<p>This episode of U.S. Manufacturing Today features Derik Ellis and Molly Lenty of Vessel, a platform designed to help manufacturers and the experts who serve them turn operational data into insight by unifying shop-floor systems with business outcomes through smart assessments and supply chain intelligence. Molly shares her transition from 25 years in corporate banking and economic development to helping manufacturers access resources, while Derik describes his path from the Air Force and software entrepreneurship to founding Vessel in 2018 as a consulting firm that evolved into a technology platform. They discuss recurring challenges in small and mid-sized manufacturing, including limited access to resources, trust-building with consultants, misaligned stakeholders, and the need for disciplined, organization-wide diagnosis before action (e.g., ERP adoption). Vessel supports MEPs and consultants with a library of 300+ customizable assessments, multi-stakeholder alignment, longitudinal tracking, actionable reports, and aggregated ecosystem visibility to inform workforce and regional strategy.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Timestamps</strong></p><p><br></p><p>00:00 Show Introduction</p><p>01:24 Meet Molly Lenty</p><p>03:16 Derik Ellis Origin Story</p><p>05:20 Recurring SME Challenges</p><p>06:30 Access And Resource Networks</p><p>09:02 What Vessel Does</p><p>10:07 MEPs And Standardized Assessments</p><p>15:29 Why Consulting Often Fails</p><p>17:53 Diagnosis Before Action</p><p>21:29 Assessment Library And Custom Builds</p><p>23:31 Multi Stakeholder Alignment</p><p>26:23 Delivering Actionable Reports</p><p>31:34 AI As Expert Augmentation</p><p>33:05 Ecosystem Level Visibility</p><p>35:51 Workforce And Policy Gaps</p><p>38:06 Future Vision To 2030</p><p>42:09 Where To Learn More</p><p>42:42 Closing And Subscribe</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Links</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.vesselscale.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Vessel</a></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mlenty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Molly on LinkedIn</a></p><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/derikellis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Derik on LinkedIn</a></p><p><a href="https://sustainment.com/">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a><a href="https://www.veryableops.com/navigating-trump-2-0">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Navigating Trump 2.0 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p><a href="https://www.veryableops.com">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Revitalizing US Manufacturing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p><a href="https://company.veryableops.com/create-profile">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign Up on the Veryable Platform ⁠⁠</a></p>