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Everything's Bigger in Texas: Including Our Commitment to Manufacturing

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At MepApps, we spend our days helping manufacturers upgrade legacy systems, embrace automation, and transform operations from the inside out. But long after the software demos end and discovery calls wrap up, we’re still thinking about the people behind the machines—the welders, operators, schedulers, buyers, engineers, and owners working every day to keep American industry moving.


That’s why our team volunteers time outside of client work to volunteer with Rudel Resources and volunteers across North American manufacturing to produce Mep Magazine; an always-free-to-read publication created by and for people in manufacturing. And this fall, we’re doing something big:

👉🏼 A Special Texas Edition – dropping this October at the ARMA Manufacturing Expo.


Why Texas?

Because Texas isn’t just a state. In many ways, it’s a manufacturing ecosystem unto itself. With over 25,000 manufacturers and more than 1.3 million manufacturing employees statewide (Source: Texas Comptroller).


The Lone Star State is home to:

  • Legacy shops that have been running since the 1960s and before

  • Veteran-owned startups pushing the limits of lean production

  • A WiM (Women in Manufacturing) initiative that is breaking ceilings everywhere

  • AI and robotics labs tucked into high schools and community colleges

  • And more automation adoption than many coastal counterparts combined


Texas is where aerospace, energy, food production, medical devices, electronics, and heavy fabrication all meet. And in true Texas fashion, they don’t just say they’re building something big, they prove it.


About the Texas Edition

The Texas Edition of Mep Magazine is our team’s way of highlighting this momentum and giving it the platform it deserves. As with every issue, it’s produced entirely by volunteers: manufacturing pros, consultants, writers, and technologists who donate time, insights, and design muscle to get it done.


Inside, you’ll find:

  • Case studies from Texas-based SMB manufacturers

  • Spotlights on Women in Manufacturing

  • Who's Who lists from all major regions across industries

  • Commentary on tech debt, ERP and software transitions, and reshoring

  • Advocacy for veteran employment and workforce development

  • A centerfold Manufacturer's Almanac for 2026 planning

  • And unfiltered “Voices from the Shop Floor”


💡 Our goal? To tell the truth, without fluff, or spin. Our articles and feature placement is always based on merit and never monetized. Ad space can be bought by our pieces cannot.


Why MepApps Volunteers?

Mep Magazine started as a passion project at the end of 2024. But over time, it’s becoming a trusted voice for U.S. manufacturing, with readership across 48 states, several countries and over a dozen trade associations, with new ones joining the cause every week.


We do it because we believe in:

✔ Real stories from real people

✔ Proactive, not partisan, advocacy

✔ Celebrating what’s working and confronting what’s not working

✔ Creating something of value that doesn’t come with a price tag


And for our clients, partners, and industry connections, volunteering here is another way MepApps shows up; not just as a vendor, but as a fully invested ally in the manufacturing space.


Want to Be Featured?

Both the Q4 National Edition and the Special Texas Edition are in production right now!

📆 Deadline for submissions: Labor Day, September 1, 2025

We’re currently accepting:

  • Nominations of individuals and companies to be interviewed

  • Women & Veterans that are doing great MFG things

  • Short feature ideas

  • Shop floor wins

  • Press releases Always free to include

  • Job postings

  • Events

  • Questions to the Editor

  • Leadership Q&As

  • Industry commentary

  • Workforce, STEM/STEAM initiatives & education highlights


📖 See previous issues or submit content here: 👉🏼 Mep Magazine Bookshelf


Made in Texas, Built by Us

At MepApps, we’ll always keep our focus on building better businesses through smarter systems, but we’ll also do our part to keep telling the stories that make it all worth it.

Because the future of American manufacturing doesn’t just live in boardrooms or trade shows. It lives in tool cribs, CNC stations, and the stories we take the time to tell.


This fall, Texas gets a big ole Lonestar spotlight. We’d love for you to be a part of it.


📚 Works Cited

Texas Comptroller. “Manufacturing in Texas.” https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/economic-data/manufacturing/

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “State and Area Employment, Hours, and Earnings.” https://www.bls.gov/sae/

Mep Magazine Archives. “MEP Magazine Flipbook Library.” https://www.heyzine.com/flip-book/7c18268a48.html

 
 
 

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