Voice of the Essential Manufacturing Worker: A Roundtable with Marc Weinmann of VEM Tooling and Arturo Buzzalino of Epicor (Chapter 1)

In this special episode of Manufacturing the Future podcast, Kerrie hosts a roundtable discussion about Epicor's second-annual Voice of Essential Manufacturing Workers report. 

Together with Marc Weinmann, owner of VEM Tooling and Arturo Buzzalino Vice President of Products, Innovation, and Design at Epicor, Kerrie explores the day-to-day work, upskilling and new skill sets, technology and modernization in the workplace, and the outlook on manufacturing work to gain a deeper understanding of those who make our industry thrive. 

This episode will be broken up into three chapters that will feature the key topics of the discussion. In today's chapter, Kerrie, Marc, and Arturo dive into what their workers’ day-to-day experience looks like and how Marc and Arturo see the outlook of manufacturing. 

 

Chapter 1: A Worker’s Day-to-Day and the Outlook of Manufacturing

• The day-to-day work experiences of manufacturing workers, including creating healthy work environments and culture.
• The outlook of manufacturing according to Marc and Arturo: the need to embrace change and the importance of leaning into the company’s culture rather than technology.

Chapter 2: The Impact of Tech and AI on Communication & Upskilling

• How manufacturing companies have incorporated technology such as AI into their communications with their employees.
• The challenges of prioritizing upskilling when a company already has a lot on their plate but also the industry is demanding an ever-expanding skill set.

Chapter 3: Modernization and Technology

• The role of technology and modernization such as climate awareness in changing the work landscape for manufacturing workers. 
• Importance of following new technologies like AI and cloud for future readiness: even if a company isn’t ready to adopt a new technology, it’s smart to keep up with new developments.