PODCAST · technology
Manufacturing Hub
by Vlad Romanov & Dave Griffith
We bring you manufacturing news, insights, discuss opportunities, and cutting edge technologies. Our goal is to inform, educate, and inspire leaders and workers in manufacturing, automation, and related fields.
Episodes
-
Ep. 277 - Inside the Siemens Pop Up Factory: How a Modular CPG Plant Runs Half Real and Half Virtual
The Siemens pop up factory is a modular CPG plant where virtual PLCs, real controllers, and a live digital twin run small batches side by side. Most factories are built for long runs of the same product. Davide Picciotto explains why that model is being stretched. COVID supply chain shocks pushed...
-
Ep. 274 - David Schultz on ISA 95, Knowledge Graphs, and Building a Data Model for AI
There is no pyramid anywhere in the ISA 95 standard. David Schultz explains what is actually inside it and how to turn it into a working data model. Most engineers meet ISA 95 as a layered triangle on LinkedIn and never get past it. David Schultz of Amárach StackWorks takes that image apart. The...
-
Ep. 273 - How to Build a Systems Integration Company: Positioning, Money and Procurement
Most conversations about starting a systems integrator skip the parts that sink people. Dave and Vlad spend this one on insurance, licenses and procurement. After a month of founder interviews, Dave and Vlad close the series with their own experience. Vlad started at plant level with Procter and...
-
Ep. 272 - Systems Integration Careers: OEM, Distributor, Machine Builder and Business Owner
Most people ask how to start a systems integrator. Rich Kuechenmeister has effectively built one five times, and the lesson is that the parent business decides what you become. Rich is owner and partner at Fishbone Technical Services. Before that he built automation groups inside a semiconductor...
-
Ep. 271 - Growing an Oil and Gas Plus Mining Systems Integrator in Alberta with JPI Solutions
Oil and gas automation runs on royalty accounting as much as process control. Dustin Symes explains how that shapes every SCADA decision JPI Solutions makes. Canadian oil and gas is structured differently than most assume. In the US mineral rights usually sit with individuals, so custody transfer...
-
Ep. 270 - How to Start a Systems Integrator: Scope, Hiring, and the Bottleneck That Is You
Most people who start a systems integrator expect to keep doing the engineering. Dylan DuFresne explains why that stops being true inside two years. Ask ten people what a systems integrator is and you get ten answers, so Dylan DuFresne starts from first principles: a third party that connects...
-
Ep. 269 - Siemens Xcelerator Marketplace: Digital Transformation SMB Manufacturers Can Afford
Siemens says a small manufacturer can start production optimization for $2,000 a year. Martin Valkysers and Flemming Kongsberg explain what that buys you. Most digital transformation advice assumes a budget and an engineering bench most plants do not have. Flemming Kongsberg, who runs the SMB…
more -
Ep. 268 - David Nichols of Loupe on Claude Code, AI Retrofits, and the End of the SI Moat
David Nichols of Loupe explains what actually changed in automation engineering this year, and why control retrofits just got far cheaper. Nearly twenty years into building high performance controls, David Nichols is blunt about what AI did to his business: what used to take six weeks now takes...
-
Ep. 267 - Ujjwal Kumar of Siemens on Deglobalization, Reshoring, and Adaptive Manufacturing
Deglobalization is rewriting where factories get built, and Ujjwal Kumar of Siemens explains what has to change on the plant floor before reshoring actually works. For thirty years the manufacturing playbook was labor arbitrage. Move high volume, low mix production to wherever disciplined labor…
more -
Ep. 266 - Automate 2026 Reality Check: AI, Virtual PLCs, Ignition, and Plant Modernization
After several weeks away from the podcast, Dave Griffith and Vladimir Romanov return to Manufacturing Hub to unpack their experiences at Automate 2026 and discuss what the event revealed about the current state of industrial automation. Automate showcased an enormous range of robotics, industrial...
-
Ep. 265 - Automate 2026 Survival Guide: Booths, Networking, and a Production Line Demo #scada #mes
Automate 2026 lands in Chicago next week, and Dave and Vlad break down how to work the show floor, where to network, and what to expect from their live booth demos. Automate is the largest automation trade show in North America, and a four day event rewards preparation. Dave and Vlad share…
more -
Ep. 264 - Why AI Loves Automation: Siemens on Digital Twins, Guardrails, and Orchestration
AI can finally write back to the plant floor, but only if you can trust it. Chris Stevens and Annemarie Breu of Siemens explain how orchestration makes that safe. Industrial AI has reached a turning point. Manufacturers can already collect data, contextualize it, and surface insights, but the...
-
Ep. 263 - Why Industrial Protocols Win on Business Not Technical Merit, with Horner Automation
Industrial network protocols decide whether a machine talks or stays silent. Chuck from Horner Automation breaks down how they win, fade, and converge. Chuck has spent 36 years at Horner Automation and lived through what the industry once called the fieldbus wars. Before Horner became known for…
more -
Ep. 262 - The Human Side of Manufacturing Change: Incentives, Pain Points, and Operator Buy In
Change management is the reason most manufacturing improvement projects quietly stall, even when the technical work is sound and the tools are right. Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith unpack their own change management war stories from across two decades in industrial automation. Vlad frames change...
-
Ep. 261 - Change Management in Manufacturing: Operators, Tribal Knowledge, and the Industrial Elder
Change management in manufacturing breaks down at the people layer, not the technology layer. This episode explains how engineering leaders actually drive adoption. Ronald Sherrod is a Staff Automation Engineer at Regeneron deploying a global event based architecture and Unified Namespace rollout...
-
Ep. 260 - Why Ignition Is Winning: Colby Clegg and Carl Gould on SCADA, Open Access, & Industrial AI
Inductive Automation cofounders Colby Clegg and Carl Gould go deep on the origins of Ignition, the road to 8.3, and what AI means for industrial automation. Vlad and Dave host Colby Clegg, CEO, and Carl Gould, CTO, of Inductive Automation together for the first time to trace the full arc of the...
-
Ep. 259 - Logan Terry of LSI on Change Management: The Soft Side of SCADA, MES, & ERP Projects
Change management decides whether your MES or digital transformation project lasts, or quietly gets shut off six months after go live. Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith sit down with Logan Terry, who leads digital transformation at LSI, to dig into change management as the deciding factor in any...
-
Ep. 258 - Hannover Messe Recap, the State of Industrial AI, and What Comes Next at Automate 2026
Industrial AI is moving past the chatbot phase. From the Hannover Messe show floor to system integration workflows, here's what end users actually want now. Vlad just returned from his first Hannover Messe, the largest industrial automation and manufacturing trade show in Europe. The takeaway…
more -
Ep. 256 - Why Machine Learning Still Outperforms LLMs for Manufacturing Process Control
Digital twins and machine learning are redefining batch optimization in manufacturing. Learn how centerlining models can catch quality issues in real time before they become irreversible. Concepts like digital twins, golden batch profiles, and statistical process control have long promised more...
-
Ep. 255 - From Virtual Design to Physical AI: Vention's Blueprint for Industrial Robotics
Physical AI is arriving on factory floors ahead of schedule, and Vention is already deploying it on applications four automation integrators failed to crack. François Giguère, CTO of Vention, draws a precise line between agentic AI and physical AI. Agentic systems process data and return data....
-
Ep. 254 - From Cost Center to Growth Engine: The AI Future of Manufacturing Maintenance
AI in manufacturing is no longer a strategy reserved for the boardroom. It is a tool for the technician on the plant floor, and the results are already showing up in real operations worldwide. Most digital transformation strategies in manufacturing are built for desk workers on the carpeted side…
more -
Ep. 253 - How Manufacturers Can Turn Plant Data into AI Powered Insights w/ Konstantin Eukodyne
Industrial AI is getting a lot of attention in manufacturing right now, but one of the biggest questions is still the most practical one. How do you turn plant data, process knowledge, and operational constraints into something that actually creates value? In this episode of Manufacturing Hub…
more -
Ep. 252 - Industrial AI in Manufacturing What Actually Works and What Does Not #industrialautomation
Manufacturing Hub is back with Episode 252, where co hosts Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith break down what an AI survival guide should actually look like for manufacturing and industrial automation professionals. This is not a hype conversation about replacing people with magic software. It is a...
-
Ep. 251 - Ignition 8.3 ProveIt How Inductive Automation Scales Multi Site Factories w/ MQTT and UNS
In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, Vlad and Dave sit down with Travis Cox and Kevin McCluskey from Inductive Automation to unpack what was actually proven at ProveIt and why it matters for teams trying to modernize plants without building a fragile mess of point to point integrations. If you...
-
Ep. 246 A - Factory of the Future Without the Hype: Siemens on Data Transparency, Orchestration, and Trust in AI
This episode wraps up our Technology Modernization theme with a Siemens perspective that feels very grounded in what factories are actually dealing with right now. Brian Albrecht and Louis Hughes from the Siemens XD team walk through what they are seeing in the field across brownfield and...
-
Ep. 246 - Building a Life Sciences Virtual Factory Enterprise C, MQTT, and UNS w/ Amy Williams
In this special ProveIt edition of Manufacturing Hub, Vlad Romanoff and Dave Griffith sit down with Amy Williams from Skellig Automation to unpack Enterprise C, a life sciences virtual factory built to look and feel like the reality inside many regulated facilities today. If you work around batch...
-
Ep. 245 - Modernizing Manufacturing | Data, OEE, Quality Analytics - Everyone Wants the Same Signals
In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith sit down with David for a practical, operator grounded conversation about industrial data, modernization, and what it actually takes to turn plant floor signals into business decisions. David has spent more than two decades in...
-
Ep. 244 - How Modern Plants Actually Bridge Legacy Automation and AI w/ Benson Hougland
In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith sit down with Benson Hougland from Opto 22 to get brutally practical about what is actually running on shop floors today, and what it takes to move from legacy automation to modern, data ready operations without breaking what...
-
Ep. 243 - From Legacy Systems to AI Readiness A Realistic Look at Manufacturing Modernization
Technology modernization in manufacturing is not a list of shiny tools. It is a sequencing problem. In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith break down why the executive vision for AI often collides with the reality of the plant floor, and what a practical path forward...
-
Ep. 242 - From Controls to MES Building Manufacturing Systems That Scale Without Breaking Operations
In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, hosts Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith welcome back Amos Purdy for a wide ranging conversation that connects plant floor reality with SCADA, MES, and the business decisions that actually fund modernization. Amos shares his path from early software and…
more -
Ep. 241 - Manufacturing in 2026 AI Reality Cybersecurity Data Careers and What Comes Next
Welcome to Manufacturing Hub and welcome to 2026. In this kickoff episode, Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith reset the table for the year and share what the show is really about: practical conversations with people who build, run, secure, and modernize manufacturing systems. If you are new here…
more -
Ep. 236 - How to Deliver Manufacturing Projects That Operations Actually Use
Handing over a project is one of the most underestimated and misunderstood phases in manufacturing and industrial automation. In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, Vlad and Dave sit down to break apart real stories from the field covering MES rollouts, line commissioning, SCADA and ignition...
-
Ep. 235 - How to Build and Run a Systems Integration Company in Manufacturing
This episode takes you inside the reality of becoming a systems integrator and growing a technical services business from the ground up. Vlad and Dave share their personal experiences launching and running integration companies, the lessons they learned as engineers moving into business…
more -
Ep. 234 - What Students Learn When They Build Ignition Projects in Seventy Two Hours
In this conversation recorded at the Ignition Community Conference, Vlad, Dave, and their guest David Grussenmeyer from Inductive Automation explore one of the most important and inspiring stories in the world of industrial automation education. David leads the Educational Engagement Program at...
-
Ep. 233 - From Controls to Full-Scale Robotics Integration How Bright IA Leads in Automation
In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, hosts Vladimir Romanov and Dave Griffith sit down with Davide (David) Pascucci, founder of Bright IA (https://brightiatx.com/), for an in-depth conversation about what it truly takes to build, grow, and succeed in the world of robotics integration and...
-
Ep. 232 - Future of Automation with Siemens: Industrial AI, Virtual PLCs, and Digital Twin Factories
At Automate 2025, Vlad and Dave take Manufacturing Hub inside the Siemens booth to explore how one of the world’s largest industrial technology companies is shaping the future of manufacturing. From the latest S7-1200 G2 PLC to industrial copilots powered by AI, digital twins that simulate entire...
-
Ep. 222 - Pick AI Pro with Kevin Wu | Faster Picking, Higher Reliability, Digital Twin and Vision AI
Modern robotic picking is moving beyond neat rows and perfect lighting conditions. In this Automate 2025 conversation, Vlad and Dave sit down with Kevin Wu from Siemens to explore how Simatic Robot Pick AI Pro is tackling the messy reality of warehouses and factories. They discuss how the new…
more -
Ep. 231 - Travis Cox on Ignition 8.3 | ICC 2025 Highlights and the Future of Industrial Software
ICC 2025 was a clear level up for the Ignition community. In this conversation Vlad and Dave share on the ground insights from a week of packed sessions, vendor showcases, and ProveIt demonstrations that brought working integrations to life. They unpack why the move to a larger venue created more...
-
Ep. 230 - AI in Manufacturing with Tom Hechtman of Sepasoft | Real ROI, MES on Ignition, Sepa IQ
Artificial intelligence is no longer just a buzzword in manufacturing. The pace of adoption has been incredible, yet the reality is far more complex than flashy headlines suggest. In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith welcome back Tom Hechtman, founder of Sepasoft…
more -
Ep. 228 - How to Start OT Cybersecurity ICS Security Fundamentals, Managed Switches Risk Management
In this episode of Manufacturing Hub Podcast, hosts Vladimir Romanov and Dave Griffith sit down with Gavin Dilworth to explore the evolving world of ICS and OT cybersecurity. This is a topic that impacts every sector of manufacturing and critical infrastructure, yet many organizations still...
-
Ep. 229 - Manufacturing Architecture Explained Every Engineer and Plant Manager Needs to Know Today
In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, Vlad and Dave take a deep dive into one of the most critical yet often overlooked aspects of modern manufacturing: network and systems architecture. Too often manufacturers focus on SCADA, MES, and control layers without recognizing that the architecture...
-
Ep. 223 - Inductive Automation Ignition 8.3 New Siemens Driver Kafka Event Streams Historian Kevin M
This week on Manufacturing Hub, Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith are joined by Kevin McClusky, Chief Technology Architect at Inductive Automation. Kevin shares his journey from computer engineering into the world of industrial automation, his early experiences as an HMI developer, and his…
more -
Ep. 216 - Redefining Manufacturing Resilience at Automate 2025 with Digital Twins and Copilot Tools
Welcome to our special coverage from Automate 2025, recorded directly at the Siemens booth. In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, hosts Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith sit down with Chris Stevens and Annemarie Breu from Siemens to explore the evolving landscape of manufacturing resilience, digital...
-
Ep. 221 - Manufacturing Intelligence: Data Collection, OEE, and Energy Monitoring Case Studies
In Episode 221 of Manufacturing Hub, hosts Vlad Romanov and Dave Griffith sit down without a guest to share valuable real-world lessons on data collection, manufacturing intelligence, and implementing solutions that deliver measurable ROI. This episode wraps up the month’s theme on manufacturing...
-
Ep. 220 - Data Foundations and Machine Context Protocol in Modern Manufacturing w/ Caleb Eastman
In Episode 220 of Manufacturing Hub, we welcome back Caleb Flanigan to explore one of the most critical yet least understood topics in the evolution of smart manufacturing: MTP (Module Type Package), MCP (Machine Context Protocol), and how they are becoming essential enablers of safe and scalable...
-
Ep. 218 - How Siemens Is Building the Next Generation of PLCs and Edge Control Systems w/ Bernd
In this episode of Automate 2025, we welcome Bernd Raithel from Siemens back to the show to discuss the evolution of industrial control systems and the future of manufacturing. As the Head of R&D for Siemens Factory Automation in the US, Bernd shares his unique perspective on bridging legacy PLCs...
-
Ep. 219 - Modernizing Industrial Historian for Scalable Manufacturing Data Architecture with Jeroen
Welcome to Episode 219 of Manufacturing Hub. In this episode, we dive into the evolution of industrial data infrastructure with Jeroen Coussement, Founder and CEO of Factry. Factry is building modern historian and MES software platforms that help manufacturers collect, contextualize, and act on...
-
Ep. 217 - Reshaping Manufacturing Data Strategy by Connecting Legacy Equipment to Modern Platforms
Data collection is no longer a back-office task. It is now the foundation of manufacturing intelligence. In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, we are joined by Brian Bribe, founder of Mach Controls, to explore the practical realities of modernizing data infrastructure inside manufacturing...
-
Ep. 215 - Robotics 2025: Fanuc, KUKA, & the Future of AI-Powered Automation Humanoids Cybersecurity
In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, we welcome back Pawel Krupa, founder of the Future Robotics YouTube channel, to dive deep into the rapidly evolving world of industrial robotics. With over a decade of hands-on experience integrating and programming systems from Fanuc, KUKA, and others, Pawel...
-
Ep. 214 - Robotics Rewired: Building Smarter Systems for Tomorrow's Factory
Welcome to another episode of Manufacturing Hub! In this week’s episode, we dive deep into the evolving world of robotics with returning guest Sean Dotson, now CEO of Elite Robotics. From building large-scale material handling systems to exploring the future of AI-driven robot programming, Sean...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
We bring you manufacturing news, insights, discuss opportunities, and cutting edge technologies. Our goal is to inform, educate, and inspire leaders and workers in manufacturing, automation, and related fields.
HOSTED BY
Vlad Romanov & Dave Griffith
CATEGORIES
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Manufacturing Hub have?
Manufacturing Hub currently has 258 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Manufacturing Hub about?
We bring you manufacturing news, insights, discuss opportunities, and cutting edge technologies. Our goal is to inform, educate, and inspire leaders and workers in manufacturing, automation, and related fields.
How often does Manufacturing Hub release new episodes?
Manufacturing Hub publishes regularly with 258 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Manufacturing Hub?
You can listen to Manufacturing Hub on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Manufacturing Hub?
Manufacturing Hub is created and hosted by Vlad Romanov & Dave Griffith.
URL copied to clipboard!