The Planning Desk: The ACT before ManufACTuring

Tyler sits down with Justin Straub to explore how quality and planning drive material flow in aerospace, defense, and medical manufacturing. Compliance, traceability, supplier qualification, and the lessons every manufacturer can borrow from the industries that had to get it right first.

Episode 7 of The Planning Desk goes deep on digital transformation from the planning chair — and we're not giving you the vendor pitch version.
In this episode, Tyler Grefe covers where AI scheduling and planning assistants actually are in 2026, walks through three real proof-of-concept stories from manufacturing environments, and gives an honest, unfiltered look at the risks and opportunities every planning leader needs to understand before making a move.
What we cover:
Where AI scheduling genuinely is today — and what's being oversold
Three real proof-of-concept stories from the shop floor
The digital twin that almost modeled the wrong factory
The AI agent that said no to a customer order — and was right
The last 6% of paper that survived 12 years of paperless initiatives
The risks vs. opportunities framework every planning leader needs
Three actions to take this week — not concepts, actual actions
If you're a planner, scheduler, or supply chain leader trying to figure out where AI actually fits in your operation — this episode was built for you.

In this episode we discuss the importance of clear and concise communication.

We discuss forecasting and discussed how you could introduce AI into the organization around forecasting.

In this episode, I was able to interview Matt Stewert, a Site manager of a local manufacturing company in the twin cities.  He brought a unique take on load and capacity.  We were able to talk a few challenges that have come up and some of the P&L impact that it could have if you are not aligned with your load and capacity.

This episode will discuss everything from Standard of Work for planners to KPI's for the department and how to get them to be proactive instead of reactive.

This episode traces the evolution of manufacturing planning-from manual boards and spreadsheet to ERP, analytics and emerging AI tools.  WE unpack where most manufacturers get stuck, what digital maturity really looks like, and how modern planning systems can unlock visibility, control and scalability. 

In this opening episode, we breakdown why manufacturing success is won or lost long before a part reaches the shop floor.  We explore how effective planning shifts organizations from constant firefighting to controlled execution- and why planning is the true backbone of high-performing manufacturing operations