Introduction

Hey there, welcome to another episode of the Manufacturers Makes Strides podcast. I’m your host, Martin Griffiths. Joining us today is Bhavik Shah, an electric vehicle technology expert and the business growth manager at Unipart Automotive. Bhavik has over three decades of experience in automotive manufacturing, with the last 10 years focused on vehicle electrification.

In our conversation today, we’ll explore the future of vehicle electrification, strategies to foster innovation and growth, and the realities of building a sustainable supply chain in this evolving sector. Bhavik will also share his insights from years of mentoring and leading in the electrified automotive manufacturing space. Stay tuned for an insider’s perspective on driving growth and innovation in vehicle electrification.

In this article:

• Introduction to Bhavik Shah and the Future of Vehicle Electrification
• Critical Factors for Companies Transitioning to Electrification
• The Importance of Collaboration in the EV Supply Chain
• Mentoring and Its Impact on Career Growth
• Mindfulness Practices in Engineering and Their Benefits

Martin: Hey Bhavik, really good to have you on the podcast today. How are you doing?

Bhavik: Hi Martin. Very good. It’s a sunny day in Coventry. You picked a good week to chat with me.

Martin: You have vast expertise in automotive and electric vehicles. What got you into the automotive sector?

Bhavik: Sure. Chance in an unusual circumstance. I graduated in aeronautical engineering at Imperial College in ’94. The defense sector was on the downturn. So, I had a fantastic opportunity as a grad to join Ove Arup. They were seeding new technology in computer-aided engineering, very complex systems sold on a supercomputer. They were looking for young talent, which brought me into mechanical engineering and vehicle simulation. That’s been ongoing for 30 years now in different ways.

Martin: How do you see the transition from internal combustion engines to electric or hybrid vehicles? What’s your take on the current landscape and what happens next?

Bhavik: Transport is massively changing. About 25 percent of global greenhouse gases come from transport. It’s a major focus for climate policies. It’s also a very solvable issue compared to sectors like agriculture or industrial waste. The UK Climate Committee identified transport as a key area to address. Electric vehicles aren’t new, but mass production is. Automotive manufacturers saw the problem, and industry was willing to act. Electrification is a near-term win, but it’s still only 25 percent of the problem. Globally, there’s still a gap, with China, Europe, and the U.S. leading in electric vehicle sales.

Martin: You know, looking at manufacturing businesses and the supply chain, what are some critical factors companies need to consider when transitioning to electrification?

Bhavik: It’s a complex dilemma. Electrification is a whole platform change, requiring large investments. The supply chain also needs to change, involving CapEx and OpEx on both assembly and supply chain sides, and there’s a global aspect due to electronics content. Supply chain issues and shortages are common. Technology is rapidly changing, from battery cell format to chemistry, size, and packaging, making it hard to make money before mass market readiness. Adoption isn’t guaranteed, as consumers still choose between electric and petrol cars. The fascinating part for me is the link to the energy system. Companies need to connect their products with energy, looking at it as an ecosystem. This is why Tesla is in the charging market and VW offers green electricity. It’s about creating a complete experience for the consumer.

Martin: So, is it about covering the whole experience for the consumer, ensuring they have an easy way to keep their car charged? Or is it about addressing concerns that the energy for electric cars should come from sustainable sources?

Bhavik: That’s a great topic for discussion. Yes, manufacturers need to understand the full needs of the consumer, but there’s also the infrastructure challenge. We’ve had this fuel available for a hundred years, with a massive infrastructure grid. Tesla had to create superchargers to make their product viable. Regarding the energy mix, early adopters bragged about zero emissions, but if the electricity comes from coal, it’s not a green solution. Battery production also involves significant energy and materials. The industry uses life cycle analysis (LCA) to compare energy use and raw materials, aiming to minimize the LCA across the supply chain.

Martin: You mentioned challenges with the clear vision for the industry to achieve fully sustainable, zero emissions, but there’s a changeable landscape of tech and demands. How do businesses navigate that? What’s your advice on how businesses should navigate it while keeping the team in mind and avoiding chaos?

Bhavik: Chaos isn’t great for growth. It’s good for innovation and small-scale growth, but not for large-scale growth. Companies need to build nimble and agile manufacturing and production supply chains, ready for technology changes. The connection between energy and product is crucial, as money may come from the energy aspect or data running it. Data is now fundamental in automotive, and energy is also important.

Collaboration is key. It brings de-risking through shared investment and fosters supply chain innovation. Vertical integration isn’t always best in this industry yet, so pockets of excellence need to come together. Matchmaking among players in the ecosystem is vital. I spent time in a government role at the Advanced Propulsion Centre with large collaboration projects, which are crucial for UK automotive innovation and industrialization. These projects help bridge the “valley of death” between pilot stages and industrialization, where risk and CapEx are high. Collaboration through grant funding is a magic bullet.

Martin: Do you think collaboration brings in skills or expertise that may be missing from traditional automotive companies, like data analytics?

Bhavik: Yeah, it could be data-led or energy collaboration. For instance, working with a charging infrastructure company instead of having our own chargers. Collaborating with large battery producers instead of building our own gigafactory. Collaborating with experts in electronics and electrical fields can help us grow rapidly. Companies like Ford and VW are already investing in other companies for battery technology and cloud-based solutions. It’s a great model for innovation and de-risking.

Martin: Brilliant. What excites you most about leading growth in EV supply chains?

Bhavik: Electrification is game-changing with no shortage of challenging problems, which I thrive on. It’s changed everything from powertrains to refueling approaches. Integrating the use of energy is now crucial. For example, using vehicle-to-grid (V2G) or vehicle-to-house systems. Innovation is massive, but commercialization is key. I enjoy making products successful and creating revenue growth. I work with SMEs, medium, and large organizations, like Unipart, to grow electrified supply chains.

Martin: Brilliant. What excites you most about leading growth in EV supply chains?

Bhavik: Electrification is game-changing with no shortage of challenging problems, which I thrive on. It’s changed everything from powertrains to refueling approaches. Integrating the use of energy is now crucial. For example, using vehicle-to-grid (V2G) or vehicle-to-house systems. Innovation is massive, but commercialization is key. I enjoy making products successful and creating revenue growth. I work with SMEs, medium, and large organizations, like Unipart, to grow electrified supply chains.

Martin: Do you think there’s space for smaller companies in the EV supply chain? Where do SMEs fit into the picture?

Bhavik: Totally. SMEs add immense value to larger corporations with their nimble, agile, and energetic approach. Larger companies can’t move at their pace unless they create mini incubators with SME culture. SME thinking is crucial for innovation. It’s a highly competitive environment, which drives innovation. SMEs might struggle with scale-up or funding, but collaboration with larger corporations or investors can help. They can either grow themselves, stay innovative and small, or work with venture capitalists to chart their path. There are many routes forward, but SMEs often need help navigating these paths. I spend time helping these companies grow in the UK.

Martin: What would your advice be for a company looking to scale up technologies or services focused on the EV supply chain?

Bhavik: SMEs’ biggest challenge is understanding the route to market. They often think a great idea just needs money, but the automotive and energy sectors have their own complications and competition. Scale-up is another key issue. Planning for large-scale production is very different from pilot-level builds. Programs like the Technology Developer Accelerator Program (TDAP) in the UK, run by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), help with mentoring, IP inventory, business cases, and matchmaking to other organizations. This helps SMEs move robustly from TRL 4 to 7, overcoming the “valley of death.” Other programs, like those with the Faraday Institution for batteries and the Driving the Electric Revolution program for motors, are also valuable. SMEs should reach out to these programs for guidance.

Martin: That sounds really helpful. How do you think UK companies are performing in the global EV market?

Bhavik: It is a race, and I feel we’ve been left a bit behind. China built its infrastructure early with a national program. The U.S. responded with the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest incentivization program ever. Europe relies on regulation to drive innovation, focusing on sustainability and taxing carbon. The UK, post-Brexit, is doing its own thing, being the first to announce a ban on internal combustion engines, incentivizing Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs).

At our peak, we made 2 million vehicles in the UK. We have a production economy, a supply chain economy, and jobs that depend on it. Electrification supply chains are crucial, and we are currently relying more on imports from Europe, Asia, and China. My focus is on growing manufacturing for products where we can be competitive. High performance, novel technology, and manufacturing intelligence are key areas. Government support is essential to ensure companies like JLR, BMW, Nissan, Toyota, and Stellantis keep investing. The next five to ten years will show if we can build a strong supply chain to support these large companies.

Martin: So it’s a key kind of five years to decades coming up.

Bhavik: If that sounds a little scary, it just is the reality of the message right now.

Martin: I just want to dig into one thing you mentioned earlier. You talked about a program with good mentoring. Have any mentors particularly impacted you in your career? Do you think mentoring is important?

Bhavik: I hope so. I’ve benefited from it and helped others who call me a mentor, though I don’t like to use the label. If I can be of help, then it’s mentoring. I’ve had loads of informal mentors, and industry itself is a mentor as a metaphor.

Martin: Yeah. Official mentoring can come with a lot of baggage.

Bhavik: Exactly. Coaching and mentoring aren’t really UK phrases. Early in my career, I had a phenomenal technical mentor, Richard Sturt at Arup, who taught me a lot about technical thoroughness and groundbreaking work. In the U.S., venture capitalists and Tom Gutwald helped me with business success. At Jaguar Land Rover, I had mentors guiding me during the transition out of the PAG group to Tata. In electrification, I’ve continued learning. Every innovation journey benefits from mentors, and I’m grateful to many. Now, I focus on being a business mentor in creativity, growth, and environmental factors. Creating a culture around growth is crucial and often overlooked.

Martin: I just want to dig into one thing you mentioned earlier. You talked about a program with good mentoring. Have any mentors particularly impacted you in your career? Do you think mentoring is important?

Bhavik: I hope so. I’ve benefited from it and helped others who call me a mentor, though I don’t like to use the label. If I can be of help, then it’s mentoring. I’ve had loads of informal mentors, and industry itself is a mentor as a metaphor.

Martin: Yeah. Official mentoring can come with a lot of baggage.

Bhavik: Exactly. Coaching and mentoring aren’t really UK phrases. Early in my career, I had a phenomenal technical mentor, Richard Sturt at Arup, who taught me a lot about technical thoroughness and groundbreaking work. In the U.S., venture capitalists and Tom Gutwald helped me with business success. At Jaguar Land Rover, I had mentors guiding me during the transition out of the PAG group to Tata. In electrification, I’ve continued learning. Every innovation journey benefits from mentors, and I’m grateful to many. Now, I focus on being a business mentor in creativity, growth, and environmental factors. Creating a culture around growth is crucial and often overlooked.

Martin: I noticed you had some time with mindfulness practices. What benefits do you see from that in your personal and work life? Do you have a daily ritual or practice?

Bhavik: It’s an awkward topic in engineering, especially in a male-dominant environment. It’s not about sitting on a yoga mat.

Martin: I’ll just slightly interrupt you there. I totally agree about the awkwardness. I was asked about this on a flight with a colleague about 20 years ago. He asked if I meditated or read philosophy, and the culture at the time was that engineers didn’t do that. It was very much about hard facts. I think things have moved on now, but there’s still that stigma.

Bhavik: Glad you said that. It’s good to make sure we discuss that. For me, it started with personal adversity. Our son was born very unwell, and that led to a difficult situation at home. As an engineer, you know how to fix things, but when the medical profession can’t solve something, you have to dig deeper. This led to a discovery of the human condition and self-understanding. It’s not just about meditation or mindfulness but realizing we are capable of more than we think.

When COVID came, I was getting lots of questions about this. As a director, I started enacting mindfulness programs at work. The team did mindfulness at lunch, and behaviors in meetings improved, creativity increased, and there was a more positive outlook. We benchmarked it, did a scoring system, and it worked well. Well-being is important, and I support people on their journeys, tackling adversity and fostering creativity.

Martin: That’s fascinating. Sometimes taking five to ten minutes to change the mindset first can make subsequent work flow much easier.

Bhavik: Absolutely. You asked about daily routines. I’ve seen many senior leaders use these practices. Starting the day with self-reflection without the phone allows you to understand your thoughts and have abundant energy to solve things. At the end of the day, decluttering your mind helps. This can be done by watching thoughts escape, writing them down, or processing them. Decluttering helps avoid carrying unresolved issues into sleep, leading to a fresh start the next day.

Martin: Great. Really good advice. Thank you for your time today. Any final thoughts or places where people can learn more about you?

Bhavik: Easy to reach me on LinkedIn. My focus is on growth, encompassing culture, people, tools, and innovation. This podcast is a great platform to discuss these topics. It’s like a pub chat where we can step out of our technology focus and see what makes us tick. I appreciate you setting up this platform.

Martin: Oh, it’s a pleasure. Great to speak to you, Bhavik.

Bhavik: Okay. Cheers.

Final Thoughts:

Thanks for reading! This blog post provides a concise version of our conversation with Bhavik Shah. We covered a range of topics including the future of vehicle electrification, critical factors for companies transitioning to electrification, the importance of collaboration and mentoring, and the role of mindfulness in fostering creativity and productivity. For the full discussion, listen to the podcast on Spotify or watch it on YouTube.

A big thank you to Bhavik Shah for sharing his expert insights and experiences with us. If you enjoyed our discussion, please like and share this post to help us reach more people like you. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or follow us on LinkedIn to catch all of our latest episodes. Join us next time as we delve into the innovations shaping the manufacturing world. I’m Martin Griffiths, thanks for reading and see you in the next episode.

The way we move never stays the same for very long. Humans have transitioned from foot to carriage to car, and now, P.J Tezza is escorting mankind into the next generation of mobility – ModVans. The result of 1000+ hours of work and an unrelenting refusal to take no for an answer.

In this fascinating interview, P.J reveals how he turned his background in physics and software engineering into a powerhouse manufacturer that configures 10 vans a week – a number they plan to shoot up to 100 in the not-so-distant future. And to think – it all began with P.J configuring his own van for himself, made to maintain luxury, comfort, and convenience on the open road.

As an intrinsic problem-solver, P.J wanted to give America a way to move, work, and play in one multi-purpose family vehicle that’s beautiful, functional and redefines the word “modular”. No matter the nature of the vans before them, P.J and his team have the knowledge, experience, and self-taught grit to transform them into something America has never seen before.

Are you ready to dive into P.Js incredible journey with us? Let’s get to it!

What inspired you to start ModVans?

I discovered early on that I really liked engineering and I had a really successful career in software. I’ve been involved in a lot of startups and have always been excited about the creative aspect. So, eventually, I built a vehicle for myself as I wanted something for camping. I love camping and I also like to snowboard in the winter. This involves a lot of driving, especially in California which is a pretty big place. So I was looking for a vehicle that could fit my daily life and also go camping on the weekend.

When I built the van, it was a ton of work, way more work than I had imagined. But it had a lot of unique things to it. It was modular. It had a pop-up top, which was a pretty unique design, and AC as a full feature. When I was finished my friends were saying, you should sell these! I wasn’t sure at first, but driving the van around for six months, everywhere I went people were like, hey! Can I see inside your van? Where did you get it? Where can I get one?

I built the modular features because I wanted the seats and beds to be able to come in and out. I wanted to be able to use it for moving stuff, picking up supplies at the home improvement store, things like that. And it turns out that people like that. So I’ve carried that design philosophy into our product line and I now have three different models. They are all modular. You can take everything out and potentially haul bikes inside, and all your kids and dogs for one big trip. So that’s what the heart of ModVans is.

How did you build a manufacturing company from scratch?

I  had a startup that sold to another bigger company. And as a result, I wasn’t working a lot. I had a little bit of money and some flexibility for where I could live. So my wife and I moved from Northern California to Southern California. But when we came down here we realised there weren’t any jobs for people like us. So as I was getting even more questions about the van since moving to Southern California. I thought lets dust off the ModVans thing here,

So, I built a website that could take orders, and I just put it out there. I thought if I can get enough orders with deposits, why not give it a try? We got a great response right off the bat. It took me a couple of little tries, but I eventually figured out how to sell them. And my goal was, I wasn’t going to start the business unless I had five orders with deposits. I ended up with 10, after two months. So, we leased space and I started the way I would a software startup, with a minimal amount of space and a minimal number of employees.

My attitude at the time was, I’m not going to do this unless I can do it easily, the way I think it should be done. So when customers would call me and ask to talk to other customers before committing, I would say, I don’t have any other customers, you have to decide if you’re an early adopter and if you want to wait to see how this unfolds. I might have talked to 1000 people, and I ended up with 10 people who said, yeah, I’m willing to take a chance and see how it all works out because what you are building here is unique, and we’re excited about it.

Have your software skills been an advantage for your manufacturing startup?

When we launched the company and I had 10 orders. I was planning to outsource the manufacturing of the pop tops to somebody else. But I didn’t know that they sold the top separately. So with the 10 orders, it made sense to design the top my way, rather than just accepting what was on the market. So that started the process of building moulds and then making our parts.

Later on, we decided to make a new mould for the same part and realised it had some defects. We wanted to change some lines and make some improvements, so I hired a company that does a lot of work in the automotive and aerospace industry. However, they took way longer in my opinion, than was necessary to make it. I started to understand that they were used to working at a much slower pace and not really completing projects at the minimum level of time necessary.

So, coming from the software world it’s a totally different mindset, especially with a startup. We don’t have the luxury of doing things that way. If I have a project that takes too long, we’ll go out of business. So I had this attitude adjustment where I needed to really look and see what was going on and if I didn’t agree with it, to investigate. So I think that’s a big advantage.

What are your goals for ModVans in 2022?

So from a technical standpoint, ModVans is what’s called a second stage vehicle manufacturer. That means we buy a chassis that’s already completed the certifications required in the US, to be on the roads as a legal vehicle. We then modify it to become what we call a multi-purpose vehicle.

In 2021, we had a crisis in the auto industry in the US. The big vehicle manufacturers didn’t have enough chips to make their vehicles. Therefore in 2021, we doubled down on r&d and our plan is to keep working on getting better at production. So when the vehicles become readily available again, We’ll be able to jump on that. Our path is to ramp up the manufacturing that we have now. We have plans to build a much larger facility. Right now, we’re somewhere between 5 and 10 vehicles a month but we’re hoping to build a facility that will get us 100 to 200 a month

We’ve also begun on a truly electric version of our RV. One of the great things we’ve been able to do this year is going from one model to two models. We then added a whole bunch of electronics, which kind of makes it six models total. With the RV platform, what’s really exciting is getting rid of the motor. For us, not having that big motor sitting, either in the rear or the front, really opens up some great design possibilities.

Do you have any tools or techniques that have helped you build ModVans up to where you are today?

I definitely recommend the Lean Startup approach. And there’s a book, the Lean Startup. I get people all the time asking can you tell me what I should do about my business? I tell them, the first thing you need to do is read this book, and then let’s talk about it. Unfortunately, the engineering mindset is the wrong approach. The lean startup is how do we start selling before we have that?

Kickstarter and these kinds of platforms exist where you can go and figure out if you can gain market acceptance. There’s already a crowd of people that know what Kickstarter is and they understand it. And you can go out on those platforms and you can try to sell it. This way you can at least start knowing that you have market acceptance and work backwards. So you push the marketing first, that’s the Lean startup. And for hardware, in particular, Kickstarter is a very powerful approach that can save a lot of time and energy if you’re willing to tackle it that way.

What’s the best way for people to find out more about ModVans or to get in touch with you?

The website is www.modvans.com or you can find me personally on LinkedIn. I don’t know if I can always be this way, but right now if you write to me I will write you back. I think people are shocked sometimes, but I just enjoy talking to people, whatever it is. Just having a chat and batting ideas back and forth. And if I can help, that’s great, I sincerely hope I can help.

E-vehicles were once considered the future of mobility. Now, it’s a solid present-day reality for drivers around the world. Countless drivers are now hopping into electric or hybrid cars, trucks, and buses instead of their fossil-fuelled powered counterparts. However, what is the future for e-vehicles?

Tony Sufler, the VP of Ops and MD at Momentum Dynamics, might just have the answer. He’s the developer of a new, innovative way to wirelessly charge electric vehicles of all shapes and sizes. His pioneering idea might just be the step towards electric vehicles that can be operated 24 hours a day!

If you want to find out more about how Tony started his career and worked himself up to VP at one of the leading innovators in the electric vehicle market, watch our video now! We talk about charging changes and the future of e-vehicles.

How did you get into manufacturing and the automotive industry?

When I was a lot younger I wanted to be a chef, but my parents weren’t too keen on the idea! So I went to Penn State University for engineering. Early on in my career, I realized I was more interested in making things than designing things. My father was in the automotive industry on the retail side and in the repair industry. I always had a big interest in cars. A little bit into my career, I worked for a tier-one automotive supplier for General Motors and for Lear, who make a lot of interiors for cars. I did that for about 10 years, and really, enjoyed that industry.

In addition, I worked for a company that produced high power and high voltage transformers and power supplies. So if I had to put together my two biggest influences in my career, that’s what directed me to Momentum. We support vehicle companies and those integrations and our products are high power and high voltage. So it’s almost like the perfect collision.

How does the technology that you’re developing work?

We produce wireless vehicle chargers. So, if you have an e-vehicle, the traditional way to charge your vehicle is to plug it in. We’re focused on fleets of vehicles, whether they’re buses, trucks or automobiles. What our product does is inductive charging, so you don’t need to actually plug your car in. So in theory, with small charges throughout the day, the vehicle can run 24 hours a day without taking that vehicle offline.

We have strategically placed charging pads that are put into the ground. There’s a receiving pad on the vehicle, so once the vehicle drives over the pad, certain things happen with regard to alignment. That’s how the vehicles charge. It’s done in a short amount of time, whereas plugging your vehicle in takes longer to accomplish the charge.

What are the challenges of getting from manufacture to deployment?

Right now we’re in, what I call, the education part. We’re learning a lot about our technology with improvements. As far as operations go, my challenge is to look a bit further down the road to adequately scale to higher levels of production. That’s where I’m going to tap into a lot of things I’ve done in the past with automation, robotics etc, to properly scale the anticipated increase in business

We’re implementing a lot of processes to anticipate when customers will give us a try on a trial basis. So, we do have a number of successful deployments already. What we are learning from that is, what can we do to improve the installations? And with our contract manufacturers, what can we do to reduce the time it takes to actually produce the equipment? It is pretty complicated and, based on that, we have to formulate what the best paths are to scale that.

What are the future plans for Momentum Dynamics?

We’re solidifying our processes and developing our quality management system. We learn areas of improvement through repetition. Then, we start to develop the basis and the benchmarks for a continuous improvement program. At the same time, we’re looking at where our strategic partners are going to be.

A lot of our customers are located in Europe and a lot of our immediate opportunities will be in Europe. This is because the future of e-vehicles is accepted more in Europe than here in the States. There are a lot of influences being put into the e-vehicle market, not only for improved efficiencies but also for environmental issues. But, from where we can see, Europe is far ahead of the United States right now.

Do you have any techniques that help you achieve your goals or stay on track personally or business-wise?

I think there are two things that we do in our jobs as managers. There are certain tactical things that we have to do to accomplish tasks. But I think we need to spend a certain amount of time to take a step back. I always call it, getting in Tony’s helicopter and going to 10,000 feet to review my strategy. And it’s my job to continue to remind people of that. If we forget what the strategy is and why we’re doing it, we just become proverbial firefighters and don’t progress the big picture of what we’re doing. It’s taken some mental discipline on my part to be able to accomplish that on a regular basis.

On a personal side, I’m extremely active. I’m a very competitive duathlon, so I run a lot and cycle a lot. I compete and I think that keeps my mind fresh. I’m also an avid reader and a big proponent of the ‘why’ we do things, instead of what we do and how we do it. I’m a big advocate of Simon Sinek and a lot of his readings.

What’s the best way for people to find out about what’s going on with Momentum Dynamics?

The best way for companies to look at things we’re doing and where we’re an extremely active participant is LinkedIn. That’s where we do all our social media. We’re also in the press. We’ve been on CNN, we’ve been in local governments and discussions with the national government in the United States. So our website and following us on LinkedIn is the best way to keep track of Momentum Dynamics.

Automation is one of the hottest topics in the engineering and manufacturing industries. The speed, efficiency, and potential hurdles of automation are the points of discussion on every agenda – including ours today. We’re talking to the co-founder of an online platform that’s making job accessibility in the age of automation a very real and very lucrative opportunity for automation engineers in America.

Hear what Tony Wallace has to say about why automation is happening at break-neck speeds, how automation engineers and PLC programmers can stay ahead of the career game, and how America is joining the conversation.

If you’d like to learn more about Tony’s career from contractor to co-founder of Automate America, then follow along as we talk about career moves, online platforms for programming professionals, and some of his thoughts on automation as the future of America.

What lead you to creating your own automation company?

I grew up in Detroit and all of my family was involved in the United Automation Workers in America. The city that I grew up in had three auto plants right in the city. You either worked for the auto companies or you service them. I originally worked for an engineering firm, then the obvious path forward for me was becoming an independent contractor. I’d met many of them and they were making a lot of money. I thought if I want to go to the next level, I’d have to start contracting myself. I wasn’t really thinking about growing a company, but before I knew it, I had several independent contractors and that blossomed into hiring engineers. Ultimately that led us to build systems here in South Carolina.

What are some of the challenges you come across with contracting?

We had our struggles and learned that keeping an even, consistent workflow was impossible. You would get a huge one-off system, followed by a smaller one, followed by the biggest one you’ve ever had. We couldn’t keep mechanical designers, builders, electricians, and programmers busy all at the same time. I loved building automation, but it was difficult to be successful and to run a business profitably.

The problem was having the right employees with the right skills on demand. So, we set forward to helping everybody build those systems efficiently. For instance, if you have your core team of three or four mechanical designers and you get a big project, you contract the others that you need. When that part of the project is done, you move on and contract in some builders or electricians. With Automate America, if you hire too many employees you can keep them billable by contracting them back out.

Do you think automation in America is going to expand over the next few years?

Yes. I think the supply chain problems have been brought to light and importing has become much more difficult and expensive. We are seeing quite a bit of reshoring and we’re looking forward to 2022 seeing a big portion of that. A lot of companies are bringing portions of their supply chain back to America. Even if they’re not manufacturing their entire product here, they’re bringing it back, so it seems to be going well. We’re also doing work across all of North America and some in South America and Brazil and Argentina as well.

Do you think manufacturers will get a fast return on investment?

What we’re finding in America is that nobody wants to do manual labour anymore. Nobody wants to load a bracket, those days are gone. When you find an employee that’s willing to do that, the turnover is so high and the problems are immense. We have manufacturers right now that are looking for just anybody. They don’t care about background checks or drug tests, they just need to get people in. But they literally have police officers on the manufacturing floor every day because they’re having so many problems. And that’s just unsustainable, you can’t maintain a work environment like that. Those same customers are losing engineers because they don’t want to be working with felons on the floor. So all of those processes really need to be automated.

Do you have any tools or techniques that have helped you along the way?

Contracting is definitely not for inexperienced people or somebody trying to get a start in the industry. You really need to be an experienced seasoned employee to move into it. Keeping contacts and keeping a reputation, that’s the most important thing with any business, but especially in automation. While you’re an employee, you can make a good impression and really build up your reputation and network. When it becomes time to contract, you’ll know the right people to call, the right marketplace to join, and you can go out there with a reputable background.

On the financial side, before you try to start your business, make sure that you have a stable background. You don’t want to be worried about quitting your job becoming a contractor and worry about your first month’s payments. You need to make sure that that’s covered. What I recommend to everybody is to have two or three months of bills in the bank before you get started. A big way to do that, at least in America, is through credit with the bank. If you start a company here, most banks will give you a line of credit for $5,000 to start off. Then every month you go back to the bank, ask for more and keep building it up. This is one of the keys to our success – traditional bank financing.

What exciting things are you working on in this coming year?

I’m really excited about improving our social media and, and finding a way to really make that work. In the past, our social media was just imaging, an image with some information. Now we’re converting to video and trying to make that work. It’s a journey. It’s something that should always improve and I’m sure it’s going to get much better every day. So we’re looking forward to that.

What’s the best way for people to get in touch with you?

Go directly to automateamerica.com and register for free. If you’re a customer, you can post your contract there right away. We also market your products and services as a customer. You can register as a service partner and if you have a contractor, build a profile for them and get them working right away. If you’re an independent contractor, you can build your own profile and apply it to any projects you want. Everything’s upfront, So what you see is what you get. If you see a $100-hour bill rate, that’s what you get paid, and payment terms, expenses and travel are in the initial contract.