American Made

Sweet Fish Media
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American Made starts from a hard line: American manufacturing rises or falls on workers at the plant, not on headlines about reshoring. Ops leaders win or lose their week at the moment a shift either has a full, skilled crew or runs short. This channel is built for U.S. manufacturing leaders who own output, uptime, staffing, and safety in single-location plants with 100 or more employees. Hosted by Joel Zimmerman, President and CEO of MADICORP, and Michele Vincent, Vice President, the show turns 30 plus years of labor experience into practical moves for keeping production running in a thin tal

Episodes

  1. 1D AGO

    The Real Reason Your Factory Can’t Find Skilled Labor

    Joel Zimmerman and Michele Vincent break down why the manufacturing labor crisis runs deeper than “no one wants to work” and how it is reshaping decisions about where factories get built. They connect demographic realities, addiction, pandemic-driven retirements, and years of steering people away from the trades to the talent shortages manufacturers feel on the floor every day. The conversation moves from national security and reshoring pressures to practical options like contingency staffing, traveling workforces, and realistic use of visa programs, then lands on what it takes to hire for aptitude while keeping people long term. The episode gives plant leaders a framework for planning labor needs across their own facilities and their supply chain instead of waiting for the next crunch to hit. In this episode: Why labor availability now drives factory location decisions How demographics, addiction, and reshoring fuel a structural skills shortage Short term options like traveling workforces and visa programs versus long term training pipelines Practical steps for contingency staffing and retaining workers you train

    31 min

  2. JAN 28

    Why 3rd Shift is Your Secret Weapon (and Biggest Risk)

    Third shift can make or break a plant, and Joel Zimmerman and Michele Vincent are tired of seeing it treated like an afterthought. American Made tackles how nights become both a production advantage and a magnet for burnout, safety concerns, and turnover when they are staffed from the same shallow local pool. Drawing on years of running traveling third-shift crews, Joel and Michele break down why most manufacturers struggle to add nights, where traditional temp models fall apart, and how outside workforces, incentives, and culture choices change the story. They also react to Procter & Gamble’s “dark shift” experiment and what automation on nights really means for operators and crews. In this episode: Why so many plants cannot staff third shift from local hiring alone The hidden risks of traditional temp staffing models on nights How traveling workforces and incentives stabilize a new third shift What automation and “dark shifts” signal for the future of night work

    27 min

  3. JAN 14

    The Contract That Could Shake U.S. Fuel

    The 2026 oil and petrochemical pattern agreement could reshape U.S. fuel supply, and Joel Zimmerman and Michele Vincent want operators ready before talks turn into trouble. In this episode of American Made, they pull from decades of strike staffing and strike security experience to explain what it really takes to keep a refinery or petrochemical plant running during a labor dispute. They lay out how to plan for replacement workers, why 24 hour rolling extensions wreak havoc on readiness, and where security decisions can quietly raise your risk instead of lowering it. The conversation gives manufacturing leaders a clearer view of what genuine preparedness looks like when 30,000 USW members and more than 200 bargaining units sit down at the table. In this episode: How the 2026 USW pattern agreement could affect U.S. energy production What effective strike contingency planning and replacement staffing actually require Why rolling contract extensions and shared talent pools increase risk for employers The specialized role of strike security and how poor choices create legal and safety exposure

    35 min

  4. JAN 7

    Welcome to American Made!

    American Made is the show for U.S. manufacturing leaders who carry the weight of output, uptime, staffing, and safety every week. Hosted by Joel Zimmerman, President and CEO of MADICORP, and Michele Vincent, Vice President, it turns three decades of labor experience into clear moves for running plants with thin crews and rising expectations. Episodes tackle the labor crisis on the ground, from shorthanded shifts and third shift fatigue to contract crews, rapid ramps, and high stakes negotiations. If you run a plant with 100 plus employees and feel the labor crunch every day, this show is for you.

    1 min

  5. 12/04/2025

    American Made

    American Made starts from a hard line: American manufacturing rises or falls on workers at the plant, not on headlines about reshoring. Ops leaders win or lose their week at the moment a shift either has a full, skilled crew or runs short. This channel is built for U.S. manufacturing leaders who own output, uptime, staffing, and safety in single-location plants with 100 or more employees. Hosted by Joel Zimmerman, President and CEO of MADICORP, and Michele Vincent, Vice President, the show turns 30 plus years of labor experience into practical moves for keeping production running in a thin talent market. Episodes focus on the labor crisis as the core constraint on growth: missed deadlines from empty roles, third shift fatigue, contract labor decisions, high-speed ramps, pattern agreements, and pressure from private equity or executives to scale faster with fewer people. Every conversation aims at one outcome for the listener: a clearer way to staff, schedule, and lead workers so American manufacturing can actually deliver on the promise of reshoring. Subscribe if you want straight talk and real-world playbooks that put People First, backed by Expertise and smart use of Tech, with zero time wasted.

    16 sec

Trailer

About

American Made starts from a hard line: American manufacturing rises or falls on workers at the plant, not on headlines about reshoring. Ops leaders win or lose their week at the moment a shift either has a full, skilled crew or runs short. This channel is built for U.S. manufacturing leaders who own output, uptime, staffing, and safety in single-location plants with 100 or more employees. Hosted by Joel Zimmerman, President and CEO of MADICORP, and Michele Vincent, Vice President, the show turns 30 plus years of labor experience into practical moves for keeping production running in a thin tal

Information

  • Creator
    Sweet Fish Media
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Sweet Fish Media
  • Show Website
    American Made