ASSEMBLY Audible

Hosted by www.assemblymag.com

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Episodes

307

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

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60 recent

August 19, 202615 min

AI Helped Cut Lead Times 77% at a Global Lighthouse Factory

Artificial intelligence is transforming manufacturing, but successful implementation starts with solving real business problems — not deploying technology for its own sake. In this episode, Tena Coppedge, vice president of manufacturing at Hitachi Vantara, explains how her team used AI to eliminate siloed data, improve inventory visibility and reduce order-to-shipment lead time by 77%. She also shares practical advice on avoiding "pilot purgatory," scaling AI initiatives and building the data foundation needed for lasting results.

August 17, 202615 min

Manufacturers Know When a Machine Fails. They Often Don’t Know What Happened Next

Manufacturers have become exceptionally good at collecting machine data. But what happens to the human knowledge generated when something goes wrong? In this episode, Nikhil Arora, Director of Business Development at Relay, discusses one of manufacturing's biggest information gaps: the operational context that often exists between a machine failure and its resolution. The conversation explores shift handoffs, downtime, troubleshooting, workforce knowledge transfer and how manufacturers are beginning to capture frontline insights that have traditionally lived in operator memory, handwritten notes and informal conversations.

August 13, 202614 min

What Manufacturers Need to Know About Humanoid Robot Deployment

Humanoid robots are moving closer to real factory deployment, but manufacturers still face major challenges around safety, testing, repeatability and workforce integration. Bruce Richard of Jabil explains what manufacturers need to understand before humanoids can scale across industrial operations.

August 6, 202622 min

How Detroit’s Auto Manufacturing Expertise Is Helping Build America’s Drone Industry

Keith Miao, CEO and founder of Birdstop, explains why the Detroit-based company is building autonomous drones around the automotive supply base and why domestic production has become increasingly important. The conversation explores drone supply chains, automotive suppliers, automation, and quality testing.

July 30, 202619 min

Can American Manufacturing Compete? The Impacts of “Made in America” Production

DECKED committed to U.S. manufacturing long before reshoring became a major trend. CEO Bill Banta explains how automation, supply chain control and rapid product iteration are helping the company compete while manufacturing in America.

July 23, 202619 min

ASSEMBLY Audible: Why Lean Manufacturing Fails—and How to Make It Work

Lean manufacturing doesn’t fail because of the tools—it fails when leaders lose touch with the plant floor. Dr. Terra Vanzant-Stern, author of Leaner Manufacturing: How to Make the Lean Production Process Easier, Faster, and More Cost-Effective, explains why trust, engagement and collective intelligence are critical to making lean work.

July 16, 202612 min

Manufacturing Leadership Advice That Actually Works on the Plant Floor

Manufacturing leadership advice often sounds great — until the line goes down at 2 a.m. Julian M. Allen, Jr., manufacturing veteran and author of Operational Leadership Uncensored: Real Talk for Burgeoning Manufacturing Leaders, explains why so many new leaders struggle on the plant floor and what actually earns trust from frontline crews.

July 13, 202616 min

ASSEMBLY Audible: Inside the Self-Driving Factory Lab

Georgia Tech’s Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility is using AI, robotics and autonomous experimentation to accelerate manufacturing development. Dr. Tom Kurfess explains how the self-driving lab is helping manufacturers test and de-risk new technologies before they reach production.

July 2, 202616 min

Why AI in Manufacturing Depends on Fixing Factory Data

Manufacturers are investing heavily in AI and automation, but many still can’t access or organize the data needed to make those systems useful. Aron Semle, CTO of HighByte, explains how fragmented factory systems and proprietary data structures are limiting smart manufacturing—and why initiatives such as i3X are becoming critical to making industrial AI practical on the plant floor.

June 24, 202618 min

Why Manufacturers Are Choosing Flexibility Instead of Reshoring

Tariffs have reduced direct imports from China, but that doesn't mean manufacturing is coming back to the United States. Patrick Van den Bossche of Kearney explains why companies are building supply chain flexibility instead of committing to reshoring — and why much of the production leaving China is simply moving somewhere else.