Custom manufacturing has unique challenges, especially when you're manufacturing custom cases and transit containers for military drones and data centers.

It's easy to take America's superior military hardware as a given. But superior hardware isn't an advantage if it arrives damaged.

Sterling Becklin, President and Chairman of ECS Composites, shares his perspective from leading the business his grandfather founded, to building server rackmounts and semi-trailer sized crates for Predator drones.

What You'll Discover In This Episode

• Where scope creep hides in custom manufacturing

• How ECS gains market share by standing still

• Why tenure is so critical for ECS

• Challenges of leading a high-tenure workforce

• How weight became mission-critical for war fighters

About the Guest

Sterling Becklin is President & Chairman of the Board at ECS Composites, an internationally respected designer/manufacturer of transit cases, rackmount cases and reusable shipping containers for military, aviation and commercial applications.

Serving all branches of the military and NASA, ECS has provided thousands of enclosure solutions for precision tactical, aerospace and communications equipment. The company is a 3rd generation family owned business in operation since 1954 and is small business designated and Hub Zone Certified. All ECS Cases are proudly made in the USA. Learn more at https://www.ecscomposites.com/ or connect with Sterling on LinkedIn.

Alex Krutz is the Former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing at the U.S. Commerce Department and the Managing Director at Patriot Industrial Partners, an Industrial Advisory firm.

Alex and his team partner with growth-oriented companies to improve their operational, quality and financial performance, drawing on decades of experience in complex problem solving, factory optimization, and supply chain optimization initiatives.

Alex has earned the nickname "The Factory Doctor" from industry executives, analysts and media due to spearheading many manufacturing and supply chain turnarounds. Alex has completed over 250+ industrial performance improvement projects and manufacturing turnarounds around the globe in USA, Mexico, Canada, UK, Italy, France, South Africa, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan and India.

You can find Alex's Op-Ed articles that are featured in industry-leading publications, including Washington Times, Forbes, Aviation Week and Flight Global. He has also been cited in major media outlets, such as Wall Street Journal, Reuters, CNBC, among others. He has contributed to prominent conferences and webinars organized by Bank of America, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and other institutions.

Resources

Have a project that can benefit from Alex's expertise?

Alex and his team at Patriot Industrial Partners work with growth-oriented organizations to raise their operational, quality and financial performance, drawing on decades of experience in complex problem solving, factory optimization, and due diligence.

Visit TheFactoryDoctor.com to learn more about private consulting and to request a Discovery Call.