U.S. Manufacturing Today

In this episode of U.S. Manufacturing Today (powered by Veryable), host Matt Horine talks with Andy Jenks, co-founder and CEO of Jakib, about the overlooked software layer behind reshoring and its role in helping American manufacturers scale. Jenks traces his path from Alexa Internet and building Amazon’s first recommendation engine to Drive Capital in Columbus, where a 2021 demo of an early large language model changed how he saw AI. He explains the “diffusion gap”: buying AI licenses isn’t the same as putting AI to work, and real adoption usually starts with basic engineering that gets disconnected systems talking to each other. His view is that AI has started a build-software revolution, not a buy-software one. Jenks describes how Jakib embeds engineers to shadow employees, ships production software within weeks, and then hands it off while helping clients hire their own teams. Examples include a 3PL that grew revenue without adding headcount, a U.S. wireless module maker working to bring critical design work back from China, and AI-enabled walkie-talkies on a factory floor where phones are banned. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome to the Podcast 00:42 Software Behind Reshoring 01:51 Andy Jenks Origin Story 04:31 Seeing AI Early 09:57 The Diffusion Gap 13:51 Build Not Buy 17:52 Jakib Accidental Start 20:54 Abundance Over Cost Cuts 23:44 Deployed Engineers Playbook 28:01 Reshoring Chip Modules 33:06 Factory Floor AI Example 35:39 Monday Morning Plan 38:11 Wrap Up and Resources Links Andy on LinkedIn Jakib.AI Matt on LinkedIn Revitalizing US Manufacturing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign Up on the Veryable Platform

In this episode of U.S. Manufacturing Today (powered by Veryable), host Matt Horine speaks with Josh Long, founder of Bottleneck Breakthrough, about why sales is often the growth constraint in fulfillment-driven manufacturers. Long argues roughly 84% of companies place the wrong person in sales seats and that most failed sales hires stem from behavioral fit rather than a lack of sales skills. He contrasts sales-driven versus fulfillment-driven firms, explains why operations-minded owners struggle to manage sales personalities, and outlines a sales hierarchy of customer support plus (order takers), farmers, hunters, and closers, noting many teams were built for the easier 2013–2022 bull market and have struggled since late 2022. He shares a radiator manufacturer case where replacing a hesitant rep dramatically increased revenue, discusses pairing hunters with support staff and incentive-heavy comp plans, and describes using innermetrix-based assessments and a “sales team MRI” to evaluate fit, seat value, and revenue drag. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and Sponsor Intro 00:41 Sales Hiring Problem 01:53 Josh Long Origin Story 03:34 Sales vs Fulfillment Companies 05:41 Ops vs Sales Tension 08:48 Sales Rep Hierarchy 12:42 Why Miscasts Persist 14:49 Entropy Radiator Case Study 17:39 Post 2022 Slowdown Shift 20:26 Hunters Support and Comp 24:27 Interviewing and Assessments 27:59 Sales Team MRI Insights 29:54 Scaling to Bigger Teams 30:57 30 Day Evaluation Plan 33:24 Resources and Wrap Up 34:04 Final Outro and Subscribe Links Josh on LinkedIn Bottleneck Breakthrough Matt on LinkedIn Revitalizing US Manufacturing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign Up on the Veryable Platform

In this episode of U.S. Manufacturing Today (powered by Veryable), host Matt Horine speaks with David A. Craig, founder and CEO of ProdigyIQ Technologies, about closing the gap between AI identifying a problem and manufacturers taking corrective action. Drawing on his Army maintenance background and manufacturing experience, Craig explains why clear ownership, decision-making authority, cross-functional coordination, and verification are essential to turning AI alerts into resolved issues. They discuss leadership visibility and sign-off, along with Craig’s “reversible AI rollout” concept: planning how work continues when AI becomes unavailable or unreliable and verifying operational readiness before restoring it. Craig also outlines a practical 30-day approach to documenting, testing, and improving one AI-assisted workflow and shares the thinking behind his podcast, The Operating Code. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:51 Meet David Craig 01:40 Army Lessons on Accountability 02:50 Pandemic Launch Failures 04:59 Why AI Alerts Stall 07:29 Where AI Pilots Die 09:50 Defect Ownership Breakdown 13:10 Readiness Mindset Transfer 15:03 Leadership Visibility and Signoff 16:25 Reversible AI Rollouts 19:30 Hybrid Fallback Design 23:44 Building Prodigy IQ MVP 25:50 The Operating Code Framework 29:11 30 Day Execution Playbook 31:41 Where to Find David 33:23 Closing and Subscribe Links David on LinkedIn David’s Website ProdigyIQ Website Matt on LinkedIn Revitalizing US Manufacturing ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign Up on the Veryable Platform

In this episode of US Manufacturing Today (powered by Veryable), host Matt Horine explains the Army’s planned “manufacturing rodeo” to stress-test the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and Organic Industrial Base (OIB) supply chain to find where it breaks, noting most affected firms are small manufacturers. He defines the DIB and the Army’s OIB depots and describes the Army’s OIB transformation toward manufacturing, emphasizing both form one integrated supply chain. Horine outlines new federal tools and capital, including the Smaller War Plants Commission prioritizing 10 defense-critical NAICS codes and a priority processing for eligible 8(a) program applicants in those industries, plus a Pentagon Economic Defense Unit process to connect small manufacturers to SBA financing and potential equity investments. Matt also outlines a 30-day action plan to assess defense-market readiness, identify operational bottlenecks before demand surges, and build a flexible Labor Pool that can scale with production needs. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome to the Show 00:41 Army Supply Chain Stress Test 01:22 DIB vs OIB Explained 02:32 Manufacturing Rodeo Preview 03:20 Where Operations Break 03:48 New SBA and Pentagon Tools 05:31 Platforms and Support Resources 06:47 Your 30 Day Action Plan 07:33 Flexible Labor for Surges 08:18 Final Takeaways and Wrap Up Links Matt on LinkedIn Revitalizing US Manufacturing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign Up on the Veryable Platform

In this episode of US Manufacturing Today (powered by Veryable), Matt Horine speaks with critical-minerals investor and Mineral War author Tomasz Nadrowski about how manufacturers are entering an era of conflict in which security of supply overtakes lowest-cost sourcing. They discuss China’s dominance across many critical minerals, how export controls and selective restrictions can weaponize a monopoly, and why rebuilding Western midstream processing is difficult after decades of decline in US smelting and refining capacity. Tomasz explains the “car crash vs. cancer” analogy for slow-moving supply-chain dependence, highlights a byproduct pricing failure using gallium in the aluminum/bauxite supply chain, and warns against assuming suspensions of controls mean “problem solved.” He urges manufacturers to diversify away from PRC inputs, treat procurement strategically, and adopt AI on the factory floor for productivity and flexibility. Timestamps 00:00 Podcast Welcome 00:41 Critical Minerals Threat 01:07 Meet Tomasz 02:17 Conflict Changes Manufacturing 03:49 Ten Year Planning Window 05:33 Monopoly Versus Weapon 08:41 America Midstream Gap 11:21 Car Crash Versus Cancer 14:08 Scrolling Mineral Addiction 15:48 Byproduct Pricing Failure 18:34 Reprieve And January Deadline 22:04 Sourcing Map Playbook 24:02 Capex And Cold War Opportunity 26:31 Friendshoring In Americas 27:53 One Takeaway For Leaders 29:29 Book And Where To Follow 30:42 Final Wrap And Subscribe Links Tomasz on LinkedIn Mineral War on Amazon Revitalizing US Manufacturing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign Up on the Veryable Platform