Scaling production
Manufacturing & supply chain
2,293 episodes across 50 shows cover scaling production. The shows that cover it most are How I Built This, EMS@C-LEVEL and The Robot Report Podcast. The most recent, from 13 Oct 2026, is “When Production Overtakes Prototyping: Materialise’s Next Phase of AM” from Additive Snack.
Going from small batches to volume, in-house production and assembly, capacity, production planning and the growing pains of scale.
2293 episodes from 50 shows, most relevant and most recent first.
2293 episodes
#251 - Scaling the Brand: Ops, Systems, and Simplicity with Mezcla and Doss
Yoga Charya, President and COO of Mezcla, and Sebastiaan Debrouwe from Doss discuss how Mezcla scaled from a specialty retail niche to national distribution in Target, Whole Foods, and Costco. Charya explains their operational philosophy…
BONUS: The Future of Intralogistics featuring Siemens' Joel Thomas and Markus Thiel
Joel Thomas and Markus Thiel from Siemens Intralogistics discuss the evolution of warehouse operations from manual handling to digital-first design, driven by e-commerce growth and labor shortages. They explain how Siemens uses its own…
When Production Overtakes Prototyping: Materialise’s Next Phase of AM
Bart van der Schuren, CTO of Materialise, explains how the company transitioned from a 1995 service bureau to a production powerhouse, recently surpassing prototyping with serial manufacturing. He details the three pillars of…
Inside GM's Additive Industrialization Center with Ante Lausic
Ante Lausic, Lead Process Engineer at General Motors' Additive Industrialization Center (AIC), explains that scaling additive manufacturing (AM) in automotive requires AM-native designs, automotive-grade materials, and cost-effective…
Advice Line: Scaling Strategies
Guy Raz hosts a special Advice Line episode with former guests Travis Boersma of Dutch Bros. Coffee, Michael Preysman of Everlane, and Chris Ruder of Spikeball to answer scaling questions from three callers. Andy Atkins of Bad Luck Burger…
Getting Out of Break-Fix Mode: Using Maintenance Data for Better Manufacturing Decisions w/ Paul Ross
Paul Ross, CMO of Limble, discusses findings from Limble’s 2026 Maintenance Benchmark Report, revealing that 72-78% of manufacturers remain in a reactive 'break-fix' mode due to poor data quality. He explains that only 20% of organizations…
AM at a Crossroads: Incodema3D Proves What's Possible at Scale
Sean Whittaker, founder and CEO of Incodema3D, explains how the company evolved from a sheet metal prototyping shop into one of North America's largest metal additive manufacturing operations, now scaling to over 50 Laser Powder Bed Fusion…
282: Inside a Warehouse Automation Project: How Sumitomo Drive Technologies Is Transforming Logistics and Reshoring Operations
Tony Barlett, COO, and Shawn Lambert, Operations Project Manager, from Sumitomo Drive Technologies, detail their ongoing warehouse automation project at their Chesapeake, Virginia headquarters. The initiative replaces 30,000 square feet of…
The 20-Hour Machine: Automation, Throughput & Smarter Capacity Planning, Ep #42
Mike Padilla, founder of Hill Manufacturing, and Nick Golner of Making Chips discuss how Hill is using automation and strategic capital expenditure planning to scale capacity without simply adding headcount. They detail the concept of the…
S3 E9 Scaling Mission-Critical Hardware: Ops Lessons from Space & Fusion with Darby Dunn
Darby Dunn, Vice President of Advanced Manufacturing at Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) and former SpaceX leader, discusses scaling mission-critical hardware operations. She details the design and manufacturing of superconducting magnets…
The Industrial Robotics Race: Why the US Is Falling Behind China w/ Rishabh Agarwal
Rishabh Agarwal, Co-Founder and CEO of Peer Robotics, explains why US small and medium-sized manufacturers lag behind China in industrial robot deployment, citing the mismatch between existing 'brownfield' facilities and 'greenfield'…
From ROI to Reality — Measuring Success After You Automate, Ep #32
Hosts David Buick and Eric Nekich discuss how machine shop owners can validate the performance of automation systems post-implementation, focusing on measuring ROI through specific KPIs rather than just labor savings. They emphasize…
Beyond the Printer: Automation’s Role in the Next Generation of AM
Oliver Elbert, Head of Additive Manufacturing at Grenzebach, discusses how the company is applying its decades of industrial automation expertise to scale additive manufacturing (AM). He explains that while AM technology has matured…
How to Calculate Automation ROI — The Right Way, Ep #31
Hosts David Buick and Eric Neckic explain how to calculate automation ROI for machine shops using simple and expanded formulas, emphasizing the need for baseline data like spindle utilization and setup times. They walk through a specific…
EP 185: AMD Advancing AI, Intel Earnings and WFE Demand
Hosts Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg analyze AMD's Advancing AI Day, focusing on CEO Lisa Su's Helios rack-scale architecture, the strategic partnership with Anthropic, and the competitive dynamics against Nvidia in inference workloads. They…
The gas turbine crunch
Anthony Brough, president of Dora Partners, explains the current bottleneck in the gas turbine market, where lead times have stretched to 36-48 months and costs have risen 30-35% due to supply chain constraints shared with the aerospace…
Insights Behind Kinisi’s Acquisition by Bear Robotics
Bren Pierce, founder and CEO of Kinisi, discusses his company's acquisition by Bear Robotics, explaining that the deal combines Kinisi’s humanoid robotics expertise and datasets with Bear’s mature fleet-management, cloud, and manufacturing…
ERCOT batteries: boom, bust, or rebound?
Shayle Kann interviews Brandt Vermillion, U.S. market lead at Modo Energy, about the Texas (ERCOT) grid-scale battery market, which has grown from 200 megawatts to 17 gigawatts, causing revenue to plummet by 84% due to ancillary service…
Why AM and Orthotics & Prosthetics are the Perfect Fit
Brent Wright, VP at EastPoint Prosthetics and co-founder of Life Enabled, explains how additive manufacturing is transforming orthotics and prosthetics (O&P) by replacing hazardous, non-digital traditional workflows with scalable…
11 Climate Hardware Companies Saving Our Planet in 2025
Host Dylan Garrett reviews 11 climate hardware companies scaling their solutions, featuring Alan Adams of Aquatic Labs on ocean carbon measurement, Scott of Focused Energy on nuclear fusion, and Luke of Make Sunsets on solar radiation…
AI scaling pathways: on grid, on edge, off grid, off planet
Jake Elder, Senior Vice President of Research and Innovation at Energy Impact Partners, joins host Shayle Kann to evaluate four pathways for scaling AI compute infrastructure: grid-connected, edge, off-grid, and orbital. They analyze the…
Planning For a New Manufacturing Facility w/ Pat Reilly
Pat Reilly, an industrial real estate broker at JLL, explains the complex process of planning and executing a manufacturing facility relocation or expansion. He details the typical 6-to-12-month timeline, emphasizing that manufacturing…
From Fixed to Mixed: Mindset Shifts That Power Lights-Out Manufacturing, Ep #24
Hosts Nick Goellner, Eric Nekich, and Dave Vuyk discuss the mindset shifts required to transition machine shops from fixed, operator-dependent processes to mixed, automated workflows. They highlight the ROI of modular workholding and…
Founder Fundraising Journey: Frozen One, Alan Chen & Conner Mennig
Alan Chen and Conner Mennig, co-founders of Frozen One, detail their journey from prototyping with a Ninja Creami machine to securing $5.5 million in funding and expanding into 2,300 retail doors, including Target and Wegmans. They discuss…
Submarines, Supply Chains, & Skilled Labor: Inside the Navy’s Advanced Manufacturing Push
Chris Holshouser, Deputy Program Director of Maritime Systems at the Blue Forge Alliance, discusses the U.S. Navy’s 'One Plus Two' strategy to accelerate the production of Columbia and Virginia class submarines. He explains how the Navy is…
PayPal: Max Levchin (June 2022)
Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal, recounts his journey from a Soviet Ukraine immigrant to a Silicon Valley pioneer, detailing the creation of Confinity and its pivot to PayPal. He describes the strategic merger with Elon Musk’s X.com, the…
Inside the AI power wars
Jeremie Eliahou Ontiveros of SemiAnalysis explains that hyperscalers like Google, Amazon, and Meta are adopting divergent power strategies to address grid interconnection delays, with Google leading in sophistication and Meta pioneering…
Smarter Manufacturing in an Evolving Ecosystem w/ Chris Lupfer
Chris Lupfer, Director of Indirect Channels at Bosch Rexroth, discusses the critical shifts in manufacturing for 2025, emphasizing the move toward reshoring and the integration of automation to address labor shortages. He highlights the…
#016: From Startup to Global Brand: Scaling Engineering at reMarkable
Nico Comier, CTO of reMarkable, discusses scaling the company from a garage startup to a global brand, focusing on the development of the Paper Pro Move. He explains how customer feedback drove the decision to create a smaller, portable…
Why Electric Aviation Is Finally Becoming Possible | Anders Forslund
Anders Forslund, Co-founder and CEO of Heart Aerospace, explains how the company is developing the ES-30, a 30-passenger hybrid-electric regional aircraft, to decarbonize short-haul flights. He details the economic viability of the…
U.S. Navy's Captain Deichler on AM in the Submarine Industrial Base
Captain Jason Deichler, Chief of Staff for Submarine Programs at the U.S. Navy, explains the Navy's strategy to achieve a 'one plus two' production goal (one Columbia-class and two Virginia-class submarines annually) by rebuilding a…
The Automation Trap: Why Automating Chaos Won't Save You, Ep #18
Hosts Nick Golner and Caleb Mertz, joined by workholding expert Eric Nekich, analyze the first chapter of a fictional story about Gary, owner of IronClunk Machining, who attempts to automate his chaotic shop by copying Klaus of LeanStream…
Dimming the Lights: How to Build a Shop Ready for Automation, Ep #17
Hosts Nick Golner, Caleb Mertz, and David Buick launch the 'Automation Academy' series, arguing that machine shop automation is a survival necessity driven by labor shortages and global competition. Caleb Mertz, an automation integrator…
A blueprint for scalable fusion power
Carrie von Muench, COO of Pacific Fusion, explains the company's strategy for scalable inertial fusion power using modular, commodity-based drivers to achieve net facility gain by 2030. She details the technical distinction between the…
Building robots that survive the warehouse
Josh Cloer, General Manager for North America at No Magic, explains how the company applies 'physical AI' and vision-language-action (VLA) models to warehouse each-picking and recovery workflows. He emphasizes that No Magic’s competitive…
IoT Is Finally Delivering | The Things Industries' Wienke Giezeman | Internet of Things Podcast
Wienke Giezeman, CEO and co-founder of The Things Industries, explains how the IoT industry has moved past the 'hype cycle' to deliver tangible ROI through mature, scalable LoRaWAN infrastructure. He details why early deployments failed…
Ep. 10: The Scale-Readiness Gap in Robotics | The Robo Success Podcast
Chioma Aso, Founder and Principal Consultant at Polymavericks Engineering, explains the 'scale-readiness gap' in robotics, arguing that a working prototype is a false indicator of manufacturing repeatability. She details her five-pillar…
DeepDive Masterclass Summary Series: THE PRE-ASCENT PROTOCOL - A Summary of the 4-part series (30m40s)
Rob Carl, CEO of Global NPI Solvers, outlines his 'Pre-Ascent Protocol' for navigating the 'Brutal Middle' of New Product Introduction (NPI), using his experience guiding over 500 products and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro as a framework. He…
The rise of flexible data centers
Varun Sivaram, CEO of Emerald AI, discusses the emerging market for data center flexibility and his company's recent $25 million funding round led by Energy Impact Partners. He explains how shifting AI workloads and behind-the-meter…
Founder Fundraising Journey: Jesse Konig, CEO & Co-Founder of Jesse & Ben's
Jesse Konig, CEO and Co-Founder of Jesse & Ben's, details his fundraising journey from a friends-and-family SAFE round to an institutional process, explaining how velocity data and fanatical customers drove competitive FOMO that increased…
Mechanical Engineering at Oxide [chapter images]
Oxide mechanical engineers Doug Wibben, Brooks Willis, Elliott Donlon, and Ben Williams discuss scaling manufacturing for the Cosmo rack, focusing on simplifying sheet metal assembly by replacing PEM fasteners with extrude-and-tap features…
EP 140: NVIDIA's $300B chart, CAPEX to the MOON FOREVER!
Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg discuss the semiconductor industry's massive capital expenditure surge, focusing on NVIDIA's projected $300B revenue and the strategic shift of hyperscalers like Amazon and Google toward custom silicon…
Ep. 36 - Keeping Up With Orders
Stephen Hawes and Lucian Chapa of Opulo discuss the operational challenges of keeping up with orders for their open-source hardware products, specifically the Lumen and feeder systems. They detail their in-house manufacturing process…
You Can't Automate What You Can't Find: RTLS and the Data Foundation for Lights-Out | Ep. 47
Mitch Tucker of HID explains how Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) provide the data foundation necessary for lights-out manufacturing and Industry 5.0. He argues that shops must first standardize processes through Gemba walks and 5S before…
How to Prepare for a Manufacturing Facility Expansion w/ Alex Garland and Christopher Yows
Alex Garland and Christopher Yows from Burns & McDonnell discuss the strategic complexities of manufacturing facility expansions, emphasizing early master planning and stakeholder alignment. They cover site selection factors like labor…
MODEX 2026 Recap
Gene Demaitre of The Robot Report and Sarah Wynn of Packaging OEM recap MODEX 2026, highlighting the industry's shift toward multi-agent orchestration software and practical AI applications over standalone hardware. They discuss Skild AI's…
Ep. 34 - Managing a Print Farm
Steven Oz and Lucian Cha Park of Opulo discuss managing their 3D printing farm, which produces plastic parts for their Lumen PNP machine. They detail the transition from Prusa Mini printers to a fleet of Bambu Lab P1P units, emphasizing…
Ep. 46 - Deciding What to Work on Next
Steven Hawes and Lucy Che Park of Opulo discuss their framework for prioritizing product development, emphasizing that customer interviews and community feedback are the primary inputs for deciding what to build next. They detail how they…
2026 trends: Gas turbines, Texas’ load queue and China electrifies
Nat Bullard, co-founder of Halcyon, joins host Shayle Kann to analyze data from his 2026 annual energy presentation, highlighting China’s rapid electrification and its strategic drive for energy sovereignty. Bullard details a severe supply…
Printing Batteries, how AM is changing Battery Manufacturing and Performance
Karl Littau, CTO of Sakuu, explains how the company is disrupting the stagnant battery manufacturing industry by replacing wet, solvent-based slurry coating with dry powder-bed additive processes. Littau details how this shift eliminates…