Behind the Ops

In this episode, hear from Peter Hartnett, Manufacturing Engineer at Protolabs focusing on injection molding and the last-mile delivery of custom orders. Peter discusses how he extended Protolabs digital thread to the packing and shipping part of the production, the paper-based tracking they replaced, the tools they tried, navigating change, and the effective solutions that stuck.

Peter talks about how Tulip has enabled them to gain real-time visibility, better align with processes, and uncover insights to improve operations and reduce scrap. Gio and Peter discuss problem-solving, limiting the distance between the people experiencing the problem and those solving the problem, and the importance of solutions that enable rapid iterations.

In the episode, we're joined by Jackson Weise, from SWIFT Components, a manufacturer of sound installation for automotive applications. Jackson is a computer science student and has been learning hands-on at SWIFT Components. There are a wide array of use cases at SWIFT that Tulip is solving for, and Jackson is going boots on the ground building and implementing solutions.

In the episode, we're joined by Eddie Carrillo, Senior Manufacturing at Bellwether Coffee. Eddie's rich and diverse experience has enabled for a unique perspective on the state of manufacturing at large. Previously, at PFF, Eddie took a consumer robotics product to production using Tulip as the backbone of the operations. And currently, Eddie is at Bellwether Coffee starting to scale production of coffee roasting solutions

In the episode, we hear from Mike Rousch, Manufacturing Engineer at TICO Tractors. As global demand for yard tractors dramatically increased, TICO had a need for controlled processes to maximize production and Mike’s ability to build solutions with digital systems enabled him to lead a growing team. As TICO’s need for more apps to error-proof frontline workflows and track production, Mike and the Manufacturing Engineering team are building solutions to ensure that quality standards are consistently met for TICO’s line of terminal tractors.

In this episode, Lorena Mayen, process engineer from International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) shares how, across 3 roles at IFF, she worked to help build solutions to streamline processes, audits and data collection. Through learning new technologies, Lorena became a point of reference for several builders at the IFF facility in Mexico, and is helping IFF scale their digital transformation by building solutions to use at sites across the globe.

In this episode, we hear from Dave Staehle, Manufacturing Change Manager at RBW, a LED lighting production company, on his journey from fine arts student to production manager. 

Dave talks about how he helped scale the lighting production company from “wild chaos” with out-of-sync systems and manual time studies and lead it on an Industry 4.0 journey. He shares the lessons he learned, why the frontline worker and streamlining their experience matters, and how design and wisdom from his fine arts background served him well in the end. 

Behind the ops will release episodes on a bi-weekly cadence, and we’ll be launching our first episode on October 11th. Enter your email in the form below to receive updates as we release new episodes.