We were lucky to catch up with Patricia Miller recently and have shared our conversation below.

Patricia, appreciate you joining us today. How did you find your key vendor or vendors? Maybe you can share the backstory and share some context and the relevant details to help us understand why you chose them, why they chose you, etc.

Owning M4 Factory has taught me so many lessons. One of them is respecting the supply chain. I had no idea the complexity, capital intensity, competing priorities and expectations imposed on the supply chain. Every day, there is a priority on safety, human resources, material demands, shipments going in and out, coordinating production, quality emphasis, managing machines and ancillary equipment, enterprise resource planning to schedule people, machines and materials, customer service, facility maintenance, and capital improvements, and nonstop continuous improvement. Often the supply chain is seen as disposable or interchangeable and there is limited awareness of all that is required to make a manufacturing facility hum.

As I steep myself in Responsible Company values, or complete documents on Ethics and Compliance from our Fortune clients, I am shocked that we still have to discuss paying people a living wage, giving them breaks or not working too much overtime, providing a safe working environment that is well lit and conducive to someone’s wellbeing, that we have safety monitoring in place to ensure people go home safely to their loved ones daily, that there is not discrimination, that we know where our materials come from and a factory’s impact on the environment. So much!

My recommendation – Choose well. Know your suppliers. Adore them. Work through issues with them. Be aware of where they produce, who is making your products, and how are the treated. And what is the values of the manufacturer, how do they care and what are they doing about environmental and social impact and ensure it aligns to your brand. The supply chain is an extension of you.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

M4 Factory is a woman owned Chicagoland based Design Lab and Factory pioneering future plastic materials and a circular economy. With fifty years of consumer product contract manufacturing experience, M4 Factory has worked with well known brands and start up companies including General Motors, Harley Davidson, Livewire, L’Oreal, Newell, Nate Berkus, M Design, Sloan Valve, NASA, US Government, Spikeball, AeroPress, Reynolds, Bird Buddy and the Museum of Science and Industry.

By aligning with the highest standards of consumer branded creativity, work culture, sustainability initiatives, production quality, and efficiency, M4 Factory is reshaping the worldview of American manufacturing. During the 21st century, business will need to improve the environment and social performance of its products. We will become the world’s foremost authority on responsible, design-driven manufacturing, ultimately bringing personal satisfaction to the production process and lessening the impact on the planet.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Manufacturing and Sustainability is my third career. I began in politics, dabbled in interior design and retail, pivoted to healthcare and biotech and landed in manufacturing and sustainability with M4 Factory. This took me from an employee to an entrepreneur.

My belief, we are on this journey of life to show up in service to the world and share our gifts, learning along the way and having the best joyride we can. How is your life asking you to show up and how can you be in service to what matters most to you?

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

My experience in manufacturing was limited. I grew up going into the factory on occasion because my mom worked in the factory, and my grandparents owned it. It was an extension of me, like most who grow up with a family business. But I was removed from it. My family desired my generation to do better, get educated and get out of the factory. It was a time where the perception of manufacturing had declined and was not an esteemed career to pursue.

I experienced supply chains outside the US and within the US with my previous roles, but was in brand and marketing, not supply chain or manufacturing.

Owning a factory has taught me so much about the supply chain, what to look for, how to align to values, view as an extension of the brand. I love owning a US based factory. My supply chain was always oversees. The value of regional manufacturing will continue to be important as we look at impact and carbon footprint of goods. As we spin off our own products from the factory, I love knowing who works on my products, what the factory cares about, and able to tell a true transparent story of materials, manufacturing and product backstory. I hope to see more brands pushing for this.

Contact Info:

• Website: m4factory.com
• Instagram: m4factory; patriciamiller_pm
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/pmm4
• Twitter: m4factory

Image Credits
LUKE RAYSON PATRICIA MILLER