Episode 03: Adam Mashburn
Adam Mashburn is the Maintenance Supervisor at Makita Tools manufacturing plant in Buford, GA. Adam discuss his career path to Makita, including his time at Levi's and Snap-On Tools. Adam also shares some cool historical facts about his family.
Interview with Adam Mashburn, Maintenance Supervisor, Makita Tools
Episode 4: Show Notes
Have you ever wondered if Makita Tools uses Makita tools to make Makita tools? Well, today’s guest has the answer! In this episode, we are joined by Adam Mashburn, Second Shift Maintenance Supervisor at Makita Tools. Adam shares the touching story of how repairing sewing machines with his dad sparked his passion for manufacturing and led him into the world of engineering technology and his current role at Makita Tools. He explains some of the biggest challenges he has faced in his role, some of the lessons he’s learned from it, and shares his advice for anybody wanting to pursue a similar career. Adam also sheds light on the company structure at Makita Tools, what his day-to-day activities typically entail, and how the company’s preventative maintenance schedules work, as well as the safety programs and protocols that they have in place and how they are expanding into two new buildings to make room for growth. For an insightful look into the inner workings of Makita Tools, tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
An introduction to Adam Mashburn and how he discovered his passion for manufacturing.
How he came to work for Makita Tools and what his role entails.
The best resources that have helped Adam along his journey.
Some of the biggest challenges that he has faced in his role at Makita.
Adam’s advice to somebody who wants to pursue a similar career.
Insight into the company structure and use of temporary employees at Makita Tools.
Some of the biggest lessons that Adam has learned over his career.
How communication is often the most challenging problem in any role in manufacturing.
The key elements to running a smooth operation.
Insight into Adam’s family’s fascinating genealogy.
Some of his typical day-to-day activities and how the overall process works.
Insight into Makita’s preventative maintenance schedules and the tech they use to keep track.
Get a glimpse into the catalog of tools that they manufacture at Makita Tools.
Some of the safety programs and protocols that Makita has in place.
Learn about the tools that they use and how they use Makita tools to make Makita tools.
Some of Makita’s energy efficiency initiatives.
Adam debunks the myth that maintenance people are lazy.
Why Makita is building two new buildings to make room for growth.
What Adam would choose if he could have one thing automatically approved in 2022’s budget.
How Makita has been affected by supply chain issues.
How Adam uses a Makita drill on a daily basis.
Tweetables:
“I would encourage getting a trade. Go for machining or electrical. I think electrical is a really big thing to go for these days. If you can get some kind of education on electrical, that will take you a long ways.” — Adam Mashburn [0:08:37]
“Be patient. Don’t let your frustrations overtake you. If you get frustrated, it puts blinders on you and you can’t look at the big picture and it makes it a lot harder to find the source of the problem.” — Adam Mashburn [0:09:26]
“I feel like one of the biggest challenges [was] communication. I feel like communication is always the most challenging problem in every role in manufacturing that I’ve ever had.” — Adam Mashburn [0:10:02]
“A lot of people say that maintenance people are lazy and they don’t do a whole lot, and I can assure you that is definitely not the case!” — Adam Mashburn [0:25:43]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Engineering Technology at Western Carolina University
The Industrial Movement on Facebook
The Industrial Movement on Twitter
The Industrial Movement on LinkedIn
Episode 02: Nathan Brooks
Nathan Brooks, the Controls Engineer with Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant in Vance, AL. Nathan shares with us his career path and some leading edge technology that Mercedes-Benz leverages to maintain their competitive advantage over their competition.
Interview with Controls Engineer at Mercedes-Benz
Episode 3: Show Notes
As cars continue to evolve, so too must the manufacturing processes and assembly lines that produce them. Nathan Brooks is a Control Engineer for Mercedes Benz, and is therefore in the position of designing some of the world’s most state-of-the-art systems for automobile manufacturing. Nathan joins us on the show to speak about how he got to where he is as well as share a few of the exciting problems and technologies he works with daily. We kick things off by hearing about Nathan’s early days as an electrician’s apprentice in Michigan and how it introduced him to debugging industrial electronics. Making the transition into software was the natural next step for him and we hear about how he worked in this capacity by building and installing assembly lines in the automotive industry. We fast forward to Nathan’s position at Mercedes and get an inside glance into the high-end technologies he is currently designing. He talks about a new assembly line model and a system for tracking errors he designed, and shares many of the other fascinating problems on the forefront of technology he gets to solve. We speak about the move toward Manufacturing 4.0 and Nathan stresses the central role that big data and machine learning will play in this journey. So for all this and a lot more in this great conversation about cutting-edge technology with Nathan, tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
Nathan’s experience as an electrician’s apprentice debugging and rewiring old machines.
The early exposure Nathan got to industrial electronics and how he moved into automotive software.
How Nathan built and installed assembly lines for different engineering companies.
The processes around adjusting assembly lines and how walls and relays work.
What the work Nathan does for Mercedes involves: supervising the control room operators.
A new manufacturing line system Nathan designed that uses two of everything.
The influence of Mercedes Benz on high-end manufacturing and how they are at the forefront.
The day-to-day challenges of a Control Engineer in an automated manufacturing facility.
A full-stack application Nathan designed to track and isolate faults in the assembly lines.
Nathan’s perspectives on training versus learning on the job through trial and error.
Advice from Nathan for manufacturers about the importance of capturing data.
How Nathan sees himself as primarily a problem solver and why he loves it so much.
The AI that Nathan is helping Mercedes build and what the future holds.
Thoughts on future technologies like flying cars and how to power them efficiently.
Cool new features in the Mercedes workshops like AGVs and the possibilities they offer.
The relationship between the American and German Mercedes groups.
Which piece of equipment Nathan would get if he could have anything approved in his budget.
Why predictive analytics is everybody’s top priority in the move toward manufacturing 4.0.
Tweetables:
“Right now, I'm responsible for the controls room.” — Nathan Brooks [0:07:48]
“We are going to be all-electric by 2030. Which is interesting because Daimler Mercedes invented the combustion engine.” — Nathan Brooks [0:11:35]
“Those kinds of problems happen pretty typically. The technology changes or the requirement changes and it becomes more complex and we have to create a solution to facilitate or accommodate that.” — Nathan Brooks [0:14:55]
“I always want to follow the problems. If there is a problem I want to be there to solve it. I’m not the guy that is going to be turning a lot of screwdrivers. I’m the guy that is going to be solving problems that don’t already have answers. That’s where my niche is.” — Nathan Brooks [0:21:15]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
The Industrial Movement on Twitter
The Industrial Movement on Facebook
Episode 01: Al Adkins
Al Adkins is the Operations Manager at Norcross Tag Company in Jefferson, GA.
Interview with Operations/Production Manager of Norcross Tag Company
Episode 1: Show Notes
Welcome to the first episode of The Industrial Movement podcast, where we discuss the people, processes, and equipment that drives American manufacturing! Today we are proud to invite Al Adkins from Norcross Tag Company to talk about the history of the business and his experience of the company as the Operations and Production Manager. Norcross is a family-owned business that is keeping it old-school in the truest sense. Much of our discussion is spent learning about the time-tested processes used at Norcross and their place as a smaller player who is still holding their own within the tag industry as a whole. We kick things off by hearing about how Norcross began in the basement of a Church in Doraville in 1965 soon after Al’s parents met and fell in love. Al takes us through the deals his father cut to get the business off the ground, and how the family got more involved as things took off. We talk about the presses that are used at Norcross, and what goes into their operation and maintenance. Our conversation also covers the use of tags within manufacturing and beyond, how the tags themselves are created at Norcross, and what the future of the tag industry holds. Along the way, Al tells many charming anecdotes about the wholesome connection his family has to the business. So, be sure to join us for a conversation that is both heartwarming and enlightening!
Key Points From This Episode:
The story of how Al’s parents met and how this led to the founding of Norcross Tag Company.
How the Adkins family built their business and developed their processes as the company grew.
Dealing with haggling customers and surviving while other tag companies get bought up.
The many hats that Al wears in the business and what a typical day at Norcross looks like.
How inconsistent the print industry is and has always been.
The use of manifold tags for tracking processes with different stages.
A description of the order sizes Norcross handles and what constitutes a big or small one.
The old-school and time-tested administration and manufacturing processes at Norcross.
How the presses that Norcross uses work and the different companies that manufacture them.
The individualistic nature of each press and the respect Al has for his operators.
What an ideal press operator should look like and how Al just acquired a rocket scientist.
The wide range of uses that tags used to have and how things have changed.
Al’s thoughts on the future of the tag industry and how it relies on the survival of manufacturing.
The effects of COVID on the tag business and how material costs are rising.
Advice from Al about what it takes to be a manager and entrepreneur in manufacturing.
How listeners can get in touch with Al and learn more about Norcross.
Tweetables:
“My first job there was cutting paper and moving boxes and it’s still doing all of the above plus everything else from cleaning the toilet to cutting the grass. Matter of fact, I got to go cut the grass this afternoon.” — Al Adkins [0:07:35]
“There is no day that is the same other than turning the lights on at the beginning and cutting them off at the end of the day. That is the only thing I would say is consistent about the printing industry.” — Al Adkins [0:14:26]
“We don’t do any automation. With the exception of having a computer printed out order everything is done exactly the same way we did it back in 1965.” — Al Adkins [0:19:39]
“As long as there is manufacturing in the country there will be a need for tags.” — Al Adkins [0:42:34]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Norcross Tag Company Phone Number — 706 367 4763