Manufacturing Talks
There are millions of cool stories in manufacturing. Your host, Jim Vinoski, helps share them by talking to the people who are making them happen. Manufacturing is where the rubber meets the road. There's no hiding. You're either making good products people will buy for enough to keep you in business, or you're not. Meet the amazing folks who thrive in that survival-of-the-fittest world.
Manufacturing Talks
Anthony Constantino of Sticker Mule on making stickers and standing up to trash media outrage
There are two distinct stories in this episode featuring the CEO of Sticker Mule.
The first one is about how Anthony and his business partners built a successful business making and selling stickers (and now a whole lot more!) It's a great tale of launching an Internet business on a wing and prayer, and lots of hard work.
The second one is about how Anthony sent an email to his customers after President Trump was shot beseeching people of all political stripes to stop the hate. And the partisan lapdog media set on him like a pack of hyenas - but to his credit, he didn't back down one bit!
Here are some highlights:
2:45 - how Sticker Mule came about
7:30 - focus on fixing problems
9:00 - now at 1,200 people, in 39 countries, with 100 engineers, and building their own machines
10:15 - how Anthony started boxing professionally in Mexico
13:25 - their storage platform and buying and selling manufacturers' products
15:30 - all manufacturing is in the US
19:30 - invest in developing their own highly specialized software (no off-the-shelf ERP or MRP) - most systems would break with their volume
21:15 - simple metrics and dashboards
AND... 22:00 - the Trump email drama and its outcome
This is not just a set of two amazing stories, but it's a great primer on how to start and run a business and how to stand up for what's right.
You really should tune in for the whole thing.