Manufacturing signals, translated into business consequences.
Manufacturing Talk Radio tracks the forces shaping manufacturers, from ISM PMI readings and tariffs to USMCA, energy costs, AI, and workforce pressure. Its conversations stay practical, translating economic signals into consequences for supply chains, manufacturing operations, margins, and North American production.
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Manufacturing Talk Radio is a business-first manufacturing program with a strong appetite for economic indicators, policy shifts, and operational detail. It looks at manufacturing through the numbers, but it does not stay abstract for long. ISM PMI readings become a conversation about employment, new orders, supplier deliveries, prices paid, commodities, and what respondents are actually saying. Trade policy becomes a question of where materials, parts, labor, and risk move next. The show often uses a concrete industrial problem as its entry point. Canada’s manufacturing relationship with the United States, for example, becomes a larger discussion of USMCA, automotive integration, industrial inputs, aerospace, clean tech, and the overlooked strength of North American production. The tone is brisk and experienced. It can be skeptical about unstable markets, tariffs, fuel costs, and government policy, but the skepticism usually leads back to practical consequences rather than theater. Regular ISM conversations with Steve Miller and Susan Spence give the show a reporting rhythm, especially around manufacturing and services data. Other episodes widen the lens to the space economy, geopolitical conflict, AI infrastructure, and large-scale manufacturing management. That range works because the show keeps asking how macro forces land inside budgets, sourcing plans, workforce choices, energy exposure, and capital spending. A conversation about AI in factories may become a careful look at equipment cost, depreciation, enterprise software, and whether digital boards actually improve ownership on the floor. A discussion of global conflict may turn toward crude oil, gas prices, chemical production, household affordability, and downstream demand. The result is not a trend show chasing fashionable terms. It is closer to a working industrial briefing, with some banter, recurring reports, and long answers that circle back until the business point is clear. Manufacturing Talk Radio is best for listeners who already care about supply chains, industrial strategy, and economic signals, and who want those signals translated into manufacturing consequences without being watered down.
Made for: Built for manufacturing leaders, supply-chain professionals, industrial operators, economists, and business listeners who follow trade, PMI data, workforce pressure, and technology adoption. It assumes comfort with industry shorthand and rewards listeners who want practical context over broad explanations.
What sets it apart: The show connects economic data and policy noise to concrete manufacturing decisions: margins, sourcing, employment, capital equipment, energy exposure, and production. Its recurring ISM report conversations give it a steady measurement-driven backbone.
Your Everything Manufacturing Podcast. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just curious about the industry, we’ve got something for you! Manufacturing Talk Radio is led by two dynamic hosts, Lewis Weiss and Amy Nicklaus, who bring expertise and fresh perspectives to the industry. Lewis, with five decades of hands-on experience, simplifies complex manufacturing challenges, offering actionable insights on technology, workforce strategies, and industry transformation. Amy brings an engaging approach, exploring the real-world impact of innovations in technology, logistics, and workforce dynamics. Together, they create a compelling and insightful podcast that keeps professionals informed, i…
Lewis Weiss turns factory-floor uncertainty into the questions your planning meeting forgot to ask.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A PMI of 54 frames a grounded conversation about employment, prices, tariffs, oil, and production costs.
Manufacturing Talk Radio uses a June 2026 PMI reading of 54 as its anchor, then follows the related signals through business activity, new orders, supplier deliveries, and employment, all above 50 and their 12-month averages.
A practical look at how public demand and private innovation are reshaping the global space economy.
Manufacturing Talk Radio frames Artemis II as an entry point into a wider industrial shift: a global space economy still powered by public funding, but increasingly shaped by private companies.
An ISM forecast gets weighed against flat employment, rising prices paid, and the still-unfinished promise of AI tools.
Manufacturing Talk Radio frames the Institute for Supply Management's Supply Chain Planning Forecast as a practical check on whether stronger demand can hold up under rising costs.
A grounded manufacturing discussion on when AI earns its place alongside equipment, routines, and hard-won plant knowledge.
This Manufacturing Talk Radio episode with Tanu Sri Ghosh takes a clear-eyed look at the stubborn economics of factory digitization: when new equipment and AI create enough operational value to justify replacing systems that still work.
Reshoring is treated as an operations problem, not a slogan.
Manufacturing Talk Radio frames reshoring as an operations problem, not a slogan, and that gives the conversation its edge. Tim Tompkins draws on a broad operations background, from Purdue and the Army to NC State, warehouse work, and ISO quality standards, and that practical…
A 2026 manufacturing discussion that links policy, trade, and global competition to jobs and growth.
Manufacturing Talk Radio turns its attention to 2026 by connecting election-year policy talk and the $12 billion farm package to the larger story of manufacturing growth and jobs.
A 10-year ISM marker becomes a practical read on manufacturing headcount pressure.
Manufacturing Talk Radio uses a live anniversary episode to frame why the ISM report still carries weight, with Tim Grady, host Lou Wise, and Tim Fiore marking 10 years of ISM involvement.
Machine shops, ownership, and industrial purpose.
Paper-sector news, straight from the mill floor.
Manufacturing Talk Radio marks its 10-year anniversary with the Institute for Supply Management.
ISM Chair Steve Miller joins hosts Lewis Weiss and Amy Nicklaus to analyze the March ISM Services PMI report, which came in at 54.
Manufacturing Talk Radio examines the June 2026 ISM PMI report, which recorded an overall reading of 54 and marked the third 2026 report with all four sub-indexes above 50 and their 12-month averages.
Manufacturing Talk Radio hosts Lewis Weiss and Amy Niklas interview Susan Spence about the June ISM Manufacturing PMI and its survey of manufacturing conditions across 18 U.S.
Manufacturing Talk Radio hosts Lewis Weiss and Cliff Waldman interview Oz Karasu about the global space economy, including its uncertain scale and economic spillovers.
Susan Spence and Steve Miller of the Institute for Supply Management present the 2026 Supply Chain Planning Forecast on Manufacturing Talk Radio with Lewis Weiss and Amy Niklas.
Manufacturing Talk Radio host Lewis Weiss interviews Tanu Sri Ghosh, Senior Director leading Medtronic’s Tempe complex, a nine-building operation with nearly 800 employees.
Manufacturing Talk Radio examines how the Iran conflict could affect U.S.
Susan Spence, ISM Manufacturing PMI Chair, discusses the March 2026 ISM manufacturing report, highlighting expansion with a PMI of 52.7 but noting slowdowns in key indicators like new orders.
Tim Tompkins sits down with Manufacturing Talk Radio to frame reshoring as a practical manufacturing problem.
This episode discusses the significance of recent PMI numbers above 50, indicating manufacturing expansion after a period of contraction, and explores related topics like cybersecurity risks and global trends.
This episode features a roundtable discussion analyzing the Federal Reserve statistical release and ISM report to assess current manufacturing trends and economic conditions.
This episode features an interview with Peter Okun, editor of Manufacturing Podcast News, discussing his role in tracking industry trends through podcast analysis and what drew him to the grounded, practical nature of manufacturing.
Lewis Weiss opens the conversation by looking past 2025 and into 2026.
Host Cliff Waldman discusses the broader implications of recent tariffs and trade tensions with manufacturing expert Harry Moser and economist Jeremy Leonard, focusing on competitive and manufacturing challenges.
This episode celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the ISM's involvement in Manufacturing Talk Radio, discussing the significance of the ISM manufacturing report and the podcast's global leadership in the industry.
This episode discusses the reshoring of manufacturing to the United States and its impact on workforce shortages, highlighting the need to change perceptions about manufacturing careers among students and communities.
This episode explores how Hollywood's movie production is a manufacturing process being transformed by AI and automation, potentially reducing human labor needs.