Modernize or Close Your Doors (with Cole Studer) | ReForge 026

In this episode, Matthew Chang and Colin Russ talk with Cole Studer (CTO at Miltech Manufacturing and CEO at Mericron) about what it actually takes to modernize a rural American machine shop, and why the same person rebuilding that shop floor is also building Mericron, an American chipset meant to replace the Chinese one most of our automation quietly runs on.  If you care about manufacturing, automation, workforce, supply chain, and reshoring, this one is for you.    What we cover  Modernizing a job shop in rural western Kansas  Machinists as the real growth constraint  Paying city wages in a small town  ITAR compliance as an automation blocker  Building an American alternative to the ESP32    Chapters  00:00 Welcome and Episode Intro   01:08 Meet Cole and Miltech   06:00 Shop Capabilities and Big Machines   11:34 Scaling Up in Rural Kansas   20:28 Automation and ITAR Constraints   27:42 Mericron American ESP32 Mission    Hosts: Matthew Chang and Colin Russ   Guest: Cole Studer, CTO at Miltech Manufacturing and CEO at Mericron  Find Cole Studer:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/cole-studer-3323a5104/ | https://www.miltechmanufacturing.com/ | https://www.mericron.com/ | https://x.com/photoncmndr  Find Matthew Chang:  https://x.com/MatthewChang | https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewachang/  Find Colin Russ:  https://x.com/ThaaatColin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/  Find Chang Robotics:  https://changrobotics.ai | https://www.linkedin.com/company/changrobotics/  Seven Steps to Reindustrialize America: https://www.thereforgepodcast.com/7steps    Follow ReForge  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/ X: https://x.com/thereforgepod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/    Want to be a guest or partner?  If you're building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you.  Email: [email protected]  About ReForge  ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America.  This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing.  Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ.  Produced by Chang Robotics.