Show Notes In this insightful episode of the TechX Podcast, Seth Waters is joined once again by Merritt DeGraw, Chief Technology Officer at Fortuna, to wrap up their comprehensive discussion on the evolution of manufacturing and distribution through technology. They delve into the critical topics of efficiency and sustainability, exploring innovative strategies companies are adopting to enhance eco-friendly practices and optimize supply chain efficiency, while also underscoring the critical role of technology in shaping more efficient, sustainable, and resilient supply chains. Merritt shares his insights on the significant impact of global events on supply chain management. Join us as we uncover the future of manufacturing and distribution, highlighting the importance of flexibility, vendor management, and the transformative power of technology. Topics Discussed Sustainability in manufacturing and distribution Understanding the ecological impact of products from creation to market Recent trends in reporting operational impacts to boards and public shareholders The importance of risk assessment and management in a distributed and on-demand supply model. The role of IT consulting and staffing in navigating data security challenges. Fortuna's approach to partnering with companies for technological solutions. The significance of vendor accountability and the ability to adapt to changes quickly. Quotes "It's about being able to pivot... understanding those pain points and building a plan to navigate out of those challenges." - Merritt DeGraw "Understanding your business and where you want to go is crucial... ask hard questions of your vendors." - Merritt DeGraw "Nobody's perfect... people succeed or organizations succeed that are able to pivot in bad markets or bad times." - Merritt DeGraw Transcript: Seth Waters: Well, welcome back to the TechX podcast. I'm Seth Waters. I'm the Chief Marketing Officer at Fortuna, and I'm here with Merritt DeGraw, the Chief Technology Officer at Fortuna, as well as Planned Capacity and a bunch of other companies that you work with all over the board. Yes, in our last couple of conversations together, we dove into this topic on where technology is intersecting with manufacturing and distribution. And we've talked about a lot of different things like the rise of automation and AI and how leaders in the industry can begin to think about upskilling their employees and adopting new practices, finding the right guides to lead them through the challenges that they're that they're facing. It's been really valuable. And by the way, thank you for your emails. They've been reaching out to us. Always feel free to send us an email if you hear something that we're talking about and you say, “Boy, I'd like to know a little bit more about that, or I'd like to connect with Merritt or Seth and find out more about Fortuna and what they do.” You can always send us an email to techx@fortunabmc.com. Today, as we dive into the final part of this conversation about manufacturing and distribution, I'd love to jump in and talk about efficiency and sustainability. These are two hot topics for everyone, right? Is there talk about technology and all of the things in the future? Merritt, what steps do you see companies taking towards sustainability and eco-friendly practices in manufacturing and distribution? Merritt DeGraw: Why? There's a big push in that direction today to understand how your products are made, how they get shipped, how are they kind of impacting the global ecosystem? I think is one of the big conversations. So, you know, again, I think a lot of it is the ability to, one, measure how your operations are impacting, right? I think you're starting to see a lot of that coming out today. And then again, tracking that from a perspective as it as your product moves to market, kind of giving that scorecard, right? If you look at it, a lot of that information now goes at the boards. It goes up to public shareholder meetings, you name it. Those are all elements that are touched in those areas, right? So being able to put the key metrics in place to be able to facilitate that conversation kind of sets you apart nowadays for some that are not quite there yet in terms of, you know, they may not have a big of a public presence maybe on the distribution side. Yeah, but as you can see, a lot of the big players are all having to touch those spaces, even on the Bitcoin side right now where, you know, you have to talk about how you basically have to publish how much power you're using today, right? So that's those are all elements that are just recently come into play. So one is, you know, how do you measure it? How you how do you manage it right from that perspective to ensure that you're bringing a key. What is the word? I want to use an ethical product to market that probably the best way to ...

Show Notes Dive into the future of manufacturing and distribution with the second episode of the TechX Podcast, where host Seth Waters is joined by Merritt DeGraw, the visionary Chief Technology Officer at Fortuna. Together, they unravel the complexities of integrating cutting-edge technologies into traditional industries, and into the strategies companies can employ to embrace automation without being overwhelmed by its complexities. Through Merritt's extensive experience in sectors ranging from public space and internet to medical devices, this episode shines a light on the pivotal role of automation, machine learning, and computer vision. Discover the essential skills that today's workforce needs to develop to stay ahead in an ever-evolving landscape, and how these technologies are not just altering the way we work, but also the very nature of work itself. Topics Discussed The impact of technology across different business sectors Discussion on emerging technologies and their implementation in the manufacturing and distribution sectors Skill development in the manufacturing sector Importance of automation, machine learning, and computer vision in modern manufacturing The role of education in navigating the adoption of new technologies Leadership and cultural shifts in the face of rapid technological advancements Quotes "Workers have to be skilled up to be able to facilitate... they're becoming more of a governance versus a doer." - Merritt DeGraw "Educate yourself...Understand what's out there." - Merritt DeGraw on embracing automation "Not everybody is going to fit in the new world... find people with the aptitude that really want to understand, want to move that needle forward." - Merritt DeGraw "Keep an open mind... things are going to move fast and you've got to be comfortable with that move." - Merritt DeGraw on leadership in the era of automation "If you don't innovate, then you're going to be left behind." - Merritt DeGraw on the importance of embracing change Transcript Advertisement: This episode is brought to you by Fortuna. Seth Waters: Well, welcome back to the TechX podcast. My name is Seth Waters. I'm the Chief Marketing Officer at Fortuna, and I'm here again today with Merritt DeGraw. And you met Merritt last time we were together. He is the Chief Technology Officer at Fortuna as well as Planned Capacity and a bunch of other places. Before we jump in, I'd love for you just to highlight again some of the places you've been in the past few years. Merritt DeGraw: Yeah. No, again, I worked in public space with Cubic, I've worked at Internet space, SAAS-based stuff with a few companies and medical device company tech, NuVasive Inc., Akamai Technologies, a small little startup, SAAS, that did air medical, air emergency medical response and tracking for health helicopters and medical billing so that I've dealt with a multitude of different industries and different compliance components also. Seth Waters: Okay. So you've been around and had lots of experiences that have shaped you. Merritt DeGraw: Yes. Seth Waters: But let's continue our conversation from last time, focusing on the manufacturing and distribution industry. Today, I want to talk really pushing on skill development and workplace culture leadership when it comes to technology in manufacturing and distribution. So, let's dive in. Let's talk about skill development. What skills are currently in high demand in the technology area when it comes to manufacturing and how can workers develop them? Merritt DeGraw: You know, it's one of the big ones or I should say. I think we alluded to it in the previous podcast, but automation is a big factor in all sort of space. We're talking from a robot programmer, a robot to go do something right. Seth Waters: Yeah. Merritt DeGraw: Versus using AI to kind of tie in and do some of those elements also, right? So machine learning, computer vision, right? Those are all elements that you're starting to see where, you know, again, I wouldn't say replacing workers, but workers have to be skilled up to be able to facilitate, right? A welder doing a well job needs to understand how to program a cobot to be able to do that same weld, right? Right. So that way you could, you know, kind of expand the capabilities of that person, right? So they're becoming more of a governance versus a doer. Right, again, it's nothing, nothing wrong. I think there's still welders out there. And I'm not saying it's going away, but I think for you to be able to handle some of the throughput, you're not going to be able to find enough welders, which is one of the big challenges is, you know, a lot of the blue collar jobs are not, you know, there's not a lot of people going into them as much as they are. So, there's a shortage in those areas nowadays. So again, really driving the ability to multiply the multipliers, if you want to call it their capabilities through using ...

Show Notes Join Seth Waters and Merritt DeGraw in the debut episode of the TechX Podcast, where they explore the evolving intersection of technology and business. Merritt, the Chief Technology Officer at Fortuna, shares insights into his journey through the tech landscape, discussing his experiences in networking, medical devices, education, and more. The conversation delves into the current landscape of manufacturing and distribution, uncovering trends, challenges, and the transformative power of technology, while emphasizing the role of automation, machine learning, and robotics in reshaping these industries. Tune in now to discover everything tech and business in this episode from the TechX Podcast! Topics Discussed Merritt DeGraw's journey in technologyThe role of automation, machine learning, and robotics in manufacturing and distributionTrends and challenges in the manufacturing and distribution sectorData security and protecting against cyber threats.Practical steps for leaders in manufacturing and distribution to embrace technology Quotes "You've got to be able to meet the demands of the organization. And so, that is a challenge, you know, how fast things are changing in this marketplace and how things are changing in the industry in general across all verticals. I think it's like the wild, wild West. So people need to be able to keep up with that change." – Merritt DeGraw "One is understanding the flow of how you get things done. A lot of times I find that the issue is not, you know, kind of the systems that they have, but it's the steps that they take. They may not understand their processes fully." – Merritt DeGraw “Everything should be built with security in mind” – Merritt DeGraw "Education is a big part of that conversation to say, I want to make sure that these people understand when they get an email from somebody that's outside that you don't click on the envelope, you don't click on the attachment." – Merritt DeGraw “…Educate yourself to get the others involved and start to really kind of together create that shared vision to drive those needles forward.” – Merritt DeGraw Transcript Advertisement: This episode is brought to you by Fortuna, an IT consulting and staffing company. From contact centers to IT and managed staffing services, Fortuna helps businesses “grow thru simplicity.” Learn more at gofortuna.com. Seth Waters: Well, welcome to the TechX podcast, where the future of technology intersects with business, and I’m excited to be with you today. I'm Seth Waters. I'm the Chief Marketing Officer at Fortuna and I'm here with Merritt DeGraw, the brains behind our show. Merritt, good to be with you today. Merritt DeGraw: Pleasure to be here. Thank you. Seth Waters: Before we jump into this new podcast, it's really a new conversation. Before we jump right in, I'd love for you to take a few minutes and talk about your past. You've been in technology for many years. You're now the Chief Technology Officer at Fortuna, but I'd like to just have you share about some of the story. What's your story? How have you gotten to where you are today? Merritt DeGraw: It's been a journey. I started off in networking back in the day, back when I was at Akamai Technologies so it’s actually the interview before Akamai and then, you know, “.com” bust happened, moved into medical device, worked at a company called NuVasive. They created the tools for minimal access, spinal surgeries. And I was the head guy there from – I’m reporting directly to CFO - and again helped them kind of build innovative technologies for helping people, you know, improve their outcomes from surgeries - from their spinal surgery. Seth Waters: Wow, wow. Very interesting. Merritt DeGraw: And then kind of moved into larger companies - work and education company. So that's where I met Jack, oddly enough. And so we, you know, we were online education for profit education company building a kind of a tracking solution for our students and such and giving them, you know, next generation education right again and then moved into a little bit of defense/transportation areas when I was working at Cubic Technologies, doing a move to the cloud. Basically that's kind of the main reason I was hired there. And I started helping out with some DevOps conversations also. And that led me into consulting career that eventually I landed here, so. Seth Waters: Wow. So you've done a lot of things that have prepared you to be able to talk as an expert about a lot of different technologies. Merritt DeGraw: Yes. Seth Waters: Now, you mentioned Jack, and Jack is the CEO at Fortuna, the company where you are the Chief Technology Officer right now amongst a whole bunch of other things. You know, as it is, we all have our hands on a lot of different projects, you know, as you do. But what is your job and what is your role right now as the chief technology officer at Fortuna? What does that encompass? What does that...

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