[steve_doyle] 00:00:02

my friend brad heard how are you doing today

[brad_herda] 00:00:05

and wonderful m stephen doyle and how is your friday afternoon here in mid to

[brad_herda] 00:00:09

late october

[steve_doyle] 00:00:11

it is excellent it is cool it is crisp it is raining perfect mid west

[steve_doyle] 00:00:19

weather

[brad_herda] 00:00:20

no

[steve_doyle] 00:00:21

perfect

[brad_herda] 00:00:21

rain no rain here partly cloudy but it's going to get really find cold tonight

[brad_herda] 00:00:25

so winter is

[steve_doyle] 00:00:26

perfect

[brad_herda] 00:00:27

rearing its ugly heads

[steve_doyle] 00:00:28

perfect it is perfect so well today on the show brad

[brad_herda] 00:00:35

yep

[steve_doyle] 00:00:36

who do we have today on the show

[brad_herda] 00:00:38

today on this show we are honored

[steve_doyle] 00:00:40

ah

[brad_herda] 00:00:40

and pleased to have our first gen z guest who happened to go back aways

[brad_herda] 00:00:46

he's part of the robotics team that i was so fortunate to mentor great young

[brad_herda] 00:00:53

gentleman who has completed his education and is now a productive member of society m

[brad_herda] 00:01:00

erick thompson

[eric_thompson] 00:01:02

thanks for having me

[brad_herda] 00:01:04

well

[steve_doyle] 00:01:04

welcome

[brad_herda] 00:01:04

thanks for letting us twist your arm

[eric_thompson] 00:01:06

yeah

[brad_herda] 00:01:06

and

[steve_doyle] 00:01:07

uh

[brad_herda] 00:01:07

baiting the showing up

[steve_doyle] 00:01:08

uh yeah

[brad_herda] 00:01:10

oh

[steve_doyle] 00:01:10

so before we get started eric we always ask everybody the same question which generation

[steve_doyle] 00:01:18

do you best fit in with

[eric_thompson] 00:01:21

um technically by year the first year gens i'm not really sure if i fit

[eric_thompson] 00:01:26

in there but i also don't think i fit in with millennials that well i'm

[eric_thompson] 00:01:30

kind of in a gray one i'm sure that everyone right on the edge of

[eric_thompson] 00:01:32

two generations fields

[steve_doyle] 00:01:34

yeah

[brad_herda] 00:01:35

yes you're in that you're in that yes you're in the circle of the friend

[brad_herda] 00:01:39

zone so to speak shall we say

[steve_doyle] 00:01:42

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:01:42

but

[steve_doyle] 00:01:42

friend zone

[eric_thompson] 00:01:43

by

[brad_herda] 00:01:43

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:01:43

year i am the first year gens

[brad_herda] 00:01:46

that's right

[steve_doyle] 00:01:46

excellent while we

[brad_herda] 00:01:47

right

[steve_doyle] 00:01:48

get to welcome our first gen zero on the show so welcome

[eric_thompson] 00:01:51

thank

[steve_doyle] 00:01:51

welcome

[eric_thompson] 00:01:52

you

[steve_doyle] 00:01:52

welcome

[brad_herda] 00:01:53

so eric obviously we've known each other for a few years now right good or

[brad_herda] 00:01:58

bad for me maybe not so good for you

[eric_thompson] 00:02:01

it's been good

[steve_doyle] 00:02:02

okay

[brad_herda] 00:02:02

thank you

[steve_doyle] 00:02:04

yeah

[brad_herda] 00:02:05

walk us through kind of your your exposure to trade skills things what your journey

[brad_herda] 00:02:13

was like through robotics and then how you decided maybe to get down that down

[brad_herda] 00:02:18

your educational path post high school

[eric_thompson] 00:02:22

starting out when i was young i've always wanted to know how stuff worked love

[eric_thompson] 00:02:26

taking stuff apart pretty much the story of any engineer i'm not always going to

[eric_thompson] 00:02:30

say i was the best putting it back together

[brad_herda] 00:02:32

there's

[eric_thompson] 00:02:33

but

[brad_herda] 00:02:33

the key

[steve_doyle] 00:02:33

m

[brad_herda] 00:02:34

there's the key

[eric_thompson] 00:02:34

great at take and stuff apart

[steve_doyle] 00:02:36

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:02:38

so

[brad_herda] 00:02:39

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:02:39

enjoyed that and then got to high school found out they had a robotic program

[steve_doyle] 00:02:44

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:02:44

decided to join and went into the machining and design role there so got to

[eric_thompson] 00:02:51

learn how to use mills lays anything you see in the any mechanical thing you

[eric_thompson] 00:02:56

see in the machine shop i didn't do any of the c and c type

[eric_thompson] 00:02:58

stuff but that got me real interested in engineering through talking through a couple of

[eric_thompson] 00:03:04

the mentors in robotics i figured out i wanted to do engineering i did a

[eric_thompson] 00:03:09

couple different schools ended up going to w stout for mechanical engineering there for four

[eric_thompson] 00:03:15

years got graduated twenty nineteen in mechanical engineering their first year so i'm the first

[eric_thompson] 00:03:21

year of stout's mechanical engineering program and then i

[brad_herda] 00:03:25

just a ton

[eric_thompson] 00:03:26

got

[brad_herda] 00:03:26

of

[eric_thompson] 00:03:26

a cup

[brad_herda] 00:03:26

first going on here eric

[eric_thompson] 00:03:28

ton of first

[steve_doyle] 00:03:28

way

[brad_herda] 00:03:29

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:03:30

so got a job right out of college

[brad_herda] 00:03:32

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:03:33

got laid off during all the fun covid stuff and now i'm currently at my

[eric_thompson] 00:03:37

second job over at fury filtering pump and i'm technically an application engineer there so

[eric_thompson] 00:03:43

part mechanical engineering part in side sales

[brad_herda] 00:03:48

awesome do you does

[steve_doyle] 00:03:49

very cool

[brad_herda] 00:03:50

is fury do they have their own shop do they produce their own goods and

[brad_herda] 00:03:53

services or is it all outside

[steve_doyle] 00:03:55

m

[eric_thompson] 00:03:56

we do almost everything in shop so

[brad_herda] 00:03:59

okay

[eric_thompson] 00:03:59

we are a large scale pump supply or so we do anything from just supplying

[eric_thompson] 00:04:05

like all the c n c pumps at harley davidson we also do a lot

[eric_thompson] 00:04:10

of oil and gas a lot of dairy things like that so we'll build out

[eric_thompson] 00:04:16

full pump skids any of the pumping needs that you may have we can help

[eric_thompson] 00:04:21

with so we got projects in the bahamas we got projects across the us

[brad_herda] 00:04:26

ye

[eric_thompson] 00:04:26

anywhere and everywhere in between that involves a pump

[brad_herda] 00:04:29

okay so does your robotics experience and the exposure that you had to making things

[brad_herda] 00:04:37

creating things working from a working from a print and making chips has that helped

[brad_herda] 00:04:42

you at all your communications or environment at your current role going back and forth

[brad_herda] 00:04:49

from the floor from a design and application perspective

[eric_thompson] 00:04:52

so i still do sometimes design up my job more often than now but i'm

[eric_thompson] 00:04:57

creating quotes

[steve_doyle] 00:04:57

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:04:57

and things like that but i still do use solid works at work and drop

[brad_herda] 00:05:03

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:05:03

all my own designs if i need to if the other side is busy so

[eric_thompson] 00:05:08

having that knowledge i actually learned how to cad model in high school and then

[eric_thompson] 00:05:13

learned clearly a little bit more in college but

[brad_herda] 00:05:16

just

[eric_thompson] 00:05:16

that's what

[brad_herda] 00:05:16

a little

[eric_thompson] 00:05:16

started

[brad_herda] 00:05:16

bit

[eric_thompson] 00:05:17

my interest in

[brad_herda] 00:05:18

yes

[eric_thompson] 00:05:18

time

[steve_doyle] 00:05:19

yeah

[brad_herda] 00:05:19

yes

[eric_thompson] 00:05:19

any bit

[brad_herda] 00:05:20

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:05:20

but that's what started it but i would say the thing that's helped me more

[eric_thompson] 00:05:25

than knowing how to machine knowing how to design

[brad_herda] 00:05:28

my

[eric_thompson] 00:05:28

is what i learned in robotics was how we use the bill of materials how

[eric_thompson] 00:05:33

to track the stages of progression through

[brad_herda] 00:05:36

m

[eric_thompson] 00:05:36

build and just the documentation side is what i use i would say a lot

[eric_thompson] 00:05:40

more because while i am inside sales i do project manage my own projects so

[eric_thompson] 00:05:45

making sure everything is ordered everything on time can through it like that

[brad_herda] 00:05:51

sweet

[steve_doyle] 00:05:54

so take me back because obviously you and brad have a have a history like

[steve_doyle] 00:06:00

in robotic so

[brad_herda] 00:06:01

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:06:01

yes

[steve_doyle] 00:06:02

take our listeners

[brad_herda] 00:06:03

and who

[steve_doyle] 00:06:03

back

[brad_herda] 00:06:03

do i look like

[steve_doyle] 00:06:07

whatever

[eric_thompson] 00:06:07

no idea

[brad_herda] 00:06:08

yeah

[steve_doyle] 00:06:08

just

[brad_herda] 00:06:08

okay eric

[steve_doyle] 00:06:09

shut

[eric_thompson] 00:06:09

not me

[steve_doyle] 00:06:09

up

[steve_doyle] 00:06:13

so take us

[brad_herda] 00:06:14

oh

[steve_doyle] 00:06:15

back take our listeners back to when you were in the robotics

[brad_herda] 00:06:19

oh

[steve_doyle] 00:06:19

the high school robotics you know working on things with your hands what was the

[steve_doyle] 00:06:25

moment that kind of clicked for you that said this is what i want to

[steve_doyle] 00:06:28

be doing

[eric_thompson] 00:06:31

i would just say it was day and day out of working on the lathe

[eric_thompson] 00:06:35

that's mostly what i did and i was just building parts and it got repetitive

[eric_thompson] 00:06:41

tiring you're like really kind of what's the point of this

[brad_herda] 00:06:44

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:06:44

and then once the parts were made

[steve_doyle] 00:06:46

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:06:46

and you got to start assembling the robot itself seeing that all the work you

[eric_thompson] 00:06:50

put in beforehand it's finally coming together you're building a whole machine and then after

[eric_thompson] 00:06:55

you're done you look at it and you're like we built that that was just

[eric_thompson] 00:06:59

a pile of raw stock beforehand we designed all the parts we machine all the

[eric_thompson] 00:07:05

parts ourselves and then we assembled it all and now we got a full working

[eric_thompson] 00:07:09

robot that we get to go compete with it was that scene going from thoughts

[eric_thompson] 00:07:14

in our heads and brain stormings to getting raw stock to you need all of

[eric_thompson] 00:07:17

that the whole process of being able to watch it all come together as i

[eric_thompson] 00:07:20

think what inspired me to the mechanical engineering route

[steve_doyle] 00:07:25

cool and so how is that expertise and knowledge that you learn there how is

[steve_doyle] 00:07:34

that transpired into kind of lie where you are today and the second part is

[steve_doyle] 00:07:40

where you want to be tomorrow

[eric_thompson] 00:07:42

so i would just say the basic knowledge is learn machining laren to be more

[eric_thompson] 00:07:48

organized i'm still not going to say i am the most organized person

[brad_herda] 00:07:51

uh

[eric_thompson] 00:07:52

but

[steve_doyle] 00:07:52

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:07:52

learned how

[brad_herda] 00:07:52

uh

[eric_thompson] 00:07:52

to be organized

[brad_herda] 00:07:54

yeah

[steve_doyle] 00:07:55

ye

[eric_thompson] 00:07:55

and i have my own system that works haven't dropped anything yet bad so we're

[eric_thompson] 00:07:59

still doing good

[brad_herda] 00:08:00

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:08:00

but the organization everything like that i kind of just set me up for my

[eric_thompson] 00:08:05

job now i have to follow through well in high school it was just one

[eric_thompson] 00:08:10

project you had now i'm running multiple projects working on different things every day i

[eric_thompson] 00:08:16

mean just being able to keep everything straight and being able to have that basic

[eric_thompson] 00:08:21

knowledge beforehand that was you can handle one project eventually you'll learn to step up

[eric_thompson] 00:08:27

through a couple of more so i would

[steve_doyle] 00:08:29

right

[eric_thompson] 00:08:29

say it was just that base level learn the basics get that all down and

[eric_thompson] 00:08:34

then you can build on top of that add more and add more so i

[eric_thompson] 00:08:38

mean when i started my job here i was only working on one two projects

[eric_thompson] 00:08:41

at a time and now i can be working on it where eight nine keep

[eric_thompson] 00:08:45

them all flowing pretty well so like anything else you get that base level in

[eric_thompson] 00:08:50

and you'll be are set up for the future and where i want to be

[eric_thompson] 00:08:56

i mean right now i'm still only a year and a half in at this

[eric_thompson] 00:08:58

job so i can't really say that i'm even beginning to scratch the surface of

[eric_thompson] 00:09:05

everything i can do

[brad_herda] 00:09:07

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:09:07

but i'm just going to try to keep keeping my head down get the work

[eric_thompson] 00:09:10

done make sure nothing falls through the cracks and i think that's really the most

[eric_thompson] 00:09:14

important thing for me right now

[brad_herda] 00:09:16

okay

[steve_doyle] 00:09:16

right

[brad_herda] 00:09:17

so i

[steve_doyle] 00:09:17

so with with the current employment that you have obviously you're one of the younger

[steve_doyle] 00:09:22

in the work force

[brad_herda] 00:09:23

oh

[steve_doyle] 00:09:24

how is that experience going being

[brad_herda] 00:09:27

m

[steve_doyle] 00:09:28

younger than the work force like from a let's just

[brad_herda] 00:09:30

m

[steve_doyle] 00:09:30

talk from a like a communication

[brad_herda] 00:09:32

m

[steve_doyle] 00:09:32

standpoint with

[brad_herda] 00:09:33

yeah

[steve_doyle] 00:09:34

piers

[brad_herda] 00:09:34

yeah

[steve_doyle] 00:09:35

m

[eric_thompson] 00:09:35

um so i am the youngest of my company right now but over all it's

[eric_thompson] 00:09:40

not

[brad_herda] 00:09:40

m

[eric_thompson] 00:09:40

really been that big of an issue clearly you're going to have

[brad_herda] 00:09:43

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:09:44

some of the stuff it's really the biggest thing that i found is it's whether

[eric_thompson] 00:09:47

or not the older generation is willing to teach i have been lucky that i've

[eric_thompson] 00:09:51

had really good people at my work that have been willing to take me under

[eric_thompson] 00:09:55

their wing like clearly they have a lot of the knowledge that i do not

[eric_thompson] 00:09:58

have yet they've been in the industry thirty forty years and i came in no

[eric_thompson] 00:10:03

knowledge of the pumping applications industry

[brad_herda] 00:10:06

kay

[eric_thompson] 00:10:06

so then well to take the time in introduce me to it has been the

[eric_thompson] 00:10:11

biggest thing i mean clearly you're always going to have some small issues whether it's

[eric_thompson] 00:10:16

zoom calls and you're trying to get everyone on it you fifteen people on the

[eric_thompson] 00:10:19

zoom call and seven people can't be heard and

[brad_herda] 00:10:22

yes

[eric_thompson] 00:10:22

two people are

[brad_herda] 00:10:23

so

[eric_thompson] 00:10:24

they just got random static in the background but i mean like all that's able

[eric_thompson] 00:10:28

to be worked through that's not an issue so

[brad_herda] 00:10:33

that's hilarious

[steve_doyle] 00:10:34

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:10:35

yeah m

[brad_herda] 00:10:38

technology is sometimes

[steve_doyle] 00:10:39

it

[brad_herda] 00:10:39

not your friend i get it it's it's

[steve_doyle] 00:10:42

yeah

[brad_herda] 00:10:42

it is different as you are as you've entered the work for us even previous

[brad_herda] 00:10:48

employments and through your intern ships and different things did you always have a cent

[brad_herda] 00:10:56

was there a sense of hey you belong here you are you're wanted or was

[brad_herda] 00:11:01

it a some of the places

[steve_doyle] 00:11:03

yah

[brad_herda] 00:11:03

more of a yeah you're just the kid that just came in the

[steve_doyle] 00:11:06

yah

[brad_herda] 00:11:06

door you don't know shit so just leave me alone and go file that paper

[brad_herda] 00:11:11

make that drawing was there any of that at all

[eric_thompson] 00:11:14

there's been some of h i mean it is hard to get really into the

[eric_thompson] 00:11:18

work flow while you're on an intern ship you're on i did two three months

[eric_thompson] 00:11:24

ensurnships in college so it's really hard to integrate yourself into a working environment when

[eric_thompson] 00:11:29

you're only there for three months you know you're going to be gone and they

[eric_thompson] 00:11:32

know you're going to be gone so it's like how much time are you

[steve_doyle] 00:11:35

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:11:35

really going invest in someone when it's not really going to pay off in three

[eric_thompson] 00:11:41

months because working now i've been working for a year and a half three months

[eric_thompson] 00:11:45

doesn't seem like anything and i've only been in it for a little bit so

[eric_thompson] 00:11:49

i can only imagine people that are in it twenty thirty years every summer you

[eric_thompson] 00:11:53

get a new kate coming in i mean how much time are you really going

[eric_thompson] 00:11:57

to spend with each kid but since i've been at fury fury filtering pump everybody

[eric_thompson] 00:12:04

s been willing i mean the hardest part was when i was hired on we

[eric_thompson] 00:12:08

had a lack of people and just at that time the higher ups couldn't spend

[eric_thompson] 00:12:15

three hours teaching me how to do something so it was kind of thrown into

[eric_thompson] 00:12:20

the deep end and i mean i learned through it but now that we're more

[eric_thompson] 00:12:26

we have more people there were able to spend more time with each people so

[eric_thompson] 00:12:29

i've had i think i am there's nine or ten people hired since me in

[eric_thompson] 00:12:36

the last year and a half

[brad_herda] 00:12:37

o

[eric_thompson] 00:12:38

and as we get more each person is getting better because we're able to spend

[eric_thompson] 00:12:42

more time we're not so pushed for time on each thing we're able to spend

[eric_thompson] 00:12:46

more time building up their skills before kind of throwing them into everything

[brad_herda] 00:12:50

okay how how much time do you get to go out on the floor and

[brad_herda] 00:12:54

and learn and end see um or talk to the gentlemen on the floor about

[brad_herda] 00:13:00

can we make this application work we make it more efficient can we find a

[brad_herda] 00:13:04

way to do it maybe for less to create more margin opportunities um some of

[brad_herda] 00:13:10

those things back from the rock we didn't we had a budget but we didn't

[brad_herda] 00:13:12

actually care i mean i believe you worked on one of the material cost sheet

[brad_herda] 00:13:16

one year um wasn't a big deal but now that you're in real life an

[brad_herda] 00:13:21

adult i let those things

[steve_doyle] 00:13:23

uh

[brad_herda] 00:13:23

now matter

[steve_doyle] 00:13:25

uh

[brad_herda] 00:13:25

how

[steve_doyle] 00:13:25

uh uh

[brad_herda] 00:13:27

how has that interaction

[eric_thompson] 00:13:28

yes

[brad_herda] 00:13:28

been in um in the organization and has it been open open arms or or

[brad_herda] 00:13:35

not

[eric_thompson] 00:13:36

so my first couple of weeks that i spent the entire time on the floor

[eric_thompson] 00:13:39

learning basically how to assemble pumps assemble pump skids motor assemblies things like that so

[eric_thompson] 00:13:46

i just got a

[brad_herda] 00:13:46

m

[eric_thompson] 00:13:46

base of like this is everything

[brad_herda] 00:13:48

m

[eric_thompson] 00:13:48

you're going to need when you start quoting i meag every pumps got to have

[brad_herda] 00:13:52

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:13:52

obviously the pump the motor the coupling guard the couplings the base played and all

[eric_thompson] 00:13:57

the bolts and everything you need on that aspect so learning everything i needed beforehand

[eric_thompson] 00:14:01

was good so when i was eventually building up my p m u

[brad_herda] 00:14:04

m

[eric_thompson] 00:14:04

it wouldn't be that i was forgetting major components

[brad_herda] 00:14:07

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:14:08

but

[brad_herda] 00:14:09

yeah

[steve_doyle] 00:14:09

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:14:09

as of making stuff more efficient in margin i build up a quote got everything

[eric_thompson] 00:14:14

in there and it kind of doesn't really change that often for me a lot

[eric_thompson] 00:14:19

of our stuff is speck based so

[brad_herda] 00:14:21

okay

[eric_thompson] 00:14:21

it's not like hey i can switch out this for a different thing i mean

[eric_thompson] 00:14:26

i work a lot in oil and gas right now and oil and gas it's

[eric_thompson] 00:14:31

explosion proof like you don't get a just substitute out i can't substitute a random

[eric_thompson] 00:14:36

motor in like

[brad_herda] 00:14:38

it

[eric_thompson] 00:14:38

they're willing to pay for making it right but it's not like i can be

[eric_thompson] 00:14:41

like hey there's this new experimental

[brad_herda] 00:14:44

okay

[eric_thompson] 00:14:44

thing that one of our vendors has and let's just try it in this application

[brad_herda] 00:14:49

there's

[steve_doyle] 00:14:49

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:14:49

i

[brad_herda] 00:14:49

this

[eric_thompson] 00:14:49

mean

[brad_herda] 00:14:49

new rocket we're

[eric_thompson] 00:14:49

most

[brad_herda] 00:14:50

gonna

[eric_thompson] 00:14:50

of

[brad_herda] 00:14:50

send

[eric_thompson] 00:14:50

the

[brad_herda] 00:14:50

up

[eric_thompson] 00:14:50

time

[brad_herda] 00:14:50

to space it

[eric_thompson] 00:14:51

yeah

[brad_herda] 00:14:51

just needs fuel no big deal

[steve_doyle] 00:14:52

right

[eric_thompson] 00:14:53

it's fine it's fine

[brad_herda] 00:14:54

it'll be

[eric_thompson] 00:14:55

we'll

[brad_herda] 00:14:55

okay

[eric_thompson] 00:14:55

just have all this jet fuel spilling on the ground don't worry about it

[brad_herda] 00:14:58

uh

[eric_thompson] 00:14:59

but

[brad_herda] 00:14:59

uh

[eric_thompson] 00:14:59

most of the time when i do have to go

[steve_doyle] 00:15:01

m

[eric_thompson] 00:15:01

on to the floor it's just following up with projects or it's that something went

[eric_thompson] 00:15:05

wrong i mean we get base plates in from one of our vendors something is

[eric_thompson] 00:15:10

a machine core l it's going in trying to figure out different solutions to still

[eric_thompson] 00:15:13

get it out on time so whether that's putting in threaded inserts and changing our

[eric_thompson] 00:15:18

bolts from one size down to another so we can still get everything out that's

[eric_thompson] 00:15:24

more so when i'm out on the floor fixing the problems

[brad_herda] 00:15:27

but when you walk on the floor are you you received on the floor as

[brad_herda] 00:15:33

a hey you're a member of this team or is it more of the i

[brad_herda] 00:15:36

guess i'm trying to get to has your experience in robotics and being able to

[brad_herda] 00:15:40

know what the equipment is doing and how works and all the things you were

[brad_herda] 00:15:45

able to experience have you been able to leverage that to be received on the

[brad_herda] 00:15:49

floor and not just well i don't know what a screw driver is so therefore

[brad_herda] 00:15:53

the guys aren't even gonna talk to you right potentially

[eric_thompson] 00:15:56

so i'm not sure if i consciously m like putting off something that knows that

[eric_thompson] 00:16:02

i know how to work on tooling but i feel like people that are out

[eric_thompson] 00:16:05

in the shop they're very able are very quickly able to tell whether you have

[eric_thompson] 00:16:10

a base line knowledge of easy mechanics how stuff works whether you can look at

[eric_thompson] 00:16:17

something and figure out what's missing i mean they're they've been doing it how long

[eric_thompson] 00:16:21

some guy comes in and they look at something you're standing there have no idea

[eric_thompson] 00:16:25

they can quickly tell when you don't know anything about it verse when you go

[eric_thompson] 00:16:29

in and have

[steve_doyle] 00:16:30

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:16:30

some base line knowledge of how stuff gets

[steve_doyle] 00:16:32

my

[eric_thompson] 00:16:32

put together if you see something taken apart like that was my first couple of

[eric_thompson] 00:16:37

weeks can you put it back together so

[brad_herda] 00:16:40

your

[eric_thompson] 00:16:40

i

[brad_herda] 00:16:40

strength

[eric_thompson] 00:16:40

helped

[brad_herda] 00:16:41

putting

[eric_thompson] 00:16:41

take a

[brad_herda] 00:16:41

back

[eric_thompson] 00:16:41

part

[brad_herda] 00:16:41

together

[eric_thompson] 00:16:41

of an entire pump

[brad_herda] 00:16:42

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:16:43

putting it back together learn

[steve_doyle] 00:16:44

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:16:44

that

[brad_herda] 00:16:45

this is

[eric_thompson] 00:16:45

but i would say they are very quickly able to tell and that does give

[eric_thompson] 00:16:50

you some credibility

[brad_herda] 00:16:51

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:16:51

so when i go out on the floor i mean they're able to talk to

[eric_thompson] 00:16:56

me any more high level than some people i would say i go out there

[eric_thompson] 00:17:00

they explain what the problem is and i'm able to work through with them rather

[eric_thompson] 00:17:04

than them just more so telling me hey this is what's wrong this is exactly

[eric_thompson] 00:17:08

what we need i can go out and help a little bit with it and

[eric_thompson] 00:17:11

then work together on a better solution

[steve_doyle] 00:17:14

oh

[brad_herda] 00:17:14

okay

[steve_doyle] 00:17:15

they never sent you running off to go get the filter bearings

[eric_thompson] 00:17:18

no board stretchers

[steve_doyle] 00:17:19

ah

[eric_thompson] 00:17:19

no filter bearings none of

[steve_doyle] 00:17:20

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:17:21

none of that stuff now

[brad_herda] 00:17:22

no apple

[eric_thompson] 00:17:22

no

[brad_herda] 00:17:22

grease

[eric_thompson] 00:17:22

left handed screw drivers now

[steve_doyle] 00:17:24

it

[brad_herda] 00:17:25

no no the metric

[steve_doyle] 00:17:26

yeah

[brad_herda] 00:17:26

flathead don't forget the metric flathead

[eric_thompson] 00:17:28

the good old

[steve_doyle] 00:17:29

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:17:29

metric one

[brad_herda] 00:17:30

yeah

[steve_doyle] 00:17:31

exactly his

[brad_herda] 00:17:33

yes

[steve_doyle] 00:17:33

exactly those are those were such good times

[brad_herda] 00:17:36

oh

[steve_doyle] 00:17:39

sorry i'm reminiscing though

[brad_herda] 00:17:41

he

[eric_thompson] 00:17:41

no

[steve_doyle] 00:17:41

all the hazing

[brad_herda] 00:17:42

yeah

[steve_doyle] 00:17:42

good stuff

[eric_thompson] 00:17:43

luckily they've been very helpful so i haven't been sent on any random quests

[steve_doyle] 00:17:48

uh

[brad_herda] 00:17:49

careful what you ask for

[steve_doyle] 00:17:50

uh

[brad_herda] 00:17:50

once they hear this you never

[steve_doyle] 00:17:51

that's

[brad_herda] 00:17:51

know

[steve_doyle] 00:17:52

right you never know

[brad_herda] 00:17:55

oh

[steve_doyle] 00:17:55

so what is like one thing i'm always interested to hear what is the one

[steve_doyle] 00:18:04

thing that you found to be the most interesting things since joining like a corporate

[steve_doyle] 00:18:11

style or business style company coming in right out of right out of school

[eric_thompson] 00:18:20

um m i didn't realize how much background stuff goes into everything whether it's accounting

[eric_thompson] 00:18:29

whether it's uh following up like in robotics i needed something we would buy from

[eric_thompson] 00:18:37

mc master would show up three days later and you wouldn't have to worry about

[eric_thompson] 00:18:40

it amount of time and planning that goes behind everything how especially how long speck

[eric_thompson] 00:18:45

sheets can be a speck sheet the other day was like a thousand pages long

[eric_thompson] 00:18:49

i'm like what is this and clearly it's especially for the whole project and i

[eric_thompson] 00:18:52

only have to worry about some of the pages

[brad_herda] 00:18:54

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:18:54

but i didn't realize how much

[brad_herda] 00:18:56

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:18:56

red tape was tied up all the way around once the volume of scale so

[eric_thompson] 00:19:02

my company is owned by a larger company ohio transmission corporation just how much has

[eric_thompson] 00:19:09

to go in on the back end of just cutting pos making sure everything gets

[eric_thompson] 00:19:12

out making sure you're not on hold making sure the customers are paying you is

[eric_thompson] 00:19:17

that all the background that like i didn't really think about when i was in

[eric_thompson] 00:19:21

high school it was hey we got a credit card for the group you type

[eric_thompson] 00:19:26

and what you need it comes through but all that back and stuff that i

[eric_thompson] 00:19:29

never release a

[steve_doyle] 00:19:30

okay

[brad_herda] 00:19:31

yes

[eric_thompson] 00:19:31

exhausting

[brad_herda] 00:19:31

this is why this is why my head looks like this eric oh

[eric_thompson] 00:19:36

fair enough

[brad_herda] 00:19:37

kay

[steve_doyle] 00:19:37

oh that's awesome

[eric_thompson] 00:19:39

i tried

[brad_herda] 00:19:39

let's

[eric_thompson] 00:19:40

to

[brad_herda] 00:19:40

get

[eric_thompson] 00:19:40

stay

[brad_herda] 00:19:40

up

[eric_thompson] 00:19:40

out of the county and i tried to let him know hey this is what's

[eric_thompson] 00:19:42

going on but like we got purchasing we got all of that and i am

[eric_thompson] 00:19:47

very thankful for them and i kind of just i'm like this is what i

[eric_thompson] 00:19:49

need you just you do your stuff i'll keep taking care of my stuff and

[eric_thompson] 00:19:55

they're very good about it

[steve_doyle] 00:19:56

m

[eric_thompson] 00:19:56

when they do have an issue they come to me but overall i am not

[eric_thompson] 00:20:00

trying to dive into that realm

[brad_herda] 00:20:01

yeah that's good i don't want to see you in the

[steve_doyle] 00:20:04

yes

[brad_herda] 00:20:04

counting i don't think that would be good for any boy

[steve_doyle] 00:20:08

yeah

[brad_herda] 00:20:09

so

[steve_doyle] 00:20:10

yeah

[brad_herda] 00:20:11

so what would

[steve_doyle] 00:20:12

i

[brad_herda] 00:20:12

so for the you know there's a generation behind you right the gen alfa they're

[brad_herda] 00:20:18

the six to leven they're like the eleven year old and younger crowd right now

[brad_herda] 00:20:23

twelve soon to be in high school um and even maybe some of the younger

[brad_herda] 00:20:29

kids that are in high school today to the tail end of your generation um

[brad_herda] 00:20:33

what would you tell them what advice would you give them about being open to

[brad_herda] 00:20:40

working with their hands or being involved in making things versus the technology side of

[brad_herda] 00:20:46

things what would you tell them that as the good things about it to propel

[brad_herda] 00:20:51

or help you in your daily life

[steve_doyle] 00:20:55

ah

[eric_thompson] 00:20:55

um m i mean i think every one should just learn how to do basic

[eric_thompson] 00:21:00

work with their hands i'm not saying you got to know how to disassemble an

[eric_thompson] 00:21:03

engine but know how to use drills know what tools are called now how to

[eric_thompson] 00:21:09

do basic stuff i mean there's so much stuff

[steve_doyle] 00:21:11

m

[eric_thompson] 00:21:11

even around the house that i end up doing putting up shelves whether it's

[brad_herda] 00:21:15

m

[eric_thompson] 00:21:15

that or fixing the sink if you need to something just having a base knowledge

[steve_doyle] 00:21:21

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:21:21

of how tools work and what how stuff can go together how to take it

[eric_thompson] 00:21:25

apart it's not just helping you in your job it will help you all the

[eric_thompson] 00:21:30

way through so i think everyone should have minimum a basic tool kit and a

[eric_thompson] 00:21:36

good drill

[brad_herda] 00:21:37

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:21:37

i know a lot of people i went and helped my sister hang pictures i

[eric_thompson] 00:21:40

go there in the she has a little wolmar carrying pouch that has

[steve_doyle] 00:21:44

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:21:44

the purple tools and i'm like

[brad_herda] 00:21:46

this

[eric_thompson] 00:21:46

come

[brad_herda] 00:21:46

is cute

[eric_thompson] 00:21:46

on

[brad_herda] 00:21:47

this is cute

[eric_thompson] 00:21:48

just get decent like i'm not even go on amazon by a random cheap tool

[eric_thompson] 00:21:55

box fill it with some cheap harbor freight tools i'm not saying you need to

[eric_thompson] 00:21:59

spend a lot of money i feel like everyone should have a couple of decent

[eric_thompson] 00:22:03

tools and then know how to work with your hands a little bit it's so

[eric_thompson] 00:22:08

applicable in everything you do whether it's change in attire whether it's putting up shelves

[eric_thompson] 00:22:13

or fixing higher and stuff once you get on get future on in life but

[eric_thompson] 00:22:19

just learn a little bit how to work with your hands i mean clearly my

[eric_thompson] 00:22:24

generation is great at computers and why is that because we're surrounded by computers all

[eric_thompson] 00:22:29

day every day

[brad_herda] 00:22:30

right

[eric_thompson] 00:22:31

so you'll see two year olds on e pads so it's not surprising that we're

[eric_thompson] 00:22:37

better at computers than a lot of other generations but like anything

[brad_herda] 00:22:40

hey

[eric_thompson] 00:22:40

else it's

[brad_herda] 00:22:40

y

[eric_thompson] 00:22:40

a skill

[brad_herda] 00:22:40

hey

[eric_thompson] 00:22:41

you need to

[brad_herda] 00:22:41

come

[eric_thompson] 00:22:41

work

[brad_herda] 00:22:41

on

[eric_thompson] 00:22:41

on

[brad_herda] 00:22:42

come on eric

[eric_thompson] 00:22:43

in general

[brad_herda] 00:22:43

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:22:44

we have a better baseline

[steve_doyle] 00:22:45

it's all

[eric_thompson] 00:22:45

knowledge

[steve_doyle] 00:22:45

right it's all right we expect we expect these

[brad_herda] 00:22:48

yeah

[steve_doyle] 00:22:48

you know these young whipper snappers to pick on you the boomer brad

[brad_herda] 00:22:52

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:22:52

o

[steve_doyle] 00:22:53

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:22:54

but like anything else it's a skill

[steve_doyle] 00:22:56

oh

[eric_thompson] 00:22:56

so

[brad_herda] 00:22:56

right

[eric_thompson] 00:22:57

you got to work on it

[brad_herda] 00:22:59

and skills are learned

[steve_doyle] 00:22:59

ah

[brad_herda] 00:23:00

right

[eric_thompson] 00:23:00

yeah

[brad_herda] 00:23:01

so that's awesome

[eric_thompson] 00:23:02

you're not going to be good at it at the beginning just like how the

[eric_thompson] 00:23:05

older generation once they started learning computers they weren't great at it right away

[brad_herda] 00:23:09

correct

[eric_thompson] 00:23:09

it's a skill you gotta gotta get there

[brad_herda] 00:23:12

correct

[steve_doyle] 00:23:13

hm

[brad_herda] 00:23:13

as you have gone through and and looked at you went through school made those

[brad_herda] 00:23:21

connections um got out into the work force how

[eric_thompson] 00:23:28

oh

[brad_herda] 00:23:29

how much planning or thought went into your you know when you got to fury

[brad_herda] 00:23:37

filter and pump how much of the hey this company does these things they make

[brad_herda] 00:23:43

really cool things really things that keep america in the world running how much of

[brad_herda] 00:23:49

that played into your decision making to join their versus other organizations or that may

[brad_herda] 00:23:55

not have been as clear in their messaging or direction

[eric_thompson] 00:24:02

for me my first job was at m g s tooling which is just down

[eric_thompson] 00:24:06

the road from where i am now and there was all the cool stuff you

[eric_thompson] 00:24:09

dreamed about while you were in

[brad_herda] 00:24:11

m

[eric_thompson] 00:24:13

college they were i would be working on robotic end of arm tools is what

[eric_thompson] 00:24:17

i was designing there so you always wanted to do automation you wanted to do

[eric_thompson] 00:24:22

robotics you wanted to do the new high end stuff but coming with that there's

[eric_thompson] 00:24:28

a lot of challenges not everything is already laid out oil and gas pumping it's

[eric_thompson] 00:24:33

a decades old business and it's very well established so after i was let go

[eric_thompson] 00:24:39

from there i realize that while the new interesting thing is cool is fun to

[eric_thompson] 00:24:47

work on it also comes with a lot of headaches you have to figure out

[eric_thompson] 00:24:50

new solutions you're kind of first going into that application and just coming out of

[eric_thompson] 00:24:55

college i didn't feel like i had a good enough base to really accell at

[eric_thompson] 00:24:59

that i didn't know enough about the industry in general going in for my second

[eric_thompson] 00:25:05

job it really wasn't as much about what they were doing for me especially i

[eric_thompson] 00:25:10

was looking for ah what benefits came with it clearly i was getting off my

[eric_thompson] 00:25:15

parents health care so

[brad_herda] 00:25:17

ah

[eric_thompson] 00:25:17

i needed good for

[brad_herda] 00:25:18

thank

[eric_thompson] 00:25:19

one

[brad_herda] 00:25:19

god

[eric_thompson] 00:25:19

good insurance

[brad_herda] 00:25:19

the

[eric_thompson] 00:25:20

good

[steve_doyle] 00:25:21

uh

[eric_thompson] 00:25:21

that it was more so looking for

[steve_doyle] 00:25:23

uh

[eric_thompson] 00:25:23

a good job where i coul support myself and make plans for my future so

[eric_thompson] 00:25:28

i'm on to buy a house at some point i'm going to want to buy

[eric_thompson] 00:25:31

a truck at some point so for me it really wasn't as much about what

[eric_thompson] 00:25:34

they were doing as well as how i could improve my situation in life but

[eric_thompson] 00:25:41

i got lucky i really enjoy what i'm doing i've had some great people helping

[eric_thompson] 00:25:45

me along the way at the company and while oil and gas and pumping applications

[eric_thompson] 00:25:51

have been there for how long i mean you're still every once in a while

[eric_thompson] 00:25:54

going to get a new application you're going to have something that's going wrong you

[eric_thompson] 00:25:58

still get to scratch that engineering itch there is of solving problems and everything else

[eric_thompson] 00:26:03

it's not like

[brad_herda] 00:26:04

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:26:04

just because it's an older industry nothing is going to need to fix nothing is

[eric_thompson] 00:26:09

going o ever happen that's going to need solutions i thought going in it's just

[eric_thompson] 00:26:14

gonna be like well here's the same cookie cutter thing we're selling you for every

[eric_thompson] 00:26:17

time but that's not how it is at all

[brad_herda] 00:26:19

okay so if

[steve_doyle] 00:26:21

the

[brad_herda] 00:26:21

if if some of your contemporaries and others in the in the you know podcast

[brad_herda] 00:26:28

listening world would want to reach out to you to either learn more about your

[brad_herda] 00:26:32

journey or opportunities that might exist um at fury as what life is like would

[brad_herda] 00:26:39

be a good fit for them how do people find you or get a hold

[brad_herda] 00:26:42

of you or what be a good

[steve_doyle] 00:26:44

m

[brad_herda] 00:26:44

good place for them to connect with you

[eric_thompson] 00:26:46

um i have linked in that i gave you the website too

[brad_herda] 00:26:52

right

[eric_thompson] 00:26:52

i never go on facebook i'm rarely on instagram i don't have any of really

[eric_thompson] 00:26:59

that's well i have that social media but i am not often on that social

[eric_thompson] 00:27:02

media you will will not

[steve_doyle] 00:27:04

ye

[eric_thompson] 00:27:04

see me posting any of

[steve_doyle] 00:27:05

yeah

[eric_thompson] 00:27:05

there but if you get the linked in i'm not going to say i check

[eric_thompson] 00:27:09

it religiously as brand knows

[brad_herda] 00:27:11

yes that is correct

[eric_thompson] 00:27:12

but

[brad_herda] 00:27:12

it's getting better it's

[steve_doyle] 00:27:13

oh

[brad_herda] 00:27:13

getting better

[eric_thompson] 00:27:14

it's getting better i'm learning that when i was back in high school i started

[eric_thompson] 00:27:20

my linked in and i didn't really realize how powerful it was i'm slowly figuring

[eric_thompson] 00:27:25

that out so

[brad_herda] 00:27:28

okay

[steve_doyle] 00:27:28

hm

[eric_thompson] 00:27:28

kind of lie like facebook for another generation you're learning but it's all professional it's

[eric_thompson] 00:27:32

a professional facebook

[brad_herda] 00:27:37

yet wow all right

[steve_doyle] 00:27:39

i don't

[brad_herda] 00:27:39

well

[steve_doyle] 00:27:39

know again

[brad_herda] 00:27:40

awesome

[steve_doyle] 00:27:41

i love you

[eric_thompson] 00:27:42

oh

[brad_herda] 00:27:42

oh

[steve_doyle] 00:27:43

that's funny it's funny

[brad_herda] 00:27:45

yeah

[steve_doyle] 00:27:46

o stuff well thank you eric very much for your insights today

[eric_thompson] 00:27:50

thank

[steve_doyle] 00:27:51

definitely

[eric_thompson] 00:27:51

you for having

[steve_doyle] 00:27:51

appreciate

[eric_thompson] 00:27:51

me

[steve_doyle] 00:27:51

you on the show

[brad_herda] 00:27:53

yeah i appreciate the fact that you are we're baited into this and we're willing

[brad_herda] 00:27:59

to do

[eric_thompson] 00:27:59

yeah

[brad_herda] 00:27:59

it and i do appreciate it i do appreciate our relationship i'm very excited for

[brad_herda] 00:28:04

what your career has to offer i think you're in a fantastic role to feel

[brad_herda] 00:28:09

your needs and opportunities going forward and i would agree with you that taking it

[brad_herda] 00:28:15

apart is better than putting it back together for you and m but that

[eric_thompson] 00:28:20

yea

[brad_herda] 00:28:20

problem solving piece that you work on right now today in that current role is

[brad_herda] 00:28:23

one of the things that you were really good at and i think you got

[brad_herda] 00:28:25

a really good fit right now and they're really lucky to have you so congratulations

[eric_thompson] 00:28:30

thank you i appreciate and thank you for having me on to day

[brad_herda] 00:28:33

all right man have a good day thanks

[eric_thompson] 00:28:36

you guys

[brad_herda] 00:28:37

yeah