Podcast
2 min read

How a Small Machine Shop Became a Top 20 Supplier to NASA

blog post image

 

“Be careful with that silicon wafer. It's worth more than your house.”


Rodney Babcock, President of Next Intent, learned this lesson as the quality assurance manager servicing the likes of IBM and other semiconductor behemoths.

From his humble beginnings as a machinist programming a lathe to managing supply chain production to become an entrepreneur and leader in the aerospace industry, Rodney has a wealth of experience as both a manufacturing operator and manager.

Tune in as we explore a variety of topics related to Next Intent’s expertise with low volume / high precision manufacturing. It’s high stakes and high reward!



SHOW NOTES

03:22 — How the motto became, “We design and build really cool stuff”
09:01 — What led the company to become a top supplier for NASA
14:48 — Why the paperwork have to weigh more than the part?
24:11 — Getting rid of blame and ensuring the company owns the process
29:53 — Fighting entropy and complacency on the factory floor
36:20 — A modern philosophy on audits and certifications
44:19 — The different ends of the supplier spectrum

Written by Dozuki

Dozuki is the leading Connected Worker Platform for industrial operations. Since 2011, Dozuki has helped thousands of manufacturing sites standardize processes, upskill their workforce, and capture real-time data to drive continuous improvement. With a focus on ease of use and enterprise-grade security, Dozuki is the...

Related Posts

Continuous Improvement

How Connected Work Enables Real Human-Machine Collaboration

10 min read

It’s nearly impossible to ignore talk around Industry 5.0, the next digital phase of industrial operations where human-machine partnership becomes the focus. Consulting firms...

Continue Reading →
Featured

Embedded Industrial AI Use Cases in the Connected Worker Ecosystem

17 min read

For decades, the manufacturing sector has chased the "paperless floor." While many organizations succeeded in moving PDFs to tablets, the core challenge remained: how do we...

Continue Reading →
Standard Work

The Stress Free Audit: A Guide to Automating Compliance With Connected Worker Software

4 min read

In many manufacturing facilities, audit season is a period of high-stress firefighting. Operations leaders and quality managers often spend upwards of forty hours a week...

Continue Reading →