The Manufacturing Executive

Plenty of manufacturers treat maintenance as money they have to spend. Former Tesla controls engineer and Metis founder Reece Mullins sees a lever most owners overlook: every dollar saved on downtime goes straight to the bottom line. In this episode, we'll explore what changes when an AI agent joins the maintenance team. You'll hear why the fixes nobody writes down compound into real failures, how AI lets technicians take on work once reserved for engineers and why a production line could one day improve over time instead of wearing down.

Former manufacturing CEO and private equity operating partner Tate Pursell will tell you that you don’t add an outside director because a textbook says you should. The trigger is usually an inflection point: a succession, rapid growth, an acquisition, a decision that needs experience from outside the room. In this episode, we’ll unpack what an outside director brings to a family-owned or PE-backed manufacturer, and how to choose one. You’ll hear why the search starts with a three-to-five-year strategy, not a name you already know, what a PE board needs that a family board doesn’t, and the mistakes owners make with their first outside director.

ProShop ERP co-founder Paul Van Metre will tell you that very few manufacturers bring the precision they put into their parts to the rest of their business. In his new book, Precision Manufacturing, Precision Business, he lays out six stages an owner moves through, from doing the work as Operator to setting long-term strategy as Architect. We’ll walk through each stage and what the owner gives up along the way. You’ll hear why mastering the craft isn’t the same as running the business, how to fix causes instead of symptoms, and why every stage asks you to look at how you show up with people.

PPG's General Manager of Specialty Products, Amy Mercante, will tell you that leadership is not about proving you know more than the people who work for you. A research chemist turned business leader, she's often been the most senior person in the room without being the most knowledgeable. In this episode, we'll unpack what it looks like when a leader lets the experts be the experts. You'll hear what it means to flip the leadership pyramid, why she expects her team to bring a recommendation and not just research, and how to decide without waiting for every fact.

Manufacturing marketers are often isolated in their roles, working inside sales-driven organizations and sorting through marketing advice that wasn't written for them. That's why Gorilla 76 and TREW Marketing host the Industrial Marketing Summit, an annual in-person event in Austin, Texas, just for B2B marketers in the industrial sector. In this episode, originally recorded for TREW's Content Marketing Engineered podcast, TREW CEO Wendy Covey and I preview the fourth annual summit, February 23–25, 2027.You'll hear why the program goes past the basics into the nuances of reaching technical buyers, how 2027 pairs foundational work like messaging and product launches with AI search and AI for marketing teams, and why two agencies that sometimes compete decided to build it together. We'll also cover the three hands-on workshops, the new Industrial Marketing Awards, and what manufacturing leaders can do to give their marketers the education and peer network they need to stay ahead. Early bird pricing runs through October 16.