Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering

Jaksot

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  #153: Zero Downtime, No Disruptions: Honeywell's MES Upgrade Story 15.09.2026 40min

  Halfway through a live database migration, Honeywell’s team lost their server connection. With no way to tell whether the scripts were running or failing, all they could do was wait. In this episode of Stay Sharp with Razorleaf, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott sit down with Ryan Sims (Senior IT Engineer at Honeywell) and Brian Neff (MES Technical Team Lead at Razorleaf) to discuss how Honeywell Aerospace successfully upgraded its Solumina MES with zero shop floor disruptions. Key takea...
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  #152: OpenBOM's New AI Agents Solving the Problems Everyone Ignores 08.09.2026 40min

  Digital engineering is moving fast, but the fundamental challenge remains: how do you get your mechanical, electrical, and procurement data to "talk" to each other? In this episode, we dive deep into the "Product Memory Flywheel" with Oleg Shilovitsky, co-founder and CEO of OpenBOM. We explore how OpenBOM is using AI agents to solve the industry's most persistent, "boring" problems—like CAD file management and Bill of Materials (BOM) errors—and why fixing these unglamorous issues is the key t...
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  #151: The Untold Origins of PLM, with Doug Macdonald 01.09.2026 50min

  How did we get from CAD and PDM to the PLM systems we use today? And have we really moved beyond PDM? In Stay Sharp Episode 151, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott sit down with Doug Macdonald, a longtime PLM industry veteran and self-described “lifelong innovation enthusiast and recovering advocate for PLM,” to explore the history of product lifecycle management—and how the technology evolved alongside the products and businesses it was designed to support. Doug has been part of the indu...
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  #150: 150 Episodes In - What We Got Right (and Wrong) in Digital Engineering 25.08.2026 34min

  150 Episodes of Digital Engineering Conversations—and Counting It’s a milestone worth celebrating: Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering has reached 150 episodes! In this special episode, co-hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott take a break from the usual guest format to look back at nearly three years of Stay Sharp. Together, they revisit the topics, trends, guests, and conversations that have shaped the podcast—and consider what’s still left to explore. From the beginning, the podcast has foc...
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  #149: Product Memory: The Context Layer Behind Every Product Decision 18.08.2026 45min

  In this episode, we sit down with Oleg Shilovitsky, industry expert, author of Beyond PLM, and CEO of OpenBOM, to explore a transformative concept he calls "product memory." If you’ve ever looked back at a product design decision two years later and wondered, "Why did we make that choice?", you aren't alone. Oleg explains why product memory is the missing context layer that connects decisions to data, filling the gaps that traditional PLM, PDM, and ERP systems often miss. We discuss the "thre...
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  #148: The Question Every Digital Thread Has to Answer 11.08.2026 43min

  What if you could answer a complex engineering change request in minutes instead of days? In this episode of Stay Sharp: In Digital Engineering, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott welcome back Chris Finlay, former Vice President of Engineering Innovation at SAIC and current Digital Systems Engineering Director at Raytheon, to explore the tangible, practical benefits of the digital thread. We move past the buzzwords to discuss how to break down engineering silos, improve traceability, and ...
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  #147: Data Fiefdoms and Cheese: An Analyst's View of the Industry's Blind Spots 04.08.2026 41min

  Beyond the Hype: Christine Longwell on AI, PLM, and the Future of Digital Engineering The digital engineering industry is experiencing one of its most significant periods of transformation in decades—but separating meaningful innovation from marketing hype has never been more challenging. In this episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott welcome industry analyst Christine Longwell, founder of PLM Insights. Drawing on a career that spans mechanical en...
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  #146: CMMC Paused, Not Cancelled: Why Contractors Shouldn't Stop Now 28.07.2026 31min

  Did the Department of Defense just put CMMC on hold? Not exactly. The Department of Defense recently announced a pause on one of the most significant upcoming requirements of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program, creating confusion across the defense industrial base. Does this mean contractors can slow down their cybersecurity efforts—or does it simply change how compliance will be evaluated? In this episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, hosts Juliann Grant an...
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  #145: Why Nobody Can Predict Their Software Costs Anymore 21.07.2026 38min

  Software licensing used to be one of the most predictable parts of an engineering organization's technology budget. You bought licenses, planned annual maintenance, and forecasted costs years in advance. But as AI assistants, cloud platforms, token-based licensing, and API-driven workflows become the norm, that predictability is disappearing. In this episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, co-hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott welcome back Paul Empringham, VP of CAD, Simulation, and...
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  #144: The Hidden Costs of Digital Engineering Systems 14.07.2026 41min

  What if the most expensive part of your digital engineering environment isn’t the software license? In this episode, we sit down with Eric Smith, VP of Services at Razorleaf, to peel back the curtain on the "hidden" costs of running complex systems like PLM, MES, and CAD. We move beyond the initial project setup to explore the "sustainment" phase—where time, money, and productivity often drain away unnoticed. Whether you are in engineering, IT, or manufacturing leadership, this conversation p...
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  #143: Build vs. Buy in the Age of AI-Assisted Coding 07.07.2026 41min

  Artificial intelligence has dramatically lowered the barrier to software development, making it easier than ever for manufacturers, engineering organizations, and startups to build custom applications. But just because you can build your own software doesn't always mean you should. In Episode 143 of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, co-hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott welcome back Jonathan Girroir, Technical Evangelist at Tech Soft 3D, for a forward-looking discussion about how AI-assi...
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  #142: What Leaders Need to Know About Software Licensing 30.06.2026 48min

  Software licensing may not be the first thing engineers want to discuss, but it can have a massive impact on budgets, productivity, and digital transformation success. In this episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott are joined by Paul Empringham, VP of CAD, Simulation & PLM at NYBS Consulting, to unpack the increasingly complex world of engineering software licensing. Drawing on decades of experience working with organizations including Rolls-R...
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  #141: Finlay's Five Firsts - A Field Guide to Digital Engineering Adoption 23.06.2026 45min

  Getting New Methodologies Off the Ground: Lessons from Digital Engineering Transformation with Chris Finlay Implementing a new engineering methodology sounds straightforward on paper. In reality, it often means navigating organizational resistance, changing long-standing habits, proving value quickly, and building momentum one success at a time. In this episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott sit down with Chris Finlay, Vice President of Engineerin...
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  140: Share PLM Summit 2026 Recap 16.06.2026 39min

  Human-Centered PLM, Practical AI, and the Future of Digital Engineering What happens when you take a traditional PLM conference out of a corporate convention center and place it inside a Spanish bodega with a dirt floor? According to the attendees of the Share PLM Summit 2026, you create an environment where people—not technology—become the focus of the conversation. In this episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott welcome Razorleaf International te...
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  #139: Digital Product Series - Tech Soft 3D 09.06.2026 34min

  The Company Behind the Software You Use Every Day If you've worked with CAD, PLM, simulation, or digital engineering software, chances are you've relied on Tech Soft 3D technology—even if you've never heard of the company. In this episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott sit down with Jonathan Girroir, Technical Evangelist at Tech Soft 3D, to explore the foundational technologies that power hundreds of engineering applications across the indus...
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  #138: How SMBs Can Break Into The Defense Industrial Base 02.06.2026 43min

  Is your manufacturing business leaving defense contracts on the table? In this episode of Stay Sharp: Digital Engineering, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott sit down with two returning experts to break down one of the most misunderstood opportunities in manufacturing: the Defense Industrial Base. Whether you're running a five-person shop or a 500-person operation, there is a lane for you in the DIB, and today's guests explain exactly how to find it. Guests: Steve Nichols heads the public...
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  #137: CIMdata PLM/PDT Road Map Wrap Up 26.05.2026 33min

  What happens when you lock hundreds of PLM practitioners, digital engineering leaders, and top aerospace and defense minds in a room to talk about AI? You get a reality check. In this episode, Juliann Grant, Jonathan Scott, and Andrew Halley sit down to recap the packed two-day CIMdata PLM/PDT Roadmap 2026 Conference held just outside Washington, D.C. Forget the polished vendor slides and standard generative AI hype—this is a look into the "messy data" reality that engineering teams face behi...
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  #136: What is Master Data Management and Who Owns It? 19.05.2026 38min

  Master Data Management Explained: Why Clean Data Matters More Than Ever Data fuels every digital initiative — but who’s actually managing it? In this episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, Jonathan Scott and Juliann Grant sit down with Razorleaf’s Ann Garcia to unpack the fundamentals of Master Data Management (MDM) and why it plays a critical role in modern digital engineering environments. With more than 30 years of experience across medical device, consumer packaged goods, and manuf...
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  #135: iBase-t Excelerate 2026 Wrap Up 12.05.2026 15min

  What’s driving the future of manufacturing execution, MRO, and digital operations in aerospace and defense? In this special on-site episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, the Razorleaf team recaps their experience at the iBase-t Excelerate 2026 conference in National Harbor. Jonathan Scott and Juliann Grant share insights from customer presentations, emerging AI strategies, MES modernization efforts, and the growing push toward model-based manufacturing. From practical upgrade st...
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  #134: The Flex Factor-How Retail Rewrote the Rules of PLM 06.05.2026 47min

  What happens when traditional Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) meets the fast-moving world of retail and apparel? In this episode of Stay Sharp in Digital Engineering, hosts Juliann Grant and Jonathan Scott sit down with returning guest Brion Carroll to explore how PLM evolved beyond engineering-heavy industries into fashion, footwear, and retail. Brion shares firsthand insights from building one of the first retail-focused PLM solutions—revealing why apparel required a completely different...