156. Season 5 Recap

Chris: 

Welcome to the season five recap. What a season it has been. I don't know about everybody else, but I'm ready to say goodbye to summer. Welcome to the fall weather. And it was a great summer at EECO Asks Why. We had 23 episodes. 12 of those were ideas and 11 heroes that just kind of want to walk people through some of them.

Not everybody gets to listen to every episode and there may be some things you missed. You know, we started off with my buddy, Jonathan Fuller. We were talking about power terminology. That's a world Jonathan lives in does such a good job of explaining what some of these words mean that we run across when we run into these plants, because if you're new to industry, when somebody says inverter that means different things to different people. 

Then we had to talk to Mr. Greg Paulsen. He had a great story about how to extend your shop resources, using a solution that they've built Xometry and Greg's just a passionate guy from Virginia. We had a a lot in common and I enjoyed getting to meet him.

Then we had Ms. Ashleigh Walters and she did a great job. She wrote a book called Leading with Grit and Grace. And if you haven't read that book yet, I highly encourage you to get out there and read it right now. It talks about the story of Onex and what they've done to put the power back into the employees and the transformation that she's been able to make in the organization and the culture, it's unbelievable. So Ashleigh, thank you for coming on. I highly encourage the listeners to go check that out. 

Then we had Mr. Sandy D'Souza from Fiix Software and we were talking about CMMS and how many plants out there have a CMMS or could benefit from a CMMS. So it was a great conversation with Sandy. Got to really unpack and learn a lot about those types of solutions. 

Then we talked about safety and security from a, from an OTs network standpoint with Richie Fortenberry and Richie. He had a demo that I'll always remember. It talked about how vulnerable control systems can be. And he used the traffic light as a example. Wonderful conversation with Richie, just a phenomenal engineer, doing great things. 

Then I had my buddy, I've done a lot of work with Graham Staples in the past, and been able to go into the field with him and actually see him in action if you will. And he was talking about smart micro grids, love that technology and that conversation because it really opened my eyes. And I'm sure it opened your eyes on what exists out there from a smart microgrid standpoint. It's not just the industrials, it's hospitals and schools and just different areas that it has a really big impact, wonderful stuff there. 

Then we had Mr. Chase Boehlke back for EECO Asks Why listeners you know Chase. He was talking again about VFDs that's his passion, but he was really talking about how to select between a soft starter and a VFD, so good stuff there. Good fundamental type information there. 

Then we had Mayuri. She was phenomenal. She was on twice during the season. We had her talk about what does the MES system, as well as her hero conversation. The MES discussion is something we hadn't touched on EECO Asks Why. We haven't really talked about MES. We've talked about different platforms from an ERP standpoint, but the MES system was a brand new topic for us, and she brought so much wisdom and insight for the listeners on that. So go check that out, check out her hero, follow her on Instagram. I started following her. She travels all over. Does a great job of showing some different cultures and things like that. She's just a fun lady to be connected with. So check her out, go to her episodes, find ways to get connected with her. 

And then probably two of my favorite episodes of all time, Mary Bruce Clemens, her hero. And then her recent idea came out and it was around STEAM. And I really hadn't put that together in my mind yet, I've always heard of STEM, but the 'A' is the arts. She painted that picture, if you will, around STEAM and the power of it. Cannot wait for that one to get to so many people. That's one I'm personally want to put in front of my older daughters, and let them hear and understand the opportunities that exist with that type of technology and that approach, so good stuff there. 

And then we finalized our season of ideas with three great episodes from my buddy, Mike Rathbun. And we was talking about what do you do when you need to change a motor to a VFD from an across the line starter. And he talks about motor reliability 101 and that took me away back fun times there talking with Mike and the old motor reliability days. And then we wrapped up with what is an intelligent motor relay and you'll see a consistent theme with Mike, power distribution, and motor control. That's where he lives. He is an expert in those areas. We have so much fun talking with Mike about that stuff. We know that brings a lot of value to the listeners. So they were the ideas. 

And then we have all these hero conversations. We had Dan Carnovale, you guys remember Dan? He is leader of the Eaton Power System Experience Center. What a great story. He's doing some wonderful things up there in Pennsylvania. We have Mike Caccia, who used to work at EECO as a product manager share his story. 

We had Ray Tharpe who was out there changing the game in the wood industry. If you remember that three-way conversation we had with Ray and Vadim talking about the things that are changing in the wood industry. So Ray was able to share his personal story.

 Jonathan Meighan, what a powerful story, you know, from the plant manager at GE to the owner of Lake Erie Rubber. Just that shift and to be able to take that leap of faith and for what he's putting back in his community right now. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. 

Then we have an up and coming industry person, we had Aidan Benkowski, who has works for gener8tor connecting entrepreneurs. And just talking about the fun things he's doing. If you listen to that one, just listen to his energy and how excited he is to be out there supporting 

manufacturing. Then I had my old buddy, Victor Parangelo. He was on in a previous season talking about wireless technology, but he shared his story is his love of aviation. His love of technology. Wonderful conversation with Vic, just such a fun guy to be around. 

We had our first celebrity, last season, we talked to the Manufacturing Millennial, Mr. Jake Hall. What a great time working with Jake getting to hear his story, how he's built the manufacturing, millennial, what the purpose is, how it's impacting so many people out there, how he's connecting all these manufacturers out there to solutions that they never would've thought of before. So that was a great conversation with Jake.

Then we got to talk to Mr. Brian Garland at Magic Leap. He's a shop manager. And just a natural storyteller that loves so many stories he had across the country from the different roles. 

And then we had our first international guest and that guest when we talked to Nataliya it was unreal. So we got connected through Mr. Tim Wilborne, TW controls. He's like, you gotta talk to this lady. So I found out she's in Denmark. So our initial phone call, we got to meet each other and talk to each other, was a Microsoft Teams meeting and she was on a train in Denmark and I'm sitting here like we're a podcast in the Southeast US and talking to an automation engineer in Denmark, you know, the opportunities endless, right? So we were able to connect, set up and record with her. And she shared her story, how she went from teaching elementary school in China, teaching English there to an automation engineer, and the story about Legos and how she got connected with a Lego executive through a social media post. Just way impactful stuff there. So check that out, follow her. She has a very active Instagram account as well. 

So that wraps up season five. So we're going into season six, big stuff ahead. It's going to be exciting. It's going to be really fun. So a couple of ideas that are coming your way, one of them is a new machining technology that we never heard of. We hadn't talked about it on the show. That's going to be coming up. So be checking that out. We're not talking CNC or additive or anything like. So we're almost going to dangle that carrot out there, be checking for that one to drop. 

And then one of my favorite episodes we've recorded of all time. We had a listener who's been there from the beginning of EECO Asks Why. He's listened to every episode and he is a controls engineer at a plant in Virginia. And he was able to come on and share what exactly is it controls engineer? What do they do the day in the life of, if you will wonderful story there from him, I'm not going to put too much out there. You got to wait and see and listen for yourself, but check that out. Great way to really get that inside look of what goes on inside a plant. 

And then as we for the holidays, you remember we're in the fall, we're getting ready to go to the holiday season. It is amongst us. Get ready. If you're not ready for Christmas, it is coming. We have what we're calling it Holiday with the Heroes and we're going to start and go nine episodes in a row of nothing but hero conversation, because we thought what better way to celebrate the holidays and then listening and showcasing our heroes of industry that are out there. Great way to celebrate that. So excited for that to come out and that will take us right up to Christmas and then that'd be the end of the season. And then we're already planning for next year. 

So let's shift on the personal side. So if you remember last season, I did the season recap and I was telling you about the newest member of our family that was due to arrive.

So check this out, everyone. Okay. So this is Lily Grace, and for the listeners out there that are listening to audio only go to our YouTube channel, check it out. You can see miss Lily. She's taking her afternoon nap, which we enjoy, but she has been a wonderful blessing. She came to us on August 21st. She's doing great. She was a big girl, seven pounds, 10 ounces. She's doing wonderful. It's been a busy season of life here at the Grainger house. Just got a new schedule, a new sleep schedule. So pardon the black underneath the eyes that's just the way it is with a newborn. And our oldest daughters they started playing volleyball. There's not enough on the schedule so that you know, that that's ramped up. They're doing great there. 

And it's just a wonderful time to get outdoors. Fall is a wonderful time of year, looking forward to that North Carolina summer to go away and to get that humidity out of here. I'm looking forward to that cooler weather. Get outside with this little one with Chloe and Ava, with my wife, Rebekah and just enjoy the time outside. Hope you get to do that as well as you, as we're going into the fall or just enjoy that time. 

And I also just want to say, thank you, you know, there are so many podcasts that are out there that you could be listening to, but you take the time to listen to EECO Asks Why. We're humbled, we're blown away by the downloads. It's unbelievable to see the lives that this is impacting, the people that we're helping to connections that we're making. We're really working hard to bring you value and we hope that's coming across on everything that we do. And I'm also hoping that there's a little entertainment along the way. Whatever we can do to make it fun we want to do. 

Thank you all for the support. Thank you all just for the reaching out for the feedback that you're leaving on iTunes. It's wonderful. Remember to keep asking why, and we'll see you in season six. 

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