I spent the past week at Deep Tech Week SF. There were so many great discussions and almost every presentation and conversation led back to manufacturing and domestic supply chains. For example, the fusion industry is going to need massive amounts of HTS wire (high temperature superconducting wire) for fusion technology to scale and Metox is working hard and fast to fill the needs by adding massive manufacturing capabilities in North Carolina (they already make a lot of HTS Wire in Houston). The fusion industry is also in need of large quantities of large capacitors and there are very few US manufacturers of these. These are big industrial capacitors. Many of these fusion businesses are well funded and expect to ramp up production rapidly as they approach commercialization. Another exciting space that is reaching bottlenecks in domestic supply chains is battery production. I spent time talking to the teams in charge of battery design and production at Tesla and Panasonic. The machines they use are very large and run 24/7 365 days a year and require a large amount of splitter sharpening and Mandrel polishing because of the massive volumes that they run through. The engineers say that they have a hard time finding these services consistently. Finally, while there is a lot of excitement around humanoid robotics and full lights-out automation on the investor and public side of the conversation, pretty much every engineer and manufacturer I met with says that there is no way manufacturing will be fully automated to lights-out levels. They are all confident that these technologies will help to make some of the processes easier but they also want to see more humans enter the field of manufacturing as quickly as possible.

How have the tariffs affected your business so far? More business, or more expenses? How about the latest changes. Would love to hear your experience and what you’re hoping to see next.

Just ordered two of these! http://shopterrytime.com/ This is one of @UNITED' brands (United State of Apparel).

Part of my business is recruitment. We don't get into general labor / blue collar roles because, frankly, people suck. Low skills, low ambition, low morals. Companies ask us all the time and we point them to Indeed. Humanoid robots will be the norm very soon and our general labor workforce has no one to blame but themselves. Engineer levels on up is where we play and it's much easier. They show up to work and they work hard. Looking into EV charging infrastructure, there aren't enough electricians and installers to meet the demand. That is a good spot to be in if you're young, handy, and know the difference between red and black wires.

Can’t wait to check it out, I just subscribed.

Hey @yuri_ check this out. this might be interesting!

yes! security guard, shop assistant and wing man.

We're building a software product that helps manufacturers. It isn't a hardcore AI tool, but makes heavy use of AI. My impression (and please give feedback) is that most of the AI promises are big and lofty--robots and agents and AGI and all that. We're trying to take a more pragmatic approach to applying AI, by using it to solve the age old problem of running your business on top of an ERP that probably isn't really built for your business. It's definitely not a "replace workers on the shop floor" perspective, but it might put some consultants out of job if we're successful. We think the manufacturing sector has been woefully underserved by the software industry and that AI is one tool that can help us solve that.

I believe that the numbers for US unemployment are misleading. There are over 100 million people who are either staying at home or not looking for work or discouraged. What are they doing? Would they come to work if it was interesting, if there was a national mobilization? I suspect that many of these people would work in jobs that are fulfilling and don't require college. But, the jobs need to be easy to find, and the country needs a vision. We are at the beginning of these crossroads. Manufacturers are using NORAMARK and other solutions to make it easier to access and connect with manufacturing careers. Interest in national security and its relationship to supply chains is high. We lost a generation to desk jobs but the up-and-coming workforce loves "real" work with tangible results and clear start and finish. When I read these numbers I see a different story. Unemployment is much higher than we are told, and it's time for us to get back to work and rebuild America's industrial base. check these numbers out. Breaking Down the U.S. Civilian Non-Institutional Population The key is that everyone falls into exactly one of three main groups: Employed – People with a job. Unemployed (Actively Seeking Work) – People without a job but actively looking in the past 4 weeks. Not in the Labor Force – People neither employed nor actively seeking work. Now, Let's Break it Down Properly: Total U.S. Civilian Non-Institutional Population (everyone 16+ who isn't in the military or institutionalized): ~260 million Currently Employed: 156.4 million (about 60.1% of the total population) Currently Unemployed (Actively Seeking): 6.5 million (about 2.5% of the total population, but 4.0% of the labor force) Not in the Labor Force (Neither Working Nor Actively Seeking): 103.4 million (about 39.7% of the total population) Includes: Marginally Attached Workers (~1.6 million) – Wanted a job, looked in the past year, but not in the past 4 weeks. Discouraged Workers (~592,000) – A subset of marginally attached workers who have given up looking. Retirees, students, caregivers, disabled, and others who aren’t working or job-seeking.

I see a combination of excitement around job creation, fear of IP theft and a deluge of new government initiatives that are supporting the US industrial base. Plus a lot of young people are looking for jobs that don't require college or sitting in a cubicle all day. [image: 1742508043330-screenshot-2025-03-20-at-3.00.39-pm.png]