TOOL or DIE Podcast - Reindustrialize, Rebuild, or Retire

Rae Jeong Left DeepMind To Implement Video AI on the Factory Floor

🎙️ Maneva is building video-based AI agents that plug directly into real-world manufacturing environments and deliver real-time insights across safety, uptime, quality, and process improvement without changing the floor layout or installing a new camera system. This week on TOOL OR DIE, we talk to Rae Jeong, Maneva co-founder and CEO. From his roots in a blue-collar Alberta town to AI research at Google DeepMind, Rae shares how his experience in robotics, factory work, and frontier AI led to Maneva’s mission: to democratize high-performance factory intelligence through edge-deployed, reinforcement-learning-driven video agents. We cover the surprisingly hard edge of video AI in manufacturing—from jammed conveyors and missed safety protocols to process drift and equipment failure—and how learning systems trained on video, not just static images, might define the next wave of manufacturing optimization. Timestamp: 01:00 – From South Korea to Alberta to DeepMind: Ray Kim’s unusual path06:30 – What AI at DeepMind taught him about the limits of research10:30 – Why he left DeepMind to start Maneva13:00 – Maneva’s core pitch: video-to-action AI for messy, real-world factories17:00 – Why reinforcement learning on the edge matters21:00 – Mission-critical AI that integrates with PLCs, not the cloud24:00 – Beyond defect detection: using AI for downtime and predictive maintenance28:00 – Introducing Kaizen: factory-wide root cause analysis across agents31:00 – Real-world RCA: how video caught a missing prep station34:00 – The cost of jams and what video AI can really prevent Key Topics: * Edge-deployed AI in high-variance, high-volume environments * Reinforcement learning vs pretraining for real-world reliability * Why video (not “vision”) matters in industrial intelligence * Video-based RCA: identifying bottlenecks and preempting downtime * Oneva’s broader thesis: Kaizen 2.0 powered by AI agents, not binders 🔧 Learn more: Maneva.ai [https://Maneva.ai] Sponsor This episode of TOOL OR DIE is brought to you by DOSS [https://www.doss.com/industry/industrials?utm_source=toolordie_podcast], the adaptive ERP.DOSS kills implementation hell by working directly with your team, connecting all your systems to minimize data entry so you can focus on production. Instead of barging in like a bull in a china shop, they take a deep look at your actual operations and build a system that matches how you operate today, replacing only the parts that need improving—rather than trying to fix what’s already working great. DOSS — One Platform, Total Visibility [https://www.doss.com/industry/industrials?utm_source=toolordie_podcast] TOOL OR DIE is hosted by Joel Johnson, former science & tech journalist turned corporate strategist who built brands like Gizmodo, WIRED.com, and Wirecutter; and Alex Roy, General Partner at New Industry Venture Capital (NIVC.us), known for breaking the Cannonball Run record and his work in autonomous vehicles. Each week, they speak with the people actually rebuilding American manufacturing—one machine, one company, one idea at a time. Follow them at:LinkedIn: joeljohnson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeljohnson] | alexroy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexroy]X: @joeljohnson [https://x.com/joeljohnson] | @alexroy144 [https://x.com/alexroy144] Get full access to TOOL or DIE at www.toolordie.com/subscribe [https://www.toolordie.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Why Does Kevin Williams Keep Getting Static For Saying That Chinese Cars Are Good?

Kevin William is a car journalist. He keeps going to China to drive new Chinese cars, write about what he sees and experiences and feels with his own two hands. But his reports about the rapidly increasing quality of Chinese cars for InsideEVs.com [https://insideevs.com] over the last year have been controversial for Western audiences, many of whom simply can’t believe a really easy-to-fathom, if painful concept: Chinese cars aren’t just really good now. They might be better than every other car being made.This episode isn’t about politics or U.S. ambition—it’s about reality. About what happens when you ignore a competitor for too long, and then wake up to find they’ve leapfrogged you. From the software-defined vehicle myth to the quality gap between Tesla and Chinese EVs, Kevin walks us through how and why the Chinese car industry matured so fast and why so many in the West still don’t get it. Timestamp: 01:00 – Kevin Williams’ viral “Chinese cars are good” reporting05:00 – Debunking software-defined vehicles in the West08:00 – BYD, Xiaomi, and China’s EV quality edge12:00 – IP theft vs. learning by doing: what’s really going on18:00 – Nationalism, media backlash, and the fragility of Western auto pride24:00 – Why OEMs ignored China’s rise—and now regret it30:00 – Which Chinese brands are actually good? And which are failing?34:00 – Tesla’s fading advantage in China38:00 – What U.S. and European automakers need to do—now Key Topic: * How Chinese EVs leapfrogged Tesla in infotainment and ride quality * Why "IP theft" isn’t the core issue—complacency is * OEMs’ blind spot: millions of sales in China, zero situational awareness * The backlash to truth-telling in auto journalism * InsideEVs’ Kevin Williams on what Western execs won’t say out loud 🔧 Read Kevin's latest: InsideEVs.com [https://insideevs.com/authors/kevin-williams]Sponsor This episode of TOOL OR DIE is brought to you by DOSS [https://www.doss.com/industry/industrials?utm_source=toolordie_podcast], the adaptive ERP.DOSS kills implementation hell by working directly with your team, connecting all your systems to minimize data entry so you can focus on production. Instead of barging in like a bull in a china shop, they take a deep look at your actual operations and build a system that matches how you operate today, replacing only the parts that need improving—rather than trying to fix what’s already working great. DOSS — One Platform, Total Visibility [https://www.doss.com/industry/industrials?utm_source=toolordie_podcast] TOOL OR DIE is hosted by Joel Johnson, former science & tech journalist turned corporate strategist who built brands like Gizmodo, WIRED.com, and Wirecutter; and Alex Roy, General Partner at New Industry Venture Capital (NIVC.us), known for breaking the Cannonball Run record and his work in autonomous vehicles. Each week, they speak with the people actually rebuilding American manufacturing—one machine, one company, one idea at a time. Follow them at:LinkedIn: joeljohnson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeljohnson] | alexroy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexroy]X: @joeljohnson [https://x.com/joeljohnson] | @alexroy144 [https://x.com/alexroy144] Get full access to TOOL or DIE at www.toolordie.com/subscribe [https://www.toolordie.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Daniel Bayerdorffer Rolls with the Punches

🎙️ Not every manufacturing company is a giant or a startup. Some are still family-owned companies slogging it out, making key components that look simple but involve detailed problem solving every single day. Numberall [https://numberall.com] Stamp & Tool Co. is a family-run, rural Maine manufacturer making industrial marking tools for everything from lobster traps to Apollo missions. You’ve probably touched something they helped serialize—metal tags, numbered seals, marked valves—and never known it. But the company’s real story is in its resilience. Founded during the Great Depression to stamp poultry leg bands, Numberall grew into a small but essential supplier for defense, aerospace, medical, and heavy industry. Now in its third generation, it’s modernizing under pressure—holding tight tolerances, adding CNC machining, and training the next wave of machinists (when they can find them), all from a town of 800 people. Daniel, Alex, and Dieter—two generations of the Numberall family—join TOOL OR DIE to explain how rural manufacturers survive offshoring, boom-bust cycles, and demographic shifts. From WWII bomb sights to GE medical cuffs to engraved tags on the moon, this episode explores what legacy craftsmanship looks like when it’s still alive and evolving—and what it will take to pass it on. Timestamps 01:00 – Numberall’s founding: chicken bands and rotary stamps in 1930s New York04:00 – The move to Maine and becoming a three-generation family business07:00 – What modern industrial marking looks like—and why it still matters10:00 – Surviving downturns: dot-com crash, 2008, COVID, and inflation14:00 – CNC modernization and cutting down weeklong jobs to hours17:00 – Why tight tolerances matter in precision stamping21:00 – Small team, long tenures: how to grow without losing legacy skills25:00 – Workforce scarcity in rural towns and the automation trade-off30:00 – From Apollo to Saudi oil rigs: Numberall’s surprising global footprint34:00 – The role of human-readable marks in a digital supply chain37:00 – Made in Maine: rebuilding manufacturing from small-town shops40:00 – What federal support would actually help Main Street manufacturers Key Topics * Numberall’s 95-year evolution and intergenerational leadership * How industrial stamping still outperforms lasers in speed and simplicity * Tight tolerances and raised engraving: the machining behind the marks * Surviving multiple manufacturing downturns as a small supplier * The strategic role of rural U.S. manufacturers in global supply chains * CNC upgrades and macro programming for legacy products * Why reshoring alone isn’t enough: training, capital, and market access * Engraving bomb sights and stamping serials for the moon missions 🔧 Learn more: numberall.com [https://numberall.com] Sponsor This episode of TOOL OR DIE is brought to you by DOSS [https://www.doss.com/industry/industrials?utm_source=toolordie_podcast], the adaptive ERP.DOSS kills implementation hell by working directly with your team, connecting all your systems to minimize data entry so you can focus on production. Instead of barging in like a bull in a china shop, they take a deep look at your actual operations and build a system that matches how you operate today, replacing only the parts that need improving—rather than trying to fix what’s already working great. DOSS — One Platform, Total Visibility [https://www.doss.com/industry/industrials?utm_source=toolordie_podcast] TOOL OR DIE is hosted by Joel Johnson, former science & tech journalist turned corporate strategist who built brands like Gizmodo, WIRED.com, and Wirecutter; and Alex Roy, General Partner at New Industry Venture Capital (NIVC.us), known for breaking the Cannonball Run record and his work in autonomous vehicles. Each week, they speak with the people actually rebuilding American manufacturing—one machine, one company, one idea at a time. Follow them at:LinkedIn: joeljohnson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeljohnson] | alexroy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexroy]X: @joeljohnson [https://x.com/joeljohnson] | @alexroy144 [https://x.com/alexroy144] Get full access to TOOL or DIE at www.toolordie.com/subscribe [https://www.toolordie.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Niron's "Zero Rare Earth" Magnets Will Change the Global Order

🎙️ Magnets without rare earths. Didn’t even know it was possible. Yet Niron Magnetics [http://www.nironmagnetics.com] is making them in Minnesota and very soon the rest of the world.Simply put, what Niron has done is one of the most exciting and important industrial-scale innovations happening in the United States today. Magnets are critical in the electric motors that power everything from EVs to drones to robotics. But current magnets, like the ones in almost everything you own, need “rare earths” to function—rare earths that are sometimes mined in the United States, but never processed here. Which is why China often uses them as a trade lever, as they process more rare earths than any other country. Niron changes all of that, using a process that requires no rare earths and is even more powerful than what’s available with standard neodymium magnets. It’s huge. Niron CEO Jonathan Rowntree joins TOOL OR DIE to explain how Niron’s tech could transform everything from EV motors to defense drones to data center cooling—and why America’s magnet crisis is bigger than most people realize. From the legacy of the Manhattan Project to the geopolitical chokehold of Chinese exports, this is a deep dive into the guts of the devices that run our world, and the urgent need to build domestic capacity from the atom up. Timestamps 01:00 – What’s so hard about neodymium? And what is Niron doing differently?04:00 – A rare earth-free magnet: iron nitride and how it works07:30 – The environmental and geopolitical risks of traditional rare earth magnet supply11:00 – Coming out of stealth and the global rare earth crisis 2.014:00 – Commercial pilot facility launched; full-scale factory coming in 202717:00 – Performance gains: higher thermal stability, motor efficiency improvements21:00 – Small motor demand: drones, humanoid robots, and data center cooling25:00 – Scaling U.S. magnet production from grams to 10,000 tons29:00 – The capital challenge: what funding hard tech actually requires33:00 – IP protection, cyber threats, and building a team for scale36:00 – Why domestic magnet production could drive reshoring of entire supply chains40:00 – What else needs to be rebuilt: copper, steel, automation, and skilled labor Key Topics * Iron nitride as a rare earth-free alternative to neodymium magnets * The technical and geopolitical vulnerabilities of global magnet supply * Niron’s commercialization roadmap: pilot facility to 10,000-ton factory * Motor design, thermal stability, and efficiency performance tradeoffs * Strategic applications: EVs, drones, defense, data centers * Reshoring through component innovation: building near demand * U.S. capital markets and the gap in scaling hard tech * The future of skilled labor in an automated manufacturing world 🔧 Learn more: nironmagnetics.com [https://www.nironmagnetics.com/] Sponsor This episode of TOOL OR DIE is brought to you by DOSS [https://www.doss.com/industry/industrials?utm_source=toolordie_podcast], the adaptive ERP.DOSS kills implementation hell by working directly with your team, connecting all your systems to minimize data entry so you can focus on production. Instead of barging in like a bull in a china shop, they take a deep look at your actual operations and build a system that matches how you operate today, replacing only the parts that need improving—rather than trying to fix what’s already working great. DOSS — One Platform, Total Visibility [https://www.doss.com/industry/industrials?utm_source=toolordie_podcast] TOOL OR DIE is hosted by Joel Johnson, former science & tech journalist turned corporate strategist who built brands like Gizmodo, WIRED.com, and Wirecutter; and Alex Roy, General Partner at New Industry Venture Capital (NIVC.us), known for breaking the Cannonball Run record and his work in autonomous vehicles. Each week, they speak with the people actually rebuilding American manufacturing—one machine, one company, one idea at a time. Follow them at:LinkedIn: joeljohnson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeljohnson] | alexroy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexroy]X: @joeljohnson [https://x.com/joeljohnson] | @alexroy144 [https://x.com/alexroy144] Get full access to TOOL or DIE at www.toolordie.com/subscribe [https://www.toolordie.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Chris Nolte Moved To Detroit To Help Hard Tech Startups Bloom

🎙️ It’s easy to think America doesn’t manufacture anything, but it’s simply not true. But one of the open questions around manufacturing in 2025 is simply: what if American manufacturing were more connected? What if the factories, logistics partners, and service providers already exist but need a new kind of network—one with actual business operations answers—to unlock them? Chris Nolte is a co-founder of Bloom [https://www.togetherwebloom.us], a Detroit-based operations marketplace (but with national reach) that helps emerging hardware companies scale. From electric motorcycles to autonomous robots and prefab homes companies, Bloom is helping hardware founders match with domestic manufacturers and logistics partners, then helping both sides finance, communicate, and operate with maximum speed. Bloom is hard tech grease. Nolte talks with TOOL OR DIE about the long tail of American manufacturing: why so many companies outsource by default, why so few people know that critical suppliers are still here, and how Detroit’s legacy supply chain can—and must—diversify beyond cars. From tariffs to tooling, high-mix manufacturing to culture change, Chris cheerfully explains the real reasons reshoring is hard to a hard-headed idiot (me) and what it’s going to take to make it work. Thanks again to Newlab Detroit [http://newlab.com] and Michigan Central [https://michigancentral.com] for hosting us. We’ll be publishing a few more episodes than usual over the next few weeks; we met several great companies in Detroit and don’t want to sit on episodes. Timestamps: 01:15 – What Bloom does: connecting hardware startups with overlooked U.S. manufacturing04:00 – Beyond matchmaking: Bloom’s tools for financing, best practices, and logistics07:15 – Why reshoring isn’t just patriotic—it’s strategic risk management10:00 – Rethinking vertical integration and the myth of doing everything in-house13:45 – The “missing middle” in American manufacturing: why scale is so hard17:00 – Can Detroit build something that’s not a car? Why it must22:00 – The hidden factories: who’s assembling TVs and scooters in the U.S. right now26:00 – The real limiter: tariffs that penalize domestic production30:00 – Why communication—not tech—is the real bottleneck for U.S. suppliers33:45 – Bloom’s future: automating matching with AI, building the “Shopify for manufacturing”37:00 – Rebuilding industrial culture with Zoomers, grit, and mutual respect Key Topics: * Building a modern network of domestic suppliers, 3PLs, and service shops * The real costs and incentives behind offshoring—and what’s changing * The bottleneck of American "medium-scale" manufacturing * Tariffs, rare earths, and supply chain gaps * Using software and shared infrastructure to de-risk hardware startups * Detroit’s next chapter—and why it must extend beyond the automotive industry * Cultural challenges in U.S. factories—and how better communication changes everything * What it takes to speed up reshoring without giving in to nostalgia 🔧 Learn more: BuildWithBloom.com [https://www.togetherwebloom.us] Sponsor This episode of TOOL OR DIE is brought to you by DOSS [https://www.doss.com/industry/industrials?utm_source=toolordie_podcast], the adaptive ERP.DOSS kills implementation hell by working directly with your team, connecting all your systems to minimize data entry so you can focus on production. Instead of barging in like a bull in a china shop, they take a deep look at your actual operations and build a system that matches how you operate today, replacing only the parts that need improving—rather than trying to fix what’s already working great. DOSS — One Platform, Total Visibility [https://www.doss.com/industry/industrials?utm_source=toolordie_podcast] TOOL OR DIE is hosted by Joel Johnson, former science & tech journalist turned corporate strategist who built brands like Gizmodo, WIRED.com, and Wirecutter; and Alex Roy, General Partner at New Industry Venture Capital (NIVC.us), known for breaking the Cannonball Run record and his work in autonomous vehicles. Each week, they speak with the people actually rebuilding American manufacturing—one machine, one company, one idea at a time. Follow them at:LinkedIn: joeljohnson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeljohnson] | alexroy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexroy]X: @joeljohnson [https://x.com/joeljohnson] | @alexroy144 [https://x.com/alexroy144] Get full access to TOOL or DIE at www.toolordie.com/subscribe [https://www.toolordie.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]