The Maintainers

Episode 1

Welcome to the very first episode of The Maintainers: A Blue Cap Community Podcast, Hosted by David Lee, Enterprise Account Director at Tractian, and Jake Hall, The Manufacturing Millennial. Joining Jake & David for Episode 01 is Longchi Foma, General Manager at Kalera, the global leader in vertical community farms.

The trio cover a wide range of topics including: What maintenance technology Kalera implements in their day to day, how organizations can do a better job of implementing innovative solutions with aging populations, and advice for veterans looking to break into the industry. Longchi shares data about the impact unplanned downtime can have on operations at Kalera given the amount of precise parameters their equipment needs to operate within.

Additionally, hear all the ways Kalera is looking to shape the future of farming through their vertical hydroponic systems. With vertical farming techniques; farmers can use 98 percent less water and 99 percent less land. They can produce crop yields of 240 times that of traditional farms through year-round rolling or perpetual harvest.

28. listen

Episode 2

On this week's episode of The Maintainers: A Blue Cap Community Podcast, hosts Jake & David are joined by an outstanding guest, Anna Goodman. Anna is the Senior Mechanical Reliability Engineer at Celanese, a global chemical leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Anna is bringing in her extensive and diverse manufacturing background to the conversation today.

Some topics that are covered in this episode include: What differences exist between various manufacturing industries, why leadership should be taking a top-down approach towards their predictive maintenance efforts, and how the tides might slowly be shifting to close the gender gap in the industry. Anna also stresses the importance of mentorship in fostering early career development, and the ways in which she works with professional organizations to do her part.

Additionally, David & Jake poke around the subject of AI, and where the industry might be headed as it is further integrated into the work done everyday. Hear Anna give her thoughts on how she views the future potential available, and if it will be fully replacing humans or working together to enable more intellectual work.

33. listen

Episode 3

Welcome to another episode of The Maintainers: A Blue Cap Community Podcast. Today Jake & David are sitting down with Russel Tatro, Maintenance Supervisor at Cadence Inc. Cadence Inc. is a leading full-service contract manufacturer of medical and drug delivery devices that employs over 700 people worldwide and has additional locations in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Costa Rica. Having been with Cadence Inc. for over a year, Russel offers great insights as he navigates his teams through evolving technical innovations, particularly in relation to maintenance monitoring.

As more software and hardware advances are being made in the manufacturing and maintenance spaces, many people are left wondering how well implementation can be, especially amongst an aging workforce. Russel shares what he looks for in modern software, what strategies he employs to ensure there is buy-in from his team members, and where he thinks there opportunities exist when looking towards the future.

David & Jake also explore Russel’s almost decade experience with Electric Boat, who he credits for much of the leadership expertise he has today. You’ll hear Russel tell an old story about what happened when he forgot to bring the one fitting he needed for a routine check from the Navy. Let that be a lesson for you!

31. listen

Episode 4

On this week’s episode of The Maintainers, join David & Jake as they have the pleasure of speaking with Nikki Gonzales, the Head of Partnerships at Quotebeam and Co-Host of the podcast, Automation Ladies. Quotebeam is a collaborative digital procurement platform for industrial automation and electrical components, partnering with industrial automation distributors and their customers to connect them with the parts they need.

Nikki brings a slightly different perspective to the show, having always been primarily on the business side of operations, citing her long passion for wanting to match problems with solutions at a high level. And, while she might not be running production lines, she still has a keen interest in predictive maintenance as she shares how her father’s business is aimed at providing key monitoring for grocery refrigerators and freezers.

David & Jake also find out more about the podcast Nikki co-hosts, Automation Ladies. Starting in 2022, Nikki and her Co-Host, Ali G, wanted to provide other women in the industry with content that resonated with them. In an industry that lacks gender parity, one of Nikki’s goals is to empower other women who might be struggling as they start their careers.

40. listen