U.S. Manufacturing Today

In this episode of US Manufacturing Today (powered by Veryable), Matt Horine interviews Shlomo Assa, chairman, president, and co-founder of Acclaro Medical, a serial founder in the laser industry with 20+ patents whose operations ship to 60 countries. Assa explains how COVID-era supply chain disruptions showed that IP alone isn’t enough; companies that outsource turnkey manufacturing lose control of delivery, pricing, quality, and the ability to redesign around component end-of-life issues, making them “fake” companies dependent on offshore partners. He argues the recurring lesson across his ventures is urgency: when customers pay, you must be able to ship immediately or risk losing the deal. Assa distinguishes healthy, cost-neutral subcontracting of qualified subassemblies from full turnkey outsourcing, and discusses the global pricing premium and trust associated with “Made in the USA,” plus leadership and respect as keys to building strong manufacturing teams. Timestamps00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:10 Real vs Fake Companies01:55 COVID Supply Chain Wake Up05:21 Ship Fast or Lose Deals08:10 Fear of Manufacturing10:08 Smart Outsourcing Rules12:54 Turnkey Outsourcing Trap16:17 Field Failures Cost More18:07 Made in USA Premium23:36 Quality Details That Matter29:44 Workforce and Leadership34:39 30 Day Fix and CI40:35 Contact and Closing41:15 Final Takeaways and CTALinksAcclaro WebsiteAcclaro on LinkedInShlomo on LinkedInRevitalizing US Manufacturing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign Up on the Veryable Platform

In this episode of US Manufacturing Today (powered by Veryable), Matt Horine interviews Josh Waldron, who describes how a car accident at 15 left him paralyzed and how he chose to remove the “comfortable retreat” by destroying his wheelchair to commit to walking, shaping his approach to challenges. Josh recounts building a precision manufacturing company from a garage during the 2008 recession, learning CNC operations from scratch, driving growth through vertical integration, and turning in-house anodizing into a profit center. He explains misconceptions about needing all answers upfront, critiques “best practices,” and shares his Productive Difficulty framework and a 2x2 tool for prioritizing work. The conversation covers AI as bandwidth expansion, retention through pay, recognition, and autonomy, navigating firearms regulation, lobbying to change laws, and his book “On Choosing Hard Things,” plus a recommendation to run a cultural audit. Timestamps00:00 Welcome to the Podcast00:41 Josh Waldron Intro01:26 Accident and Resolve05:00 Starting from Scratch08:06 Vertical Integration Wins11:03 Ditching Best Practices13:27 Productive Difficulty Framework19:56 Two by Two Priorities22:52 AI and Bandwidth25:56 Retention and Culture33:50 Hard Corners Manufacturing37:57 Changing Laws Long Game43:25 30 Day Action Step44:26 Book and ClosingLinksJosh’s WebsiteJosh on LinkedInHard is FunRevitalizing US Manufacturing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign Up on the Veryable Platform

In this episode of US Manufacturing Today (powered by Veryable), host Matt Horine speaks with Brian Fielkow, author of Making Safety Happen, about leading safety as a leadership discipline and enterprise risk issue. Fielkow lays out why safety must function as a non‑negotiable core value that never competes with production pressure, and how boards and executives ultimately shape safety outcomes through the behaviors they reward, tolerate, or ignore. The conversation explores how fast‑growing operations can scale without sacrificing stability by balancing offense and defense, how frontline leaders drive real cultural change, and how applying Just Culture helps organizations distinguish honest mistakes from reckless choices while preserving accountability and trust.Timestamps00:00 Podcast Intro02:03 Safety as Core Value04:39 Retiring the Word Accident06:43 Boards Own Safety11:51 Scaling Without Breaking15:39 New Leader First 90 Days18:33 Gold Letter Engagement21:49 Safety Committees Done Right23:45 Psychological Safety on Floor26:48 Process Over Paperwork30:56 Just Culture Accountability35:14 Protecting Everyone On Site38:37 30 Day First Step41:56 Podcast OutroLinksBrian’s WebsiteBrian on linkedinMaking Safety Happen on AmazonRevitalizing US Manufacturing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign Up on the Veryable Platform

In this episode of U.S. Manufacturing Today (powered by Veryable), host Matt Horine interviews Chris Hale, founder and CEO of Klear, about how reshoring and rapid scaling compress timelines and expose a mismatch between fast-moving factory operations and slow, backward-looking traditional banking. Hale explains that step-change growth driven by aerospace, defense, energy, and other demand can break order-to-cash cycles, stressing suppliers, buyers, and internal coordination, and argues this is an operational risk shared by plant managers and finance. Timestamps00:00 Podcast Intro00:41 Reshoring Speed Crunch01:52 What Breaks First04:05 Banks Versus Step Change05:58 Relay Race Capital Flow08:52 Origins In Global Supply12:07 Building Klear Platform13:33 Critical Minerals Finance17:14 Geopolitics And Small Suppliers22:58 Right Sized Capital27:58 Back Office Fix31:38 Series A Update32:53 30 Day Action Advice34:24 Where To Find Klear35:00 Podcast OutroLinksKlear WebsiteKlear on LinkedInChris on LinkedInForbes ArticleRevitalizing US Manufacturing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign Up on the Veryable Platform

In this episode of U.S. Manufacturing Today (powered by Veryable), host Matt Horine interviews Roei Ganzarski, CEO of Alitheon, about the trillion-dollar global problem of counterfeiting and gray-market fraud and why it is a safety and national security issue in industries like aerospace, automotive, and healthcare. Ganzarski shares examples including end-of-life aircraft engine parts sold as new and fake titanium used in aircraft, and explains Alitheon’s FeaturePrint technology, which authenticates individual items using standard cameras by capturing unique, random manufacturing “tolerance” features to create a digital fingerprint with zero false positives.Timestamps00:00 Podcast Intro00:41 Counterfeit Crisis01:44 Fraud and Gray Market04:21 Career Path to Alitheon09:11 Aerospace Scandals11:44 FeaturePrint Explained18:15 Why Labels Fail23:48 Wear and Tear Handling28:03 New Manufacturer Promises28:59 Camera Based Traceability29:17 Warranty Return Fraud32:15 Fingerprinting Against Fakes35:29 Supply Chain Risk Trends38:13 Supplier Competitive Edge40:04 EV Battery Safety Risks43:10 Compliance Beyond QR Codes44:30 Blockchain Physical Gap47:28 Proxy On Proxy Failures51:10 30 Day Action Plan52:56 Pilot And Production Setup55:19 Traceability For QA Recalls57:44 Podcast OutroLinksAlitheon WebsiteAlitheon on LinkedInRoei on LinkedInRevitalizing US Manufacturing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign Up on the Veryable Platform