The Manufacturer Podcast

Present your ears for filling, listener.

Episode two of our People & Skills Series features the winners of the Special Recognition category at The Manufacturer MX Awards 2023, Evtec Automotive.

These guys are truly phenomenal, proving to us that with patience, flexibility and training, anybody can work in a production facility. With just over 40% of their workforce having some form of disability, Evtec are removing the barriers that exist in our minds.

As well as that, we'll look over the latest headlines in our People & Skills section, and one of the UK's increasingly maligned public transport service is under the microscope, in 'Made by a Moron.'

Music Credit:

Tropical Fever by LiQWYD & Luke Bergs

Tenderness by FSM Team

Together by 2TECH-AUDIO

Podcast News by Author Music

Hello there listener, well done for making it through another week. Your reward? A podcast for your ears.

Episode one of our People & Skills Series also doubles as a preview episode for the highly anticipated Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week in June.

In this episode, we feature interviews from Dr Hilary Leevers, CEO of Engineering UK, and Russell Smith, Managing Director of industrial recruitment specialists, Hunter Selection.

Your editorial team for this episode is Tom, Joe and James, discussing some of the latest news.

Have a listen.

Here you go listener, a belter of an episode to round off a splendid series.

Our series sponsors Analog Devices join us on this episode, as we have the great pleasure of interviewing Fiona Treacy, Managing Director of Industrial Automation.

In our round up of news, we touch on the latest S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI® figures, that have revealed an upturn in growth for first time since July 2022.

And in this week's Made by a Moron, a controversial one perhaps - the iPhone. 

Music credit:

Tropical Fever by LiQWYD & Luke Bergs

Digital Transformation by Alex-Productions

Together by 2TECH-AUDIO

To Count The Stars by Sapajou

Happy Good Friday listener,

This is an Easter Special, where we discuss our thoughts on Easter. Who likes it? And who among the team do you think "gives volleys to chocolate?" (it's Joe, Joe gives volleys to chocolate)

If you find yourself browsing the website this week then there's loads of great content on there. And now, you can sit back and have our stories read to you, with our new audio story function.

'Made by a Moron' returns with yet more poor purchase choices from the Devonshire household.

And we welcome the latest member of the editorial team, Molly Cooper, for her debut podcast episode.

In this episode of The Manufacturer Archives, Asif Moghal, Autodesk’s Director of Market & Industry Development, cuts through the jargon when it comes to discussions about digital, and explains the five superpowers of digital transformation.

This was first heard at our Manufacturing Leaders' Summit in November 2023.

Episode two of Digital Transformation, you're welcome, listener.

Today, we take a visit to a taster day at Myco Foods to try Hooba mince, a meat-free, mushroom-based protein that is created through an on-site automated vertical farming system.

We also take a look at some news headlines on The Manufacturer website.

And, ahead of this weekend's racing at Leopardstown, James reveals his horsey heritage.

Music credits:

Tropical Fever by LiQWYD & Luke Bergs

Positive Corporate by Mixaund

Digital Transformation by Alex-Productions

Day Ahead by Joe Crotty

In this very Christmassy episode of The Manufacturer Podcast:

We say a devastatingly sad goodbye to Lanna Deamer as she sits on her last podcast with the team before moving into another role within Nineteen Group.

The team reflects on a wonderful year of content; hear about their favourite moments, interviews and trips from 2023.

We also talk Santa revelations, Christmas tat, and a nod towards the some of the offerings available on TM website over the Christmas period.

There's all that and more in our final episode of 2023

In this episode of The Manufacturer Archives, we interview David Lott - CEO of IfM Engage at The University of Cambridge.

In this bumper episode of The Manufacturer Podcast, we've got coverage of both days of The Manufacturer Live at The ACC in Liverpool.

In this behind the scenes look at our two day event, you'll learn what goes through the heads of our team at The Manufacturer, you'll hear thoughts and interviews from some of the UK's best manufacturers, and you'll see the emotion and the drama, with first hand, immediate reactions from our finalists and winners at The Manufacturer MX Awards.

There's a lot to get through in this episode, so here's some time stamps of key bits:

Natasha Lyth of Gripple just before Manufacturing Leaders' Summit: 7:38

Alison Beard-Gunter of Thermo Fisher just before Manufacturing Leaders' Summit: 9:41

David Holmes of BAE Systems before his keynote at Manufacturing Leader' Summit : 14:13

Top 1,000 drinks reception. Celebrating 10 years of our Top 100 programme: 22:04

Start of Day Two of Leaders' Summit: 25:55

Tracey Woods of Cognizant speaking after Day Two of Leaders' Summit: 36:41

The start of The Manufacturer MX Awards: 42:07

Reaction from our winners! 51:28

3am kebab: 60:08

Back again, listener?

Good job. This one is a good one. We look back on possibly the most audience engaged conference of the year after attending 'Changing Perceptions' this week at The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry.

We take a granular look into the current gender gap in manufacturing. Many factors contribute to this disparity, with social and historical aspects playing a huge part. As a team, we discuss what worked well at this conference and the steps forward that will bring about gradual and hopefully lasting change.

James also regales us of his recent trip to San Francisco, where he gathered content from an event held by AVEVA, missed the chance to get a kebab and was mere moments away from being denied access at US border control after getting a bit nervous.

Listen to all that and more in today's episode

Hi listener, thanks for sticking around until the end of our tech series.

We've had a great time looking through the various technologies that our series sponsors PTC have brought to the industrial market.

This episode continues in that vein, as we look at how PTC's Creo Computer Aided Design (CAD) solution has helped several manufacturers. In an interview from earlier in the year at PTC LiveWorx, we learn how digital thread has transformed operations for global wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas.

And to round things off we ask, "Can you think of anything else in life, that is less value for money than train travel in the UK?”

There's all that and more in this latest episode.

Howdy there listener,

In today's episode of The Manufacturer Podcast, we kick off with an interview taken from PTC LiveWorx 2023 in Boston. Paul Haimes discusses where the solutions lie for some of the world's big manufacturing problems.

We have a chat about upcoming content and current headlines, including a look ahead to an event being run at the end of October by Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) and Innovate UK's Made Smarter Programme.

For our big finish, Tom references a human augmenting tech project that simply isn't working in the world of sport - VAR. He rants, with support from Joe, while Lanna yawns.

There's all that and more in this latest episode.

Hello again listener - we hope your ears are ripe for this one.

We start this episode with a story from Joe. A giant cricket infiltrated his home this week, and we fear he may have to go home and fight the bloody thing. The winner presumably gets to live in his house.

The standout in the headlines this week - BAE Systems pledges it's support to Ukraine.

And see if you agree with this week's submissions for 'Made by a Moron.'

There's all that and more in today's episode.

The podcast returns with the first episode of a mini-series on the topic of leadership.

Tom St John, Joe Bush, Lanna Deamer and James Devonshire discuss future events, namely The Manufacturer Live, taking place in Liverpool in November (14-15).

We also hear about recent factory visits to BAE Systems in Rochester, Nims Crisps, Phinia and RS Group in Corby.

We've got that, and some really stupid stuff - like Joe's "crappuccino" story and the time a friend of his took a dump in the wrong hotel room. ****HORRIFYINGLY LOW-BROW!****

If you're looking for something more cultured then, I don't know, stick on Radio 4 or something....

Hi listener, with your ears so ripe.

Allow us to treat you to a podcast on this year's International Women in Engineering Day.

As well as thoughts from Tom St John, Joe Bush, Lanna Deamer and James Devonshire, we've got interviews from Dawn Childs – President of WES, Women’s Engineering Society, Joanna Whiteman, Head of Diversity at the Royal Academy of Engineering and Susan Scurlock, CEO and Founder of Primary Engineer.

Enjoy!

Hello to you, listener/viewer

The cameras are back on for this review of Manufacturing and Engineering Week 2023. We've got some more show content in this episode, namely exhibitors Prove Anything and ØRN Gloves. One company brought an eagle to the show floor, the other brought Darth Vader. We managed to evade an attack from the eagle, but not from Darth, much to the delight of James Devonshire.

Before James jumped on a plane back home to The Philippines, he was joined by Tom St John, Joe Bush and Lanna Deamer to record this podcast. This episode also features a pod debut from Nineteen Group CEO, Peter Jones, who reflects proudly on a successful MandE Week, and gives us a glimpse into what this show will look like in years to come.

Excited? Well then get your ripe ears around this latest episode.

In this live (or as live as we could make it) podcast from the show floor of Manufacturing and Engineering Week, we look at some of the companies and keynote speakers that caught our eye on the first day of the show.

Join Tom St John, Joe Bush, Lanna Deamer and James Devonshire as they broadcast from The Manufacturer Studio.

What's new, listener?

Here is the final episode of our Sustainability Series, where we look back through the news headlines of the last few weeks, and look ahead to the upcoming Manufacturing and Engineering Week in Birmingham.

We also feature an interview from Debbie Lentz, President of ESG Solutions at RS Group plc.

Tom St John, Joe Bush, Lanna Deamer and James Devonshire team up as the hosts.

Listener, what an episode this is!

Hear about Tom St John and Lanna Deamer's visit to Sweden to see steel manufacturer, Ovako.

In the quiet, picturesque town of Hofors, they got drunk on shnapps, sung a variety of Scandinavian drinking songs - including ABBA songs with alternative lyrics, and were shown a true example of sustainable manufacturing in the European steel sector.

Joe Bush and James Devonshire join them to discuss all that and more.

Here’s another one, listener.

Churned out at the end of a busy 4-day week, but hopefully not lacking in the quality banter department.

We discuss how the chicken ever made it into chicken pox, why doesn’t a Fitbit record your steps properly if you’re pushing a pram? And what unwelcomed household pest is worse, snake or mouse?

And in a bid to make the episode slightly about manufacturing, we discuss some of the news headlines of the week and hear from Susanne Wright about the sustainability journey of Northeast manufacturer, Clearly Drinks.

Get ya ears around that. BOSH!

Alright listener?

In episode three of this Sustainability Series, we catch you up on editorial goings on, as well as the usual rundown of headlines in the Sustainability section of The Manufacturer website.

We also take a look at an excellent feature that appeared in the latest edition of our magazine – an article on EV trucks and the good work that manufacturers Tevva and OX Delivers are doing in that space.

And we have chicken pox updates, a vanishing beer, a near death experience and who do you reckon refers to fizzy drinks as pop?

Editorials Tom St John, Joe Bush, Lanna Deamer and James Devonshire return as your hosts.

Hi there, listener. Our podcast series in promotion of Manufacturing and Engineering Week continues with a Supply Chains Special episode. 

Your host Tom St John chats with colleagues Stuart Biddle (and maybe Henry Anson) about the partnerships and solutions that are being sought out by manufacturing companies, as the headaches over raw material supply, managing emissions and general global disruption continue to persist. 

We also hear from Nigel Paine, Supply Chain and Operations Director at Britvic, who talks through some of the supply chain approaches of a global drinks manufacturer. 

Enjoy!

We're back!

Tom St John, Joe Bush and Lanna Deamer (James Devonshire was too full of gin) catch up after a few weeks of radio silence.

Find out about Lanna's horrific house move and why it's all a man called Paul's fault. Hear how the start of a stag do turned into a story about biofuel in commercial planes. And see why a recent sustainable headline on The Manufacturer website leads us to calling out social media sensation, Big John. BOSH!

We also preview next week's Industrial Data Summit in Birmingham by hearing from two keynote speakers.

Enjoy listener!

Hi there listener,

After a short break, the podcast returns with this special episode on sustainability - which we're also making episode one of our Sustainability Series.

This is a taste of some of the discussions you might hear at Manufacturing & Engineering Week in June. We have Andrew Frankland from Forest Nation, one of our partners of the event. He talks about some of the communities that his company works with and the impact that sustainable marketing solutions are having.

We also chat with Richard Lloyd at the Park, who gives an insight into what good looks like when it comes to sustainable business practices.

That’s all crammed into this episode, so take a break and have a listen.

Hi listener,

We say farewell to our People & Skills Series, for now, with this season finale.

During a string of factory visits in the Midlands, we visit the sites of TMMX Award Winners in the People & Skills category. Lisi Aerospace and Lander Tubular Products are the two previous winners of this award and both companies feature in this episode. We speak to a wellbeing coach and two young engineers.

This episode was recorded at the UK HQ of FANUC, our podcast sponsors. We start the episode by talking to Oliver Selby of FANUC about the need to secure the future of automation through education.

Hey listener, keeping well?

We have a special episode for you focussing on the topic of people and skills. Separate from our current series on this same topic, this episode is in promotion of Manufacturing and Engineering Week, taking place in Birmingham this year on 7-8 June.

This episode features a fantastic interview with Natasha Lyth, Sustainability Manager at Gripple and Catriona Booth, System Engineering Manager at Thales.

Natasha and Catriona are the two most recent winners of the The Manufacturer MX Awards' Young Manufacturer of the Year Award. Both women sit down with our reporter Lanna Deamer.

Hey listener, fancy another one?

In the fifth episode of this People & Skills Series, we chat to some of the winning categories at The Engineering Trust Awards which took place in Oxford on Wednesday night.

And our hosts; Tom, Joe and Lanna discuss whether apprenticeships are creating the right opportunities for women in manufacturing.

Enjoy!

Listener, welcome back.

In this episode Rashitha Jayasekara of Rolls Royce discusses how the digital skills gap is impacting the ability to scale projects and unlock the next stages of digital transformation. After partnering with Multiverse, who are supplying training and apprenticeship programmes, Rolls Royce is upskilling it's staff with modern digital capabilities.

As well as this, one of the first ever exemplars from our Top100 programme, Adrian Maxwell, Owner of coffee machine manufacturers Fracino, gives his take on the shortage of skills and the struggles of attracting and retaining younger people.

Tom St John, Joe Bush and Lanna Deamer are your hosts.

Our next episode features Elliot Bloor, an apprentice at Siemens, who speaks about his route from school into the world of manufacturing. This is taken from a recent episode of The Manufacturer Podcast’s People & Skills series, and was part of our extensive coverage of National Apprenticeship Week 2023.

This episode of The Manufacturer Archives is an interview taken from our 2023 People & Skills Series on The Manufacturer Podcast with Angela Lawlor. Angela set up Marvellous Manufacturing, an idea that came to her during the 2020 lockdown. This is part of her mission to link manufacturers to schools, colleges and universities. 

Her interview is taken from an episode of The Manufacturer Podcast, aired during National Apprenticeship Week 2023, conducted by our International Reporter, James Devonshire.

This episode features Anita Davenport, the Group HR Manager for Lander Tubular Products, who won our Manufacturer of the Year Award at The Manufacturer MX Awards of 2021

Anita is also the Regional Chair for the West Midlands Apprenticeship Ambassador Network. You may have heard her already in the People & Skills series of The Manufacturer Podcast, which aired during National Apprenticeship Week 2023. This is the full length version of that interview, with our reporter Lanna Deamer.

Noorzaman Rashid features in this episode of The Manufacturer Archives, after we took a visit to The Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence. Or as it’s known, CEME

Noorzaman featured in episode two of our people and skills series of 2023, this is his interview with Multimedia Editor, Tom St John, in full.

In this episode of The Manufacturer Archives it's another interview taken from the show floor of Smart Factory Expo in 2022. Sumeet Ladsaongikar, Partner at Kearney, was a keynote speaker at Manufacturing Leaders Summit that same year. Here he is talking about the value chain trilemma of financial, resilience and sustainability performance.

Hey there, listener!

The third episode of our People & Skills Series coincides with National Apprenticeship Week 2023. Our coverage of the week has been extensive, to say the least.

In keeping with that, we've got a packed-out-pod, featuring Anita Davenport-Brooks from Lander Automotive and Angela Lawlor who set up Marvellous Manufacturing in 2020. Both discuss the importance of promoting apprenticeships and the reasons for the disconnects between the industry, young people and education.

We also feature Elliot Bloor, who talks about his journey from school to an apprenticeship degree with Siemens.

We've got all that, plus the thoughts of the editorials - Tom St John, Joe Bush, Lanna Deamer and James Devonshire.

In this episode of The Manufacturer Archives we speak to Andrew Schofield, Chair of the Northwest Aerospace Alliance, an initiative which supports the county’s advanced manufacturing and engineering companies. This interview was taken from the show floor at Smart Factory Expo 2022.

In this episode, we hear from Susan Brench, CEO of Starbons - manufacturers of mesoporous carbons from bio-renewable biomass. We spoke with Susan following her involvement in SME Growth Summit 2022, to find out more about the company and its journey so far.

In episode 2 of our People & Skills series, sponsored by FANUC:

Learn more about the support that Lloyds Banking Group is providing the AMTC. (Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centre) A sponsorship package worth £15m will support AMTC apprenticeship programmes and the wider UK manufacturing sector.

As well as that, CEME (Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence) is geared towards inspiring young people through the content it provides them.

There’s that, as well as disruptive stomach rumblings, geographical disputes and goose stuff.

Hey listener. 

Episode 1 of our series on People & Skills kicks off with a look at the Team Tempest project. The development of new technologies that will be integral to the next generation of combat aircraft will also centre very much around people.

We look at that and more in this episode.