Hardware Podcasts

Preserving Brand Legacy While Expanding Global Footprint w/ Todd Smith

The Manufacturing Executive · 6 Jan 2026 · Episode 291

What this episode covers

Todd Smith, President and CFO of Associated Metal Forming Technologies (AMFT), explains how the company unified five legacy brands (Associated Spring, Winkelman, Heinz Hagn, Skoda, and others) to solve supply chain fragmentation and geopolitical risks. He details the strategy of standardizing operational 'how' (safety, finance) while harmonizing engineering 'what' and 'where' to preserve brand equity and customer continuity. Smith emphasizes that modern manufacturing challenges have shifted from material scarcity to production placement, requiring regional resilience and total landed cost analysis over simple labor arbitrage.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Associated Metal Forming Technologies, Associated Spring, Barnes Group, Winkelman, Heinz Hagn, Skoda, Gorilla 76, GM

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