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PODCAST

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights

Are you responsible for keeping machines running and production on track? If you’re a maintenance manager, tool crib manager, or shop leader at a manufacturing company, this show is for you. Host Martin Engster sits down for conversations with people who actually work in the trenches of industry, for real talk about what’s working, what’s not, and what they"re dealing with day-to-day. From reducing unplanned downtime and managing MRO inventory to leading maintenance teams and optimizing tool crib

business management

All Episodes

19:09

Why the Right Parts Matter in Spindle Repair with...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/10/02

This month, the tables are turned on Maintenance and Manufacturing Insights.Instead of interviewing someone else in the industry, Martin Engster takes the guest seat and gives us a look at what he is seeing in manufacturing and what is happening inside Centreline. Martin shares what he heard while speaking with manufacturers, machine builders, and vendors at recent machine tool shows in Chicago. He also explains why changes in manufacturing do not always show up immediately for a spindle repair

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18:05

Simple Fixes, Less Downtime: Maintenance Lessons with...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/10/01

What if your maintenance team knew what to do before a machine ever went down? In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights, Martin Engster sits down with Kenneth Welch to talk about practical maintenance, manufacturing experience, and the value of preparing for problems before they happen. Kenneth spent 23 years working at Michelin in Ardmore, Oklahoma, before moving into his current role at SendCutSend in Arlington, Texas. His years on the manufacturing floor have taught him that some of

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21:40

Mathew Edwards: Building Maintenance Teams That Keep...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/09/30

What does it take to keep a highly automated manufacturing plant running while working toward production of 21,000 solar panels a day?In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights, Martin Engster talks with Mathew Edwards, Plant Facilities Manager and Maintenance Manager for First Solar in Gaffney, South Carolina. Mathew shares what goes into building and leading a maintenance operation at a new 1.2-million-square-foot manufacturing facility. With highly automated production lines, robots,

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40:06

Varadarajan Balaraman: From Startup Chaos to a...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/09/24

What does it take to build a manufacturing operation from the ground up while also building the maintenance systems that keep it running?In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights, Martin Engster talks with Varadarajan “V” Balaraman, a site plant manager helping build a startup manufacturing operation within an established company. V shares why starting with new equipment does not mean maintenance can wait. New machines may have fewer breakdowns, but that can also mean the team has fewer

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24:57

Ivan Getov: Maintenance Is More Than Fixing Things

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/09/23

What happens when a company invests in predictive maintenance, AI, and new technology before fixing its basic maintenance processes? In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights, Martin Engster talks with Ivan Getov, Maintenance Excellence Manager at Eastman Chemical Company, about why strong maintenance starts with the fundamentals. Ivan began his career as a chemical engineer and worked in operations before moving into maintenance management. Today, his focus is maintenance excellence and

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27:18

The Power of Proactive Maintenance with Reinhardt de...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/09/15

What if you could know a machine was going to fail weeks before it actually happened? Instead of scrambling after a breakdown, your team could order the parts, plan the repair, and choose when to take the equipment offline.In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights with Martin Engster, Martin sits down with Reinhardt de Jager, a Reliability Area Maintenance Manager whose work includes predictive maintenance, reliability-centered maintenance, lubrication programs, shutdowns, and

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18:48

Keeping Manufacturing Running: Predictive...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/09/10

What does it take to keep a manufacturing plant running when some machines date back decades and others are brand new?In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights with Martin Engster, Martin talks with Tony Ingram, Senior Maintenance Supervisor at Daikin Applied in Faribault, Minnesota. Tony shares what maintenance really looks like inside a facility producing large air-conditioning systems for data centers, hospitals, factories, and schools. His team works with everything from large punch

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17:28

280 Machines, 8 Maintenance Pros: How Trevor Kennedy...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/09/08

What does it take to keep more than 280 manufacturing assets running with a small maintenance team? In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights, Martin Engster talks with Trevor Kennedy, Plant Manager for Parker Hannifin's HELAC hydraulic actuator operation. Trevor shares what maintenance looks like inside a busy manufacturing plant producing hydraulic actuators for mining, agriculture, and industrial applications. The conversation explores Trevor's team's transition toward predictive

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13:06

Sean Archer: Why Today’s Maintenance Techs Have to...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/09/02

In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights with Martin Engster, Martin talks with Sean Archer, a maintenance manager in the steel manufacturing industry. Sean leads a maintenance team responsible for keeping the equipment, systems, and facility operating safely and reliably.Sean explains why good maintenance cannot simply be about waiting for something to break. Preventive and predictive maintenance help his team stay ahead of problems. He also shares why root cause analysis can be one

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23:32

Building Better by Hand: Lucas Richards on...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/08/26

In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights with Martin Engster, Martin sits down with Lucas Richards, Associate Manufacturing Supervisor at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, to explore a side of manufacturing that most people never get to see.Lucas works in an environment where teams assemble the panels and systems used to help monitor, control, and protect critical power infrastructure. These builds can be highly customized, with different devices, wiring, and configurations from one

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28:05

Joshua Kroll: Maintenance Leadership, AI, and...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/08/19

From Nuclear Submarines to Napa Valley: Maintenance Leadership, AI, and Continuous ImprovementWhat does it take to lead maintenance teams in one of the world's most demanding production environments? In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights, Martin Engster sits down with Joshua Kroll, Facilities Maintenance Supervisor at Trinchero Family Estates, to discuss his journey from serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy's nuclear submarine program to leading maintenance operations in

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22:14

Building Reliable Maintenance Systems: Gabe Little on...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/08/11

Building Reliable Maintenance Systems: Gabe Little on Asset Management and AutomationWhat does it take to keep a large distribution center running while preparing for the future of automation? In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights, Martin Engster sits down with Gabe Little, a maintenance leader with experience at Jacobson Logistics, Amazon, ThredUP, and Ross Stores. Gabe shares how his career evolved from HVAC technician to leading maintenance teams and transitioning into equipment

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12:11

Inside Manufacturing Facilities with Nathan Santiago

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/08/05

Every minute of downtime matters in manufacturing. In this episode, Martin Engster sits down with Nathan Santiago, Facilities Engineer at C&H/New Holland, to discuss what it really takes to keep a large manufacturing campus operating efficiently.Nathan shares how preventive maintenance goes far beyond simply following OEM schedules. He explains how maintenance teams adapt service intervals for equipment that runs around the clock, organize specialized tools and spare parts at critical machines,

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36:47

Helmuth Lara: Maintenance Excellence in the World's...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/07/30

What does it really take to keep the lights on for thousands of people?In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights, Martin Engster sits down with Helmuth Lara, an experienced mechanical engineer and plant manager whose career has spanned nearly three decades in oil & gas, gas turbines, rotating equipment, and power generation. From his early days working in South American refineries to managing power generation for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Helmuth shares what it takes to maintain some

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27:12

The Hidden Side of Medical Manufacturing with Cory James

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/07/28

Most people never stop to think about where the medical tubing inside catheters, stents, and other life-saving devices actually comes from. In this episode, Martin Engster sits down with Cory James, Plant Manager at Zeus Industrial Products, to pull back the curtain on one of the most important—but least visible—parts of medical manufacturing.Cory shares how Zeus Industrial Products manufactures precision medical-grade tubing used by many of the world's leading medical device companies. The

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22:41

Keeping Glass Production Running: Maintenance Lessons...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/07/24

Every building, office, and home depends on glass, but few people ever stop to think about the complex manufacturing process behind it.In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights, Martin Engster sits down with Josiah Peterson, Maintenance Manager at Oldcastle Building Envelope, to discuss what it takes to keep a modern glass manufacturing facility operating efficiently. Josiah shares his unique career journey—from growing up on a dairy farm and working in logging communities to

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39:48

Small Problems, Big Profits: Lessons in Maintenance...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/06/25

Small problems often create the biggest losses. In this episode, James Harris shares how focusing on defects, root causes, and reliability transformed struggling operations and delivered major improvements. Martin Engster sits down with James Harris, a U.S. Army Reserve officer and experienced maintenance and engineering professional. James discusses his journey through manufacturing, process improvement, and military leadership. During the conversation, James explains how maintenance teams can move

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28:57

Todd Gibbs: How Small Changes Create Big Reliability...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/06/23

What does it take to keep thousands of automotive glass components moving through production every day? In this episode, Martin Engster sits down with Todd Gibbs, Maintenance Manager at Carlex Glass, to discuss more than four decades of maintenance experience and the importance of building reliability into manufacturing operations. Todd shares how his time serving in the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarine program helped shape his approach to maintenance and reliability. From vibration analysis and

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23:54

Korey Mertz: The Hidden Costs of Ignoring Machine...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/06/19

In this episode of Maintenance Manufacturing Insights, Martin Engster sits down with Korey Mertz of Advanced Machine Engineering to discuss why preventive maintenance is often overlooked and how manufacturers can move from reactive repairs toward a more proactive approach. The show notes follow recommended practices for strong podcast descriptions and listener engagement.Korey shares his journey from studying mechanical engineering to leading business development within the Tool Clamping Systems

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27:50

Building the Digital Reliability Engineer: Chris...

Maintenance & Manufacturing Insights ·

2026/06/18

This week, Martin Engster sits down with Army veteran and maintenance leader Chris Skinner to discuss how AI, IoT sensors, and knowledge management are changing the future of maintenance and manufacturing. Chris shares his journey from military aviation to Tesla and eventually to his current role as Facilities and Maintenance Manager at Technetics in South Carolina. Along the way, he developed a passion for reliability, predictive maintenance, and finding ways to preserve valuable knowledge before

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