse management and industrial engineering expertise allow him to help businesses navigate supply chain and inventory complexities and achieve their full potential. Jonathan, welcome to the show.
Jonathan Porter: Thanks so much. I'm excited to be here.
Lisa Ryan: Share a little about your background and what led you to do what you're doing with Porter Logic.
Jonathan Porter: Sure. I started my career at Manhattan Associates, which is probably the top w m s provider in warehouse software. I spent five or six years implementing warehouse management systems, so I got immersed in detail with supply chain and warehousing. But I just found it fascinating. Honestly, warehouses are some of the coolest things.
So many processes must come together for that box you ordered online to show up at your door. And so many people need to understand how much goes into modern e-commerce. So yeah, I saw a lot of opportunities for efficiency improvements and ways to improve things.
I started the company coming up on about three years ago. But I came from a super entrepreneurial background and knew I would always do something. Of course, I had side businesses in high school and all that. But yeah, the timing was right, and the market opportunity was there, and we are excited to be doing what you're, what we're doing.
Solving the Complexities of B2B eCommerce with Arno Ham
Season 3 · Episode 1
Monday, May 1, 2023 • Duration 29:29
Connect with Arno Ham:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnoham/
Website: https://www.sana-commerce.com/
Lisa Ryan: Hey, it's Lisa Ryan. Welcome to the Manufacturer's Network Podcast. Our guest today is Arno Ham. Arno is the Chief Product Officer of Sana Commerce. Sana helps manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers succeed by fostering lasting relationships with customers who depend on them and making their SAP or Microsoft Dynamics ERP and eCommerce work as one. He studied computer science and has been a driven eCommerce manager for years for big (retail) accounts such as Heineken, AkzoNobel, and Michelin. In his free time, Arno enjoys maintaining the webshop for the band and music society he plays in. So Arno, welcome to the show.
Arno Ham: thank you. Thank you, Lisa, for having me. I'm excited.
Lisa Ryan: So, share a little about your background and what led you to do what you're doing.
Arno Ham: Everything is with technology. I am a nerd. I started computer science. I started working here at a company that was an agency digital agency. We built many web store websites back then, mainly for these big weak retailers. But at some point, we came across businesses with other needs. B2B companies - and it was already more than 10, 15 years ago.
By helping them, we realized how we could help B2B companies, manufacturing companies, or wholesalers to do business online. , you need to do something differently. We can talk more about it later today. But the funny thing is that was the moment when Sana was born because we said, Hey, guess what? You talked in the intro about the long-lasting relationships that our customers want with their customers. In B2B, that's important. If you do, if you're shopping online as a consumer, you may buy something that you wear at the lowest price or where you can get the quickest shipment.
But in B2B, if you need to have supplies every day or multiple times a day. It needs to be good, and you have trustworthy partners, et cetera. And to make that happen, to transform that, to put that from, let's say, all those business processes before, let's say, non-digital with or by phone or by fax or by email to make the digital.
From Supply Chain Issues to Productivity Gains with John Abplanalp
Season 2 · Episode 52
Monday, April 10, 2023 • Duration 29:54
Lisa Ryan: Hey, it's Lisa Ryan, and welcome to the Manufacturer's Network podcast. I'm excited to introduce our guest today, John Abplanalp. John is the president and founder of Tight Lines Advisors consultancy, which focuses on optimizing manufacturing performance. So John, welcome to the show,
John Abplanalp: Lisa. Thank you very much. I'm delighted to be here.
Lisa Ryan: Please share a little about your background and what led you to focus on manufacturing with tight lines.
John Abplanalp: I will try to give you the quickest version possible. I was involved with a family business, a precision valve corporation. My father invented the aerosol valve. I'm looking at the patent copy in front of me right now.
He received the patent on March 17th, 1949. He is Swiss, but St. Patrick's Day was a celebration for my father that afternoon. He started their business. We ended up with 22 locations worldwide, serving most of the major customers, the SE Johnsons, the Unilevers, the record, Ben Keer, the who's who of, who's in the consumer packaging goods.
A lot of the products they had were in aerosol form. He passed away 20 years ago at the end of August 2003. If I drop some numbers, we made about 250 million in sales. We get some family dynamics - a sister and brother-in-law that didn't necessarily buy into what we were doing, where we were going, confidence about myself, et cetera. It's not a complaint about it. Everybody has a right to, so we made the deal of evaluation and allocation assets, et cetera, and got that behind us in 2006 and continued.
In 2008 we went from 250 to the end of our fiscal year 2008. We got to 343 million, and I'm proud of myself and the team for what we were able to do. That was the fiscal year of May 31st, 2008. You may remember a little turbulence in 2008, 2009. We went from 343 million in sales leverage from 343 to 290 million. It nearly killed us. From that, we brought the guys in to do the restructuring. We brought partners in the private equity world, and through you, watch it. I understand it. It's receivables. It's payables. It's inventories. It's what are we going to cut? What are we going to cut? What are we going to cut? As we went through it, we were two or three years into this process and had an opportunity to visit our South Carolina plant.
Industry 4.0 and Beyond: The Role of AI in Manufacturing with Bryan DeBois
Lisa Ryan: Hey, it's Lisa Ryan. Welcome to the Manufacturer's Network podcast. I'm excited to introduce our guest today, Bryan DeBois. Bryan is the Director of Industrial AI at RoviSys, a leading global system integrator for manufacturing and industrial clients. With 20+ years of expertise in manufacturing software and Level 3 information solutions, Bryan excels in implementing AI, data infrastructure, and advanced analytics to boost productivity in the sector. So Bryan, welcome to the show.
Bryan DeBois: Thanks, Lisa.
Lisa Ryan: Please share your background and what led you to do what you're doing at RoviSys.
Bryan DeBois: I started at RoviSys right out of college, so, for 23 years at RoviSys, which you don't see a lot nowadays, folks sticking around for that kind of longevity.
I've worn a lot of different hats at RoviSys. First, I started programming software for manufacturers. RoviSys' focus is entirely on manufacturing and industrial customers. So I started out writing software. We wrote things like manufacturing execution systems or MES. We didn't call it that because it still needed to be named.
But what we were effectively was building custom MES for customers. We did many different things and worked a lot with historians, which I'm sure we'll talk about today. And then, 2019 RoviSys had our 30th anniversary in 2019. The conversation was, what should we be doing next?
What should we be looking at next? And the decision was made to create a new division, an industrial AI division. I was appointed the director of it. And the message was, we know we should be doing this. Figure it out. Figure out what's state of the art. What kind of a team do you need to make this successful? Then find customers, talk to customers, and make it a reality.
And I've been doing that for almost four years and having a great time doing it.
The conversation centers on what manufacturers are most hungry to understand and solve right now. Tony identifies the labor shortage as a critical issue that companies are trying to address through multiple strategies:
Inspiring the next generation through STEM - While crucial, this is years in the making and can't be the only solution
Adapting technology in the midterm - Companies must figure out which technologies are most affordable and provide the best ROI to minimize labor shortages while competing globally
Various forms of automation - From traditional robots and cobots to pallet systems and bar feeds, companies are finding ways to have one machinist run 10 machines instead of one, with processes running 24/7
Digital transformation - Tools like Datanomics and Fulcrum that take traditionally tribal knowledge and display it on screens, giving operators and management real-time visibility into what's actually happening on the shop floor—eliminating the need for all-day meetings filled with 80% truths and 20% fabrication
Tony emphasizes that knowing actual uptime, real capabilities, bottlenecks, and opportunities for improvement allows companies to create better...
Get practical advice on the types of products best suited for 3D printing and the factors manufacturers should consider before making the transition.
- Sustainability and Flexibility Benefits
Learn how additive manufacturing supports supply chain resilience, reshoring, reduction in carbon footprint, and new approaches for cleaning, recycling, and using bio-based materials.
- Getting Started Without Overinvesting
Jason outlines Carbon’s partnership model, emphasizing collaboration over upfront equipment sales so manufacturers can test applications risk-free.
Tangible Takeaways
1. Focus on Product Application:
Evaluate whether additive manufacturing will improve your product’s performance or unlock new design possibilities—don’t just jump in for the technology’s sake.
2. Consider Customization and Complexity:
Additive manufacturing thrives in producing complex, customized, or low-volume parts—especially when traditional tooling is cost-prohibitive or slow to adapt.
3. Factor in Speed, Cost, and Flexibility:
Digital production allows rapid switching between product types, making it ideal for nimble, local, and scalable manufacturing operations.
4. Think Sustainability:
Local production and material efficiency can lower the carbon footprint. Explore innovations in part cleaning and bio-based resins for further environmental benefits.
5. Start with Collaboration:
Instead of investing heavily upfront, partner with experienced additive manufacturers like Carbon to test the fit for your specific application.
Ready to explore additive manufacturing for your business?**
Reach out through Carbon’s website contact form to start a conversation with Jason and his team.
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Tune in next time on The Manufacturers Network Podcast for more insights, strategies, and manufacturing success stories!
Lisa Ryan: It seems you do one thing, and suddenly, you join the military, and you're in the Gulf War. You go into the dot com industry, and the bubble bursts. You're on all these trends; air purification hits and a pandemic.
Peter Mann: Yeah. Who knew? The pandemic was incredible because there was more demand in supply. What's been interesting is that many brands entered the market. It was more of a niche market before Covid; now, the market's gone back to more or less pre covid levels. But now there are two or three times as many brands as before. So it's going to be interesting. I would add that, during Covid, we merged with an electric motor company in Virginia that has a proprietary motor technology, which will allow us to restore manufacturing; that's where our focus is now.
What's exciting about that is we can latch onto the next trend, electrification and moving away from fossil fuels now that we have this electric motor base. We're starting with air purifiers since that's what we know, but we could make anything with an electric motor in our facility. For me, that's pretty exciting since the air purifier market, as much as it is, it's painful to say, it's become more of a commodity since there are too many brands in the space for the market size currently.
Lisa Ryan: You mentioned before the show that you were actively bringing this...
Lisa Ryan: You started by saying that you were 36 years old, and I know that in manufacturing, changing the conversation to attract younger people to it. What originally made you consider manufacturing an option and something you became passionate about?
Renan Devillieres: It's a funny story. I come from a background where people need to learn what even a company is. And I was good at math. So I did the math, then opened Google, and I put a company most well-known for being good at doing business, and the number one result was McKinsey Company. So I applied to McKinsey Company, not knowing what it was, and I was recruited there. I'm very grateful because they taught me a lot about business. On my first day, they told us to choose orientations, and I ended up selecting operations because it sounded cool, and I wanted to do things with the physical world.
I did not know what a factory was. I was just a fresh graduate knowing nothing, and I learned my job there. So the first time I went to a factory, I saw that incredibly complex web of people working and incredible speed-changing matter, and I said, okay, this is the dream. This is where I want to work for a lot of time because when you're a geek like me, and you like systems, and you're interested in those kinds of things, It's paradise to me.
The two most interesting things you can think of, and work on are either a tech company or a factory because those two systems are...
That was over 30 years ago, and I'm still helping maintain that MRP system through all its variations and improvements. Seven years in, I quit working for the defense contractor and went out on my own Because I didn't like how my employer treated my people or clients. So I hung my shingle, and we've been in business and will have our 30th anniversary this summer. We have loved supporting everything about the manufacturing and finance piece within the defense industry and a significant client, a major defense contractor. I've been blessed to fall in with many subject matter experts that have guided my career. I was a programmer/analyst. I live on the slash. I am naturally an analyst who knows how to program, so I got bilingual that way. It is a huge opportunity to be embedded with the people who use the software I've written and some of the software I analyze and critique.
Lisa Ryan: Right off the bat, you brought up an interesting point. You left one employer because of how they treated you and your people. You don't have to go into immense detail, but what were some of the biggest mistakes they made that caused you to leave? And then how are you turning that around for your employees to create a workplace culture that keeps them?
Tom Pierce: Thank you for asking that. That's one of the most important things about what it means to be in business for me. Anecdotally, during one of the most critical demonstrations we had been developing for two years, we fried a computer getting ready to do a demonstration for a room full of 300 Army generals.
One of my newest employees came to work for me from Toys-R-US. He was brilliant but could have made a better impression. He volunteered his brand new 486. Another one of my...
Lisa Ryan: It is fascinating. From a consumer standpoint, I drive by some of these huge Amazon warehouses in my area and wonder. How do they find the coffee I order can be there within a couple of hours if I order within the next 31 minutes?
Jonathan Porter: Yeah. It sometimes floors me what folks like Amazon and others are doing. Yeah, you can order in the morning and get it delivered a couple of hours later, which we used to think two-day delivery was remarkable. But no, now they're, like I said, Amazon and others, but many people are pushing the bar even higher.
Lisa Ryan: It was interesting, too, of the subject, but I was in the car with an Uber driver the other day. And Amazon has an Uber-type app for their drivers for delivery. We are seeing so many changes that even a couple of years ago, we would've never in a million years thought about using people in their cars instead of our beautiful company trucks to deliver products and get them there that quickly.
Jonathan Porter: Yeah, no, it's fantastic to see, but simultaneously, it's incredible that the technology is powering much of this, right? You could only do this with a lot of the underlying technology that's powering somebody to log onto an app and receive a task to do a delivery. And it just routes them directly to where to pick it up and where to put it out.
And that all has to seamlessly integrate with the warehouse management system and your order management. And it's just this orchestration of a lot of data moving back and forth that then is powering this consumer experience that, most people I've just mentioned, like most people, don't realize what's going on.
You order something, you click to buy, and you're mad. Now if it...
A lot of complexity is involved, and Sana was born. We were making that complexity easy by making ERP and e-commerce work as one because in that ERP, these systems that these companies are driving on, I would say where all your customers are, your order details, your transactions, your inventory, all that logic around it that makes you unique.
You need to open that up to the world to ensure you can automate things. We are key players here in what we also call a digital transformation. We have around 1500 customers worldwide running SAP or Microsoft Dynamics as their ERP. We are helping them create a B2B eCommerce environment with which they can serve their customers.
With B2B, it's just the beginning. Not all companies are doing digital commerce yet. They're starting with it. We are right on that wave. That was the shortest version I could give you, Lisa, but we could take it from here.
Lisa Ryan: And when you talk about, back in the day, you had more of that personal connection, talking to people on the phone and maybe seeing them in person. Now we're bringing in that whole element of technology and digitalization. How do you continue to work with your customers and keep that personal presence when everything is so technology-based, so you're not just another button on a keyboard?
Arno Ham: I love that question. There is a lot of complexity involved in making that relationship, let's say, more or less the same. But to give you a couple of examples or share a couple of customer stories, The important thing is that...
Customer service was an issue, so we raised inventories, and cash was the issue. So we're driving inventories down again. The organization was just getting pulled back and forth again. I fully realized I was tapped into the ship at the time that created the change. But I had the opportunity to go down to our plant in South Carolina. It was a great group of people and still is. What we decided to do was focus on productivity. We started looking at the obstacles of productivity, material losses, health, and safety issues, downtime, and quality issues. We did it in various part series. We did it in a parade and went after the biggest issues first.
We found that we made some mold changes without putting capital or throwing real capital investment into it. We did some, while leadership at the time was talking about we didn't have enough capacity. We had to spend $440,000 for a mold in a machine that was $20,000. We were getting the changes in a mold that we made. A mold that was 30 or 40 years old, and my father was getting about 50% output out of it.
It took us eight hours to set up. Within 30 seconds, the mold was running at a hundred percent capacity. It was a phenomenal turnaround. We said that if we continued the path we were going, and what we could do, get all these changes, and the next ones on our list would reduce the cost of goods by 10 to 12% in one year alone with a lot more work to do.
That would allow us to get...
Lisa Ryan: Wow. This was an excellent time for this conversation because we can only look at something online, on the radio, or on television with somebody talking about AI and how the technology is exploding. What do you think are some of the most significant challenges as well as opportunities for manufacturers in this AI space?
Bryan DeBois: Yeah, one of the things we see with early adopters of AI and manufacturing is those big productivity boosts they're looking for. We're seeing the one, 2%, double-digit percent improvements in throughput, reduction, and scrap. In specific processes, that's multimillion dollars right there. These are often 20 or 30 years old processes already pretty optimized. The opportunities AI will give you are those stepwise improvements we're looking for in some of the existing equipment.
We've squeezed all the productivity out of some of these existing lines, so now we can leverage AI to give that big boost. The challenges are not really that different. I've spent my whole career doing these technology projects with manufacturers, so the challenges are similar. One is organizational change management, which you'll hear me discuss today. Ensure you've got buy-in from the top down to the operators on the line, ensuring those operators have a seat at the table right from the beginning with these projects.
The typical issues you have with companies who get excited about technology, and I love that I don't want to go into these meetings and just put a bucket of cold water on their dreams around technology. But I always try to bring the conversation back to use cases.
These types of projects are only successful if you start with use cases. So first, you need to consider the ROI and the benefits the technology can bring. Then we'll start applying the technology to it. But if you go into technology first and say, here's this Whizzbang technology, where can we fit it in, or...
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