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
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.