# 225: From Enterprise Engineering to Owning a Small Manufacturing Business Featuring Amorphic Brewing Founder Ron Hockersmith and a BROADcast For Manufacturers, Live from Milwaukee, WI

- Show: [Manufacturing Happy Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour)
- Published: 2025-02-25
- Length: 44m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-02-25-225-from-enterprise-engineering-to-owning-a-small-manufacturing-business-featuri
- Listen: http://manufacturinghappyhour.com

## Summary

Ron Hockersmith, founder of Amorphic Brewing, explains how he applies lean manufacturing and engineering principles from his tenure at GE Healthcare and defense contracting to run his Milwaukee brewery. He details the scientific approach to recipe design, including predictive modeling of flavor compounds, and the implementation of Kaizen improvements like hard-plumbing CO2 systems to eliminate leaks. Hockersmith also discusses the strategic decision to prioritize margins over volume, avoiding expensive distribution expansion, and the importance of building a high-trust, empowered team culture. The episode features a crossover discussion with Chris Harrington of GenAlpha Technologies and Lori Highby of Keystone Click about leadership, scaling, and the impact of recent tariffs on Canadian aluminum for beer cans.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-02-25-225-from-enterprise-engineering-to-owning-a-small-manufacturing-business-featuri#t=0) Introduction: Live crossover with A BROADcast for Manufacturers
- [10:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-02-25-225-from-enterprise-engineering-to-owning-a-small-manufacturing-business-featuri#t=642) Ron Hockersmith's background: GE Healthcare, defense contracting, and starting Amorphic Brewing
- [14:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-02-25-225-from-enterprise-engineering-to-owning-a-small-manufacturing-business-featuri#t=865) Applying lean manufacturing and Kaizen: Hard-plumbing CO2 systems and equipment design
- [17:38](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-02-25-225-from-enterprise-engineering-to-owning-a-small-manufacturing-business-featuri#t=1058) Scientific brewing: Predictive modeling of terpenes and flavor compounds
- [20:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-02-25-225-from-enterprise-engineering-to-owning-a-small-manufacturing-business-featuri#t=1234) Business strategy: Margins, financial modeling, and avoiding over-expansion into distribution
- [24:11](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-02-25-225-from-enterprise-engineering-to-owning-a-small-manufacturing-business-featuri#t=1451) Leadership and culture: Trust, empowerment, and building organizations around existing talent
- [26:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-02-25-225-from-enterprise-engineering-to-owning-a-small-manufacturing-business-featuri#t=1593) Entrepreneurship vs. Enterprise: Defining 'enough' and work-life balance
- [32:22](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-02-25-225-from-enterprise-engineering-to-owning-a-small-manufacturing-business-featuri#t=1942) I just learned that: Beer history, band names, and tariff impacts on aluminum cans

## Topics

- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Design for manufacturing & NPI](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/design-for-manufacturing)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Materials & manufacturing processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/materials-and-processes)
- [Policy, trade & tariffs](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/policy-trade-and-tariffs)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Amorphic Brewing (company)
- GE Healthcare (company)
- GenAlpha Technologies (company)
- Keystone Click (company)
- A BROADcast for Manufacturers (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Brewing creativity with Jim Koch of Boston Beer Company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-01-25-brewing-creativity-with-jim-koch-of-boston-beer-company) (How I Built This)
- [Dogfish Head Craft Brewery: Sam and Mariah Calagione](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2022-08-01-dogfish-head-craft-brewery-sam-and-mariah-calagione) (How I Built This)
- [Samuel Adams: Jim Koch](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2016-10-31-samuel-adams-jim-koch) (How I Built This)
- [Advice Line with Bill Creelman of Spindrift](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-11-27-advice-line-with-bill-creelman-of-spindrift) (How I Built This)
- [#040 - Beer as you don’t know it - a startup bringing you the freshest craft beer possible, with Jong-Wook Shin of HOPii, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-10-25-040-beer-as-you-dont-know-it-a-startup-bringing-you-the-freshest-craft-beer-poss) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)

## Citing this page

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