# 265: How SMB Manufacturers Can Leverage AI, Live from Waukesha County Technical College

- Show: [Manufacturing Happy Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour)
- Published: 2025-12-09
- Length: 55m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-12-09-265-how-smb-manufacturers-can-leverage-ai-live-from-waukesha-county-technical-co
- Listen: http://manufacturinghappyhour.com

## Summary

Dr. Richard Barnhouse, President of Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC), joins Amanda Payne of the Waukesha County Business Alliance, Guido Mazza of ITER IDEA, and student Caleb Bryant for a live roundtable on applying AI in small-to-medium manufacturing. The panel argues that SMBs should target universal pain points like scheduling and quoting to gain buy-in, rather than chasing headcount reduction. Guido Mazza shares how ITER IDEA helped a plastic manufacturer eliminate internal conflict by using an algorithm to manage dozens of shift-scheduling constraints, while Amanda Payne notes that 50% of local businesses are already adopting AI strategies.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-12-09-265-how-smb-manufacturers-can-leverage-ai-live-from-waukesha-county-technical-co#t=0) Introduction and WCTC Applied AI Lab Overview
- [7:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-12-09-265-how-smb-manufacturers-can-leverage-ai-live-from-waukesha-county-technical-co#t=471) Defining the Problem Before the Solution
- [15:49](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-12-09-265-how-smb-manufacturers-can-leverage-ai-live-from-waukesha-county-technical-co#t=949) Targeting Universal Pain Points for Buy-in
- [19:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-12-09-265-how-smb-manufacturers-can-leverage-ai-live-from-waukesha-county-technical-co#t=1156) Current AI Adoption in Waukesha County Manufacturing
- [24:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-12-09-265-how-smb-manufacturers-can-leverage-ai-live-from-waukesha-county-technical-co#t=1475) Case Study: Algorithmic Scheduling at ITER IDEA
- [27:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-12-09-265-how-smb-manufacturers-can-leverage-ai-live-from-waukesha-county-technical-co#t=1675) Career Pivots and the Value of AI Skills
- [30:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-12-09-265-how-smb-manufacturers-can-leverage-ai-live-from-waukesha-county-technical-co#t=1841) Advice for Businesses and Students on AI Implementation
- [43:24](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-12-09-265-how-smb-manufacturers-can-leverage-ai-live-from-waukesha-county-technical-co#t=2604) Future Trends: Humanoids, Robotics, and the AI Bubble

## Topics

- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Waukesha County Technical College (company)
- Waukesha County Business Alliance (company)
- ITER IDEA (company)
- Intel (company)
- ChatGPT (product)
- Moxa (company)
- Gartner (company)

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- [AI's Role in Manufacturing Efficiency and NPI Success with Instrumental CEO Anna-Katrina Shedletsky](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ems-c-level/2024-05-23-ais-role-in-manufacturing-efficiency-and-npi-success-with-instrumental-ceo-anna) (EMS@C-LEVEL)
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- [The Emerging Role of AI Agents in Manufacturing w/ Naresh Ram](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2025-04-08-the-emerging-role-of-ai-agents-in-manufacturing-w-naresh-ram) (The Manufacturing Executive)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-12-09-265-how-smb-manufacturers-can-leverage-ai-live-from-waukesha-county-technical-co. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Manufacturing Happy Hour.