The Wrench Factor

31 Episodes

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The Next Generation of Manufacturing: What Gen Z Brings to the Plant Floor

2026-09-3023:41

The next generation of manufacturing talent is entering the workforce—and they may be more prepared for the plant floor than you think. In this episode of The Wrench Factor, guest host Jake Hall (“The Manufacturing Millennial”) sits down with Ryan Graham, Director of Workforce Development at Kent ISD, to explore how career and technical education is evolving alongside modern manufacturing. They discuss the resurgence of skilled trades, how students are gaining hands-on experience with robotic...

Live from IMTS 2026: What’s Changing on the Manufacturing Floor

2026-09-2215:47

Every two years, the manufacturing community comes together in Chicago for the biggest trade show in the Western Hemisphere: IMTS, the International Manufacturing Technology Show. For this special in-person episode of The Wrench Factor, Jake Hall (“The Manufacturing Millennial”) and Nick Haase, Co-Founder of MaintainX, sit down inside the MaintainX booth to share what they’re seeing, hearing, and learning from the IMTS show floor. They dig into the rapid rise of AI in manufacturing, how autom...

The Skilled Labor Shortage: Why Hiring Isn’t the Only Answer

2026-09-1027:44

The skilled labor shortage isn't going away. So what can maintenance and manufacturing leaders do about it? In this episode of The Wrench Factor, Nick Haase, Co-Founder of MaintainX, and Jake Hall, The Manufacturing Millennial, dig into findings from a recent industry survey of more than 200 companies and experts on the skilled labor shortage. Rather than simply walking through the numbers, Nick and Jake explore what they mean for maintenance teams on the plant floor—from the difficulty of fi...

The Hidden Cost of Bad Asset Data

2026-08-2725:18

You can invest in the best maintenance technology available—but if your system doesn't accurately reflect what's actually on the plant floor, everything downstream becomes harder. In this episode of The Wrench Factor, guest host Paul Anderson, Strategic Partnerships Manager at MaintainX (An Autodesk Company), sits down with Andi Seabeck, Facility Market Leader at Camcode, to explore one of the most overlooked foundations of a strong maintenance program: accurate asset data. Paul and Andi disc...

The Language Behind Industrial AI: Why Context Matters More Than Data

2026-07-3033:21

Everyone is talking about industrial AI—but few are talking about the foundation it depends on. In this episode of The Wrench Factor, host Nick Haase, Co-Founder of MaintainX, sits down with Ryan Kelly, Vice President of Technology at AMT, to explore why interoperability, shared data standards, and machine context are becoming critical building blocks for the next generation of manufacturing. As AI adoption accelerates, manufacturers are discovering that collecting data isn't enough. Systems ...

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