Clocking In

Running a warehouse or manufacturing facility isn’t easy. Every day, you’re expected to keep product moving in, around, and out the door. Faster. Safer. With fewer problems and zero incidents. That’s a lot to carry. It can feel like an impossible ask, but we’re here to help make it possible. On this show, we dig into the real challenges happening on the floor and at the loading dock. Each episode, you’ll hear from industry experts, operators, and problem-solvers who share practical ways to improve quality, boost productivity, and keep facilities running smoothly. Our goal is simple. Share new ways to tackle challenges that never seem to end so your people and your product get in, around, and out the door safely. You ready to clock in?

Clocking In is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 8 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Clocking In, a business show with 8 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #8

  Fire Doors Save Lives. Here’s What Many Facilities Get Wrong

  Aug 19, 202638 min

  Is your facility ignoring its fire doors, and do you even know the compliance risk you are running? In this episode of Clocking In, host Mike Smith sits down with Scott Smith, Territory Representative at Robert Dietrick Company, who brings over a decade of experience as a service technician and service manager. Scott shares hard-earned lessons from surviving a house fire as a teenager to managing heavy industrial equipment. You will walk away knowing why fire doors fail drop tests, how improper installation voids insurance claims, and what steps keep your building compliant. Key Takeaways: Annual drop testing is mandatory under NFPA 80, and technician certification has been required since 2022. Automatic activation closes fire doors faster than manual fusible links, cutting off toxic smoke instantly Proper digital record-keeping protects your facility if insurance adjusters or fire marshals audit a claim. Highlights: (00:00) Meet Scott Smith (01:36) Standard service doors vs life-saving fire doors (05:58) Why fire doors should self-close (09:12) What MFL walls are and why insurance carriers require them (13:26) How extreme fire and cold hose tests force door failure (17:20) The funny thing about installers and drop testers (25:40) What proper inspections look like (29:21) Spotting pencil-whipped reports and fake maintenance checks (33:35) How digital asset tagging keeps compliance records safe forever (35:21) Practical steps to verify your facility's fire door status today Resources: RDC Drop Test Form: https://rd-co.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Drop-Test-Form-2024-1.pdf When a Fire Door Is Needed, Failure Isn’t an Option https://rd-co.com/when-a-fire-door-is-needed-failure-isnt-an-option/ Robert Dietrick Company’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/robert-dietrick-co./ Mike’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-smith-92728864/

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #7

  The Open Door Problem Most Facilities Overlook

  Aug 5, 202636 min

  Is your loading dock quietly wasting 20 to 30 percent of your heating and cooling budget? In this episode of Clocking In , host Mike Smith sits down with Cullen Luning , Director of Strategic Accounts, and Sami Aslam , Product Manager for Air Movement, both of Schwank North America . Cullen and Sami have spent their careers on opposite ends of the same problem, one selling and engineering solutions, the other studying the science behind them, and both have watched facilities lose money at the dock door without ever knowing it. You'll walk away from this episode knowing exactly how much conditioned air an open dock door costs you, why dock seals alone were never designed to stop it, and what steps to take this week to find out where your own facility stands. Key Takeaways: An open dock door can lose 60 to 70% of your conditioned air, translating to 20 to 30% higher heating and cooling costs. Dock seals and air curtains solve two different problems. Seals block the outside, air curtains seal the inside, and you need both. Only 8 to 10% of dock doors across North America have air curtains installed, despite how fast the payback can be. Highlights: (00:00) Meet Cullen Luning and Sami Aslam (01:51) Where facilities actually lose the most energy (03:26) You don't have an HVAC problem, you have an open door problem (05:05) What an air curtain really is, and why it's not "secondary" equipment (06:00) The science of the invisible air blade (11:25) Why dock seals wear out and air curtains don't (14:19) Only 8 to 10% of dock doors have one installed (21:05) The real dollar cost of an open dock door (25:44) The utility rebates most facilities don't know exist (30:00) Busting the myth: does running the unit cost more than it saves Resources: Robert Dietrick Company’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/robert-dietrick-co./ Mike’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-smith-92728864/ Download RDC's free 10-category, 50-point facility assessment checklist https://rd-co.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/facility_checklist.html

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #6

  The Real Cost of Skipping Preventative Maintenance

  Jul 22, 202629 min

  Is your loading dock quietly draining your budget? And would you even know it until something breaks? In this episode of Clocking In, host Mike Smith sits down with Bob Glover , Account Representative at Robert Dietrick Company , to talk about why preventative maintenance belongs at the center of every facility's operations, not on the back burner until equipment fails. Bob spent years helping facilities catch small issues before they turn into costly downtime, safety incidents, or warranty headaches. You'll walk away knowing what a real five-step PM process looks like, why deferred maintenance almost always costs more than it saves, and what to ask a service provider before you hand them your docks. Key Takeaways: Companies running a solid PM program save 12 to 18% annually on service costs compared to those that don't. Safety, warranty coverage, and insurance liability all trace back to one thing: your maintenance records. A five-step process — clean, inspect, lubricate, adjust, test — catches problems while they're still cheap to fix. Highlights: (00:00) Meet Bob Glover (01:14) Why PM sits at the center of every customer relationship (02:49) What preventative maintenance is (04:33) The equipment nobody thinks about until the dock goes down (04:47) The Interstellar docking scene that explains the whole industry (08:35) The five-step process most PM programs skip half of (10:20) Why "clean" is the step technicians take most seriously (13:36) "Pay me now or pay me later": The adjustment step, explained (16:51) The confession about "drive-by PM" at a former employer (19:19) The first question asked after every workplace injury (23:23) The number: 12 to 18% saved annually with a real PM plan (25:54) The Monday morning question every facility leader should be asking Resources: Robert Dietrick Company’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/robert-dietrick-co./ Mike’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-smith-92728864/ Download RDC's free 10-category, 50-point facility assessment checklist https://rd-co.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/facility_checklist.html

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #5

  Why You Should Treat Safety Like Preventive Maintenance

  Jul 8, 202623 min

  Is your safety program really working, or are you just too close to it to tell? In this episode of Clocking In, host Mike Smith sits down with Ryan Werner, Industrial Safety Consultant at Robert Dietrick Company , who came to the field the hard way. Two 100-pound steel pipes fell on him during an unloading job in his early 20s. After back surgeries and a career reset, he spent years managing health, safety, and environment inside the kinds of facilities he now audits. He knows what it looks like from both sides of the clipboard. This episode makes the case for outside safety consultations, not as a red flag, but as standard operating procedure. You'll come away understanding why safety and productivity are not in competition, what an outside audit actually involves, and why the facilities that do this well treat it the same way they treat preventative maintenance on equipment. Key Takeaways: Slowing forklifts down to reduce accidents forced one facility to innovate. They ended up faster and safer. Your safety team is reactive by design. Injuries, near misses, contractor questions, they all jump the queue. Floor walks get pushed. An outside consultant shows up with no queue. Fresh eyes catch what familiarity hides. If you've walked past something every day for two years, you've stopped seeing it. If an outside consultation prevents one injury, it is no longer a safety expense. It is a business decision. Highlights: (00:00) Meet Ryan Werner (00:33) Why you should consider an outside safety consultation or audit (01:42) The misconception that safety and productivity trade off against each other (03:13) The knife sharpening machine and the finger that almost wasn't (04:10) What race cars have to do with running a safer facility (05:09) How slowing down forklifts made one facility faster (07:00) The accident that sent Ryan Werner to college and into safety (09:20) What keeps HSE managers off the floor even when they want to be there (10:14) Whether it feels threatening when an outsider audits your program (14:00) The four pillars of an RDC safety consultation (15:21) Why you get a digital platform, not a spreadsheet (17:13) The fresh eyes argument, and why walking the same floor every day works against you (19:16) Preventative maintenance for equipment versus preventative maintenance for safety culture (21:34) The Monday morning calendar test for knowing if you need outside help Resources: Robert Dietrick Company’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/robert-dietrick-co./ Mike’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-smith-92728864/ Download RDC's free 10-category, 50-point facility assessment checklist https://rd-co.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/facility_checklist.html

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #4

  Facility Managers Tell All: What I Wish I Knew 10 Years Ago

  Jun 24, 202640 min

  What does it actually take to run a food bank that ships meals to all 50 states out of a building that hasn't changed much since it was built? In this episode of Clocking In, host Mike Smith sits down with Jason Meyer, Facilities Manager at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana , the largest food bank in the state. Jason didn't come up through facility management. He started as a truck driver, moved into maintenance because he knew how to troubleshoot, and eventually took over a 332,000-square-foot operation running 100 trucks a day, 36 sit-down lifts, hundreds of weekly volunteers, and a drive-through food pantry where neighbors pull cars into a live warehouse. He figured most of it out the hard way. This episode covers what changes when you stop reacting and start planning, why the instinct to do everything yourself is a trap, and what facility leaders who are five years into the job still get wrong. Key Takeaways: Stop reacting, start planning. Reactive leadership keeps you busy but never ahead. Small proactive decisions, like buying the right equipment the first time, compound into big wins over time. Relationships are an asset. Taking genuine interest in vendors, technicians, and peers pays off in ways you can not predict. The knowledge you gain from those conversations is irreplaceable. You can not do it all. Focus on what only you can do and trust others with the rest. Recognizing your limitations is not a weakness. It is how you lead better. Highlights: (00:00) Meet Jason Meyer (01:17) What it actually feels like to step into facility leadership for the first time (02:49) Running the largest food bank in Indiana out of a 332,000 square foot building (04:05) How Jason went from driving a truck to running the whole facility (08:20) What Gleaners thought was efficient and what they know now (09:30) Why walking through the warehouse used to be a kamikaze mission (11:27) The fluorescent lights that started a $44,000 conversation (13:01) The comparison trap that was draining Jason’s energy without him realizing it (15:11) The safety problem that never happens until it does (19:38) The risk Jason wishes he took years earlier (21:32) Why facility layout decisions made in a conference room keep haunting the floor (29:47) The preventative maintenance pitch he didn't buy and what he learned from it (31:33) How to know which vendors are actually partners (33:25) What it takes to get younger workers interested in the trades (35:26) The method Jason uses to pass knowledge down without it staying stuck in his head (36:32) The most practical advice for anyone stepping into a facility leadership role today Resources: Robert Dietrick Company’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/robert-dietrick-co./

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Clocking In. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.