The New England Lean Podcast: Kristin Carlson

This week I am VERY excited to be welcoming Kristin Carlson to the show!

Kristin Carlson is President of Peerless Precision, Inc., in Westfield, MA; a small precision machine shop specializing in the manufacture of small, complex mechanical components mainly for the Aerospace and Defense Industries. Kristin is also currently the President of the Western MA Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association (WMNTMA), a member of NTMA’s AMPED (Advanced Manufacturing Practices and Education Development) Board and sits on Advisory/Steering Committees for Westfield Technical Academy’s Manufacturing Program, West Springfield High School’s Pathways to Prosperity Program and Agawam High School’s Manufacturing Program .

Kristin has been with Peerless Precision, Inc. since 1997, and has held a variety of positions with the company since then. She assumed the role of President from her late father in 2012. Kristin has extensive experience in purchasing, sales, supply chain management and operations management. She is extremely passionate when it comes to changing the outdated narrative that encompasses Manufacturing, bringing more women in to Manufacturing and educating students on the many career paths and opportunities that are available in Advanced Manufacturing.

In this episode, Kristin and I chat about how the manufacturing industry can go about filling the skills gap, how important a strong, collaborative supply chain is to large manufacturers, and some of the parallels we both deal with in misconceptions about our respective industries. Oh – and we also discuss how robots are NOT taking over the world! 😉