Iowa Business Podcast
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Kemin is Making Life Easier for So Many
In this episode, Kemin production team members Guillermo Garcia and Jeff Grenier talk about Kemin’s plans for a $28M expansion at its global headquarters, how they are recruiting globally to meet demands in their Des Moines headquarters and globally to become Kemin’s largest pet food manufacturing plant in South America and its acquisition of GLF…
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Coolest Thing Made In Iowa and ABI’s Nicole Crain
Nicole Crain, ABI, Coolest Thing Made In Iowa Matchups Manufacturing is a complex industry with so many moving parts. It can be difficult to create the appropriate margin within the workday to look up and out. The issues are equally complex, touching multiple industries and with diverse needs across different manufacturing sectors, involving everything from…
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A Legacy of Innovation: Jason Andringa and Vermeer
Jason Andringa and Iowa’s Vermeer Corp: Living a Legacy Having spent summers traveling and fishing with his grandfather, Jason Andringa got to spend quality time learning just what made him tick. Following in the footsteps of Gary Vermeer and Mary Andringa as former leaders of one of the largest manufacturing companies in Iowa isn’t easy.…
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Plastics: Hawkeye’s Ryan Gruhn’s Custom Molding Journey
A Plastics and Custom Molding Journey: Hawkeye’s Ryan Gruhn Many people look at plastics manufacturing as a complex and difficult industry, which it is, with a lot of moving parts, which it does. So what drew Ryan Gruhn, the owner of Hawkeye Molding in Roland, IA, full throttle into the world of their custom molding…
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The Rest of the DEI Workforce Development Story
Inclusive Workforce Development: The Rest of the DEI Story DEI is not dead. But it has become a divisive term. Regardless of its intentions, society has turned it into a way to divide people rather than uniting them. This is leading some to question the movement, with roots that can be traced to the 1960s,…
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Is my Logistics Partner Legit – Freight & Relationship Carriers
Freight, Relationship Carriers: Is My Logistics Partner Legit? Since Covid, the amount of double brokering and scamming in the freight industry has reached an all-time high. How do you protect your manufactured products from ill-reputed companies and intermediary brokers? Listen to this podcast as Leisa Fox interviews Craig Feller, with Toggle, about this frightening issue. …
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EOS Implementation Objectives and Manufacturing Leaders (Part 2)
Aligning Manufacturing Leaders: EOS Implementation Objective Achieving success isn’t only about profit margins and market share. It can in many cases be more about creating a coveted work-life balance where owners, employees, and customers are aligned and moving deliberately in the same direction. This goes beyond just finding the right “fit.” Rob Taylor continues this…
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EOS Implementation: Better Manufacturing Alignment, Traction (Part 1)
Making ‘Nirvana’ – Confessions of an EOS Implementer The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) is a set of simple concepts and practical tools used by more than 257,000 companies worldwide to clarify, simplify, and achieve their vision. Rob Taylor, EOS Implementer and the owner of Taylor Management Systems, cut his teeth as an early adopter of…
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1 Cheese Block, 300 Data Analytics Points: Source of Truth
Data analytics can be extremely complex and invaluable, even for a food manufacturer trying to figure out how to leverage 300 data points for a single block of cheese. A source of truth, or sources of truth, are central to data analytics, and to establishing an authoritative repository where everyone in an organization can access…
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STEM School an Opportunity to Partner on Applied Learning for Iowa Manufacturers Workforce
Horizon: STEM Oriented Academy and Iowa Manufacturers The need for a manufacturing workforce equipped with practical education and real-world experiences has never been more crucial. Horizon Science Academy in Des Moines is breaking new ground in early STEM education. With applied learning, technology and personalized learning, students are getting a leg up in learning skills…