Welcome to Manufacturing Minute!

I'm glad you're here.

Let's get to it.

🚨In the News

Well this hits close to home...

Goodyear just sold their chemical business to Gemspring Capital for $650M. Houston and Beaumont plants, plus the R&D facility in Akron where I used to walk the halls.

What strikes me isn't the transaction itself - it's what comes next for all those talented people who've been making synthetic rubber and polymer chemicals that go into everything from medical devices to sporting goods.

I've seen this movie before. Big company divests. Private equity comes in. Everyone worries about "synergies" and "optimization."

But here's the thing - Goodyear Chemical wasn't some struggling side business. They're a leading North American producer serving tire manufacturers AND a bunch of other industries most people never think about.

The real opportunity? Gemspring gets a business with serious R&D chops and diversified markets, minus the corporate overhead and "that's not how we do things here" mentality that sometimes comes with being part of a 125-year-old tire company.

For the people on the ground in Houston, Beaumont, and Akron - this could actually be liberating. Smaller, more agile, with a CEO (Tesham Gor) who presumably won't have to run every decision up through tire company bureaucracy.

Sometimes the best thing that can happen to good people doing good work is getting out from under a parent company that's laser-focused on something else entirely.

Hope they prove me right. 🤞

🏭 Manufacturing Minute

If Your Line Went Down Tonight...

...and you had to call a consultant instead of a process engineer, who would you call?

And why isn't it the "smartest" one?

This might seem like a weird question, but I've been thinking about it a lot lately. There have been several times in my career when I was the go-to for those late-night emergency calls, even though I wasn't necessarily the most educated or most knowledgeable about the process.

At the end of the day, it all came down to trust.

But what actually builds the kind of trust that gets 10x results? The kind that makes you the indispensable person who gets called at terrible hours because they know you'll figure it out?

It's not credentials. Not case studies. Not even technical expertise (though that matters).

The manufacturers who become true partners, the ones who invite you into their biggest challenges and celebrate your wins like their own, they trust you for completely different reasons.

Here’s 7 of them:

1. Share Your Failures First

Lead with what went wrong, what you learned, and how you adapted.

I've told the story of losing nearly everything day trading, having a stroke at 47, and the messy pivots between companies.

People trust leaders who've been through the fire and can admit mistakes without making excuses.

2. Highlight Others More Than Yourself

Shine the spotlight on your team's wins, client successes, and partner achievements.

Name names.

Tell their stories.

When you consistently lift others up, they become your biggest advocates.

Some of my best referrals come from people I've never directly worked with, just people whose work I've highlighted.

3. Show Your Work, Not Just Results

Document the messy middle…

The struggles, iterations, and real problem-solving process.

Share behind-the-scenes moments from client sites. The polished case study gets skipped.

The story about troubleshooting at 2 AM with a frustrated plant manager gets remembered.

4. Admit What You Don't Know

Say "I don't know" when you don't know.

Ask questions publicly.

Recommend competitors when they're the better fit. I've sent prospects to other integrators when it was right for them.

Half of those prospects eventually came back when they needed what we actually do well.

5. Follow Through on Small Things

If you say you'll send a resource, send it that day.

Remember personal details from previous conversations.

Be early to calls.

Respond to messages promptly.

Trust is built in drops and lost in buckets… these drops add up faster than you think.

6. Take Positions (Even Controversial Ones)

Stand against industry BS like endless ROI discussions and consultant theater.

Call out what's not working in manufacturing transformation.

Have opinions worth disagreeing with.

Fence-sitting builds no trust.

People want to know where you stand.

7. Make It About Their Success, Not Your Sale

Focus conversations on their problems, not your solutions.

Give away valuable insights without expecting anything back.

Connect them with other people who can help, even if you can't.

The sale becomes inevitable when they realize you're genuinely invested in their success.

The Real Test

Here's the thing: trust isn't just nice to have in manufacturing, it's the difference between getting called for commodity work versus being brought into the transformation that actually moves the needle.

When that line goes down, when the plant manager is under pressure, when careers are on the line, they don't call the consultant with the best PowerPoint.

They call the person they trust to figure it out with them.

What would you add to this list? What builds real trust in your experience?

Hit reply and share your thoughts. And if this resonated, forward it to someone who needs to read it.

- Ryan

P.S., Whether you're trying to make sense of Industry 4.0, struggling with legacy systems, or just need a sounding board from someone who's navigated similar waters, let's talk. Book Your 30-Minute Strategy Call →