Each month, Tony Uphoff, visionary CEO of Thomasnet.com, joins Cloud Wars Live for a recurring segment. “Uphoff on Industry” will explore the innovations, upheavals, and breakthroughs reshaping the the world of manufacturing and industrial markets. Join Tony and me as we discuss disruptive new trends in the digital-industrial world. Today, we talk manufacturing companies making PPE, preparing for a post-COVID business world, and more.
Episode 13
In this episode: Tony shares with us the remarkable story of how Thomas stood up a coronavirus resource hub, to connect manufacturing companies with PPE-producing capabilities with hospitals and other organizations in need of such equipment. He says that in “normal” times, a project like that might have taken a year. The Thomas team stood this one up in 48 hours.
Building on that story, Tony also reflects on how the COVID-19 crisis has clarified and emphasized beliefs that he holds about business leadership. Namely, that when hard times hit, a strong leader can steer his or her company towards the positive, the benefit.
We also explore what Tony and the Thomas team have been up to in the last month and a half or so, while working from home. By the way, they have been extremely busy. And Tony explains how his team has been keeping a record of what works and what doesn’t, so that Thomas can learn from this experience, and build even greater competency.
Finally, Tony gives us a peek into what the latest data in ThomasNet reveals about manufacturing trends and the changes the industry is going through.
You can also stream this episode in audio-only format:
Highlights
'We were getting hundreds, if not thousands of manufacturing companies reaching out, saying, I could dedicate a shift to this, I could dedicate capacity to produce PPE.' #CloudWars Click To Tweet 'We have talked about the big tech companies that are doing some remarkable things. but also the smaller and medium sized companies—I think this is a moment of truth for a lot of them.' #CloudWars Click To Tweet 'Over the last 40 days… we have been doing a writeup of what's been working, so that as we continue forward, we can be consciously competent about it.' #CloudWars Click To Tweet
Cloud Wars Live Digital All-Stars
Tony Uphoff is one of our regular Digital All-Stars. The All-Stars are experts who will appear in regular video podcasts focused on the critical themes shaping (and re-shaping!) the business world in the digital age of 2020. Our intention is to provide regular chunks of timely ideas, insights and conversations on high-priority subjects from industry veterans with diverse backgrounds.
