EPISODE SUMMARY

Manufacturers are investing in Industry 4.0, AI, and connected equipment, yet many still process customer orders through phone calls, spreadsheets, and manual data entry. Why has production technology advanced while sales processes remain largely unchanged?

In this episode, Justin Goethe speaks with Ethan Giffin, CEO and founder of B2B E-Commerce Agency, about modernizing the buying experience for mid-market manufacturers and distributors.

They explore why B2B e-commerce is more than a website project, how self-service ordering can strengthen sales operations, and why successful implementation requires alignment across sales, finance...

EPISODE SUMMARY

Ask a small manufacturer what his win rate on quotes is and most will guess at a number. Ask how they know, and the room goes quiet. The company already bought the ERP, the CRM and the subscriptions, but nobody ever connected them, so the same question gets three different answers.

In this episode, Justin Goethe sits down with Andy Janaitis, founder of Janaitis Business Systems and PPC Pitbulls, to talk about bringing an industrial engineering mindset to the commercial side of the business. Andy explains why SOPs rarely stick until...

Episode Summary

Most big problems in a manufacturing business started out as small ones that nobody solved. In this episode, Justin sits down with Jamie Flinchbaugh, founder of JFlinch and author of People Solve Problems. They talk about why leaders keep reaching for big levers like AI, reorgs, and acquisitions, when the real momentum usually comes from breaking problems down and understanding cause and effect.

Jamie explains how to connect daily huddles to monthly KPI reviews so leaders can trust that their teams have the ball. He also explains why process metrics invite...

Episode Summary

What happens to a portfolio company when the operating partner's voice carries less weight than the investment thesis? Otis Spencer Jr. has seen that question from both sides of the table, first as an operating partner at GenNx360 Capital Partners and then as the CEO of a PE-backed industrial business. Justin and Otis dig into how unrealistic diligence assumptions end up on the operations team's desk, why the ops and investment sides of a firm need to speak with one voice, and what it takes to build a lean culture on a three-to-five-year...

Episode Summary

Most improvement projects die quietly after the consultant leaves. Adam Lawrence built a framework to stop that from happening.

Known across the manufacturing world as the Kaizen Ninja, Adam has facilitated more than 400 Kaizen events, driving over half a billion dollars in business impact. His events average roughly $1.2 million in annual savings apiece, and he runs them in a week or less.

In this conversation, Adam walks Justin through how he actually runs a Kaizen week: two hours of level setting, then straight to the Gemba with...

Episode Summary

Eighty-five percent of companies are investing in AI. Fewer than six percent see a return in year one. In this episode, Justin sits down with Lisa Moses and Priya Ponmudi, partners at Veritas Growth Consulting, to unpack why the gap is that wide and what mid-market manufacturers should do about it.

Between them they have run supply chain and operations at Kids2, HelloFresh, Amazon, Tech Data, and across European manufacturers. Their answer starts with a question most leaders skip: what are you actually trying to solve? Cost, service, or people. If...

Episode: Building Operations That Run Without You — with Dr. Huri Mendoza

Guest: Dr. Huri Mendoza — Global Operations Executive & Project Manager

Episode Summary

Dr. Huri Mendoza has spent more than two decades turning around and scaling manufacturing organizations across the automotive and nutrition sectors — on the ground in Germany, the U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Romania, China, India, and Lithuania. In this episode, he sits down with Justin to unpack the operational playbook behind worldwide programs that saved more than $500 million and drove double-digit annual productivity gains.

T...

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THE ALLIED ADVISORS PODCAST
Playing Like a Battleship at Speedboat Scale: PE Value Creation with Rick Brawn

Guest: Rick Brawn, Operating Partner, MiddleGround Capital
Host: Justin Goethe

EPISODE OVERVIEW

Rick Brawn has a manufacturing dream resume: he came up through the most disciplined corners of aerospace at Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce, then carried that operational rigor into private equity — first at LFM Capital, and today as an operating partner at MiddleGround Capital. In this...

Format: Solocast with host Justin Goethe Best experienced on: YouTube (this episode references on-screen slides)

Episode Summary

Episode 25 marks a milestone, and to celebrate it Justin comes back to the heart of what Allied Advisors does: the Systemic Improvement Cycle (System CIP) — the framework for turning strategy into structured, sustainable improvement that outlasts any one person.

Most continuous improvement efforts quietly drift. Companies launch a lean initiative or a Six Sigma rollout, see early wins, and then watch the gains evaporate within a year or two. As...

From the shop floor to the boardroom — Kathy Miller has spent 30+ years leading operations at Rolls-Royce, GM, Delphi Delco, and Parker Hannifin, where she ran a $3B+ business with full P&L responsibility and toured 200+ plants across 24 countries. A 2021 Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame inductee and co-author of Steel Toes and Stilettos, she went back to school at Penn for a master's in Applied Positive Psychology to put language and science behind what she'd witnessed on the plant floor.

In this episode, Kathy unpacks her MORE framework — Meaning, Optimism, Relationships, and Excellence — and makes the case that s...

In this episode, host Justin sits down with Keith Gammill, Director of Arkansas Manufacturing Solutions (AMS), the state's affiliate of the National MEP Network. Drawing on nearly 30 years in operations, quality, HR, and continuous improvement, Keith makes the case that the MEP is one of the rare government programs that "got it right" — and walks through how mid-market manufacturers can actually put it to work. The conversation ranges from the origins of lean and where it still gets misapplied, to the central role of vision in leadership, the real impact of AI on the office (not just the shop fl...

Episode Summary

Most operators run the shop floor as a disciplined, measurable system and treat the sales pipeline as a black box. Bill Bell spent his career proving they are the same thing. A million dollar deal dies at month nine and the only explanation anyone offers is "the customer went a different direction." That answer is not a diagnosis. It is nothing.

In this episode, Bill walks through how he took stage-gate thinking off the production line and applied it to complex industrial sales, why a stalled deal is a diagnosis...

What if the single biggest lever for unlocking capacity on your shop floor isn't a new piece of equipment, a new ERP system, or a costly consultant — it's a discipline most mid-market manufacturers have never even considered hiring for?

In this episode of the Allied Advisors Podcast, Justin sits down with Dr. Thorsten Wuest, full professor of mechanical engineering and founding program director of the brand-new Industrial Engineering program at the University of South Carolina's Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing. Dr. Wuest arrived in Columbia in August 2024 with a mandate that would make mo...

Episode Summary

Most mid-market manufacturers don't have a quality problem — they have an acceptance problem. Justin sits down with George Pesansky, a 30-year continuous improvement veteran who has trained 10,000+ professionals across six continents, to unpack the formula behind sustained performance: Success = Quality × Acceptance. George shares why airline kiosks won and self-checkout lost, how to spot the hidden "leaks" draining your operation, and why your shop floor superhero may be your biggest liability.

About the Guest

George Pesansky is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and the aut...

Most manufacturers are great at building things. Far fewer are great at understanding whether those things are actually making them money — and that gap is costing them more than they realize.

In this episode, Justin sits down with Allen Engstrom, Managing Director of CFO Network, to break down the financial realities that every mid-market manufacturer needs to understand. With over two decades of experience — including a stint at Intel, where he helped oversee a 60-person team managing a $60 billion data storage market strategy — Allen has seen firsthand what separates manufacturers who thrive from those quietly taking on water...

Episode Description

Most manufacturers have experienced the same gut punch: a major improvement project goes beautifully, everyone celebrates, and then six months later you walk back out on the shop floor and it's like it never happened. The problem isn't your people. It isn't your culture. It's the absence of a daily discipline to sustain what you built.

In this first-ever solocast, Justin Goethe goes deep on the Daily Leadership Routine (DLR) — the system he has seen transform some of the world's best manufacturing operations and the one he believes is the si...

In this episode of the Allied Advisors Podcast, host Justin Goethe sits down with Christian Smith, a results-driven operations executive, former US Army captain, and Lean Six Sigma black belt. Christian has transformed operations and increased EBITDA for major organizations like Danaher, Target, and Nestlé.

Today, we dive deep into the "front door" signals of a struggling manufacturer, the critical difference between person vs. process, and why the "superstar problem solver" might actually be your biggest bottleneck.

Key Takeaways

Guest: Jay Carney, Co-Founder and President of My Solution Designs

Host: The Allied Advisors Podcast 

Episode Summary

In this episode, we dive deep into the concept of "Product Wellness" with Jay Carney. While most manufacturers focus on immediate crises, Jay argues that products often suffer from a "slow fade" caused by normalized inefficiencies and hidden operational friction. We explore how traditional "green" metrics—like high aftermarket sales—can actually mask a product that is "getting sick" and how leadership can use AI and direct observation to di...

Episode Summary

In this episode, Justin  sits down with Pat Eardley, a seasoned HR expert with over 25 years of experience. They dive into the common "people issues" that prevent mid-market manufacturing firms from scaling, focusing on the gap between creating policy and actually holding teams accountable. Pat shares her perspective on why "being clear is kind," how to handle the transition from the shop floor to management, and why the "family culture" model often backfires.

Key Takeaways

In this episode of the Allied Advisors Podcast, Justin Goethe sits down with Braydon McCormick, C-suite operator, serial entrepreneur, and Co-Founder & Managing Director of Light Forge Works, to cut through the noise surrounding artificial intelligence in manufacturing.

Rather than dashboards, chatbots, and “AI for AI’s sake,” Braydon brings an operator-first perspective on how AI should actually be deployed inside mid-market and PE-backed organizations — focusing on real bottlenecks, measurable ROI, and execution on the shop floor.

This is a grounded, tactical conversation for leaders who want AI to dr...