The Manufacturing Executive

Interview with Richard Broo

Richard Broo · July 14, 2026

Entrepreneur · Leadershipin

Interview with Richard Broo

Podcast: The Manufacturing Executive

July 14, 2026 · 23 min

Listen to Richard Broo on The Manufacturing Executive.

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Interview with Richard Broo

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The Manufacturing Executive

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Key topicsThe hidden cost of letting “almost ready” projects drag onMost delayed launches aren’t blocked by technology or talent-they’re stalled by unresolved definitions and decision paralysis that no one feels empowered to fix. Teams keep refining specs instead of shipping value, while leadership assumes progress is being made because activity is visible. Richard unpacks how experienced leaders learn to distinguish healthy iteration from expensive stagnation. The simplest way leaders can reduce project risk without spending more moneyReducing risk doesn’t require new headcount or tools-it requires earlier clarity and firmer decisions. Richard explains how disciplined upfront thinking eliminates entire categories of downstream rework. The value for listeners is learning what to fix before projects demand rescue. Why project audits only work when consultants stay long enough to prove their adviceMost leaders have paid for recommendations that sounded smart but changed nothing. Richard explains why advice without implementation creates false confidence and why real improvement requires skin in the game. This conversation challenges the traditional consulting model and reframes what leaders should demand before trusting external expertise. View all topics →

About Richard Broo

Project Management Turnaround Specialist and Founder of True North PMP Consulting

40+ years Successful global leadership experience$22.2M Sale achieved after stabilizing a failing medical packaging businessPMP Certified Project Management ProfessionalCorporate & collegiate Project management educator

Richard Broo has spent more than four decades inside complex organizations watching projects quietly drift off course, often long before leadership realizes anything is wrong. His career work spans Fortune 500 companies, mid-market firms, and private-equity-backed businesses, where he is repeatedly brought in to resolve project related issues when internal project teams are at a loss and outcomes are on the line.

Richard has expertise in product management, project management, new product development & commercialization, and operations. He has served clients in the plastics, flexible/rigid packaging, automotive/heavy truck, consumer goods, electrical/electronic, building & construction raw materials, industrial manufacturing, and medical equipment industries. Based upon his career accomplishments, he became an expert to resolve projects experiencing budget overruns, scheduling delays, scope creep, stakeholder issues, poor team dynamics, and projects failing to deliver intended results. He has guided organizations through high-risk inflection points, including stabilizing a failing medical packaging business, leading it through a controlled bankruptcy to a successful $22.2M sale.

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About this episode

Most manufacturers are good at planning a product and good at planning a project. Where launches fall apart is everything in between. Founder and principal of True North PMP Consulting,Richard Broo, will tell you that operations, quality, logistics and finance get left out of the room until it's too late. By the time manufacturing hears about a launch, the line's already booked out for months. In this episode, we dig into what Richard calls governance: getting every function aligned from day one, before anybody flips the switch. You'll hear why growth amplifies whatever's already broken, how to spot a project drifting off track while you can still fix it, and what it looks like when a team gets it right. Along the way, Richard shares real turnaround stories from decades in plastics, medical packaging and industrial manufacturing.

Guest: Richard Broo