Today’s guest has been a cowboy, a logger, a sailor, a chef—and for nearly 40 years, a manufacturing entrepreneur. Steve Peplin is the founder and CEO of Talan Products, a Cleveland-based metal stamper that ships hundreds of millions of components annually for high-growth industries like defense, solar, EV, and commercial roofing.

Ethan and Steve talk about scaling a high-productivity operation with just 70 employees, building a culture rooted in collaboration and planning for succession while still playing the long game of growth.

Send comments and ideas to ekarp@manufacturingsuccess.org.

Make It is brought to you by MAGNET: The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, a nonprofit consulting group on a mission to make manufacturing better. Since 1984, MAGNET has been proudly helping manufacturers in Northeast Ohio grow with effective workforce programs, advanced technology consulting, and innovation services. MAGNET also catalyzes bigger change by rallying companies, community leaders, governments, and educators to tackle the massive, systemic problems that hold the region back. MAGNET’s work is made possible by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), and the Ohio MEP.
Learn more: www.manufacturingsuccess.org

Ethan Karp Gets Frank with Amy Mucha
What started as a side hustle to her teaching career became an innovative manufacturing business. Amy Mucha is the founder of Daisy Pops and Daisy Makes—two companies revolutionizing cake pop production through 3D-printed tools and joyful entrepreneurship.

On today’s episode, Ethan and Amy talk about invention through necessity, scaling with purpose, and how a former math teacher ended up running 40 3Dprinters and shipping to customers worldwide—all from a cake pop shop in Northeast Ohio.

Send comments and ideas to ekarp@manufacturingsuccess.org.

Make It is brought to you by MAGNET: The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, a nonprofit consulting group on a mission to make manufacturing better. Since 1984, MAGNET has been proudly helping manufacturers in Northeast Ohio grow with effective workforce programs, advanced technology consulting, and innovation services. MAGNET also catalyzes bigger change by rallying companies, community leaders, governments, and educators to tackle the massive, systemic problems that hold the region back. MAGNET’s work is made possible by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), and the Ohio MEP.
Learn more: www.manufacturingsuccess.org

Ethan Karp Gets Frank Behind the Scenes
On this special episode of Make It, I sit down with producer Margaret Kashmir to go behind the scenes of our conversations with Trina Bediako (New Horizons Baking Company), Frank “Sully” Sullivan (DayGlo), and Miguel Lugo (E.C. Kitzel & Sons).

Three very different companies—food manufacturing, fluorescent pigments, and precision tools. But a surprising common thread: people-first leadership and deep pride in making things that matter.

We talk about what didn’t make the final cut, why radical transparency matters, and how the next generation of manufacturing leaders is shaping the future of Northeast Ohio.

Send comments and ideas to ekarp@manufacturingsuccess.org.

Make It is brought to you by MAGNET: The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, a nonprofit consulting group on a mission to make manufacturing better. Since 1984, MAGNET has been proudly helping manufacturers in Northeast Ohio grow with effective workforce programs, advanced technology consulting, and innovation services. MAGNET also catalyzes bigger change by rallying companies, community leaders, governments, and educators to tackle the massive, systemic problems that hold the region back. MAGNET’s work is made possible by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), and the Ohio MEP.
Learn more: www.manufacturingsuccess.org