Fabricator’s Coach

Ed spoke at the Coverings Convention on April 17, 2023 in Orlando. His topic was "Planning for Turbulent Times".  He discussed ways to stay ahead, in the event of sudden economic changes. This session was video recorded too and you can find the video at https://youtu.be/C9h6T55g7cc  

This podcast comes from the May 26th webinar and discusses how this ONE metric can help shop owners manage their businesses and how it can be used to make KEY business decisions. You can read the article at https://www.slipperyrockgazette.net/index.cfm/pageId/4935/Case%20Studies%20in%20Throughput/  

Do you follow up on all your quotes? Here’s a better question:  Do you need to follow up on a quote to close the sale?  What if there was a way to close the sale before you even quote?  Is that even possible? What if we could all be taught how to close the sale before the quote is even done. Enjoy this discussion of how EVERYTHING IS TAUGHT, and we can all become great salespeople with a little tr...

Everywhere we turn these days, it seems the headlines are all screaming “Recession Ahead”.  In various areas of the country fabricators are already seeing the impact of rising mortgage rates and a general softening of the economy.  Quote volume is down and pressure to reduce prices is up.  Those trends could increase over the next 2 years. This podcast discusses options if you decide the "hunker d...

Are you frustrated with lack of consistently good results from your business? Are your employees a little too good at playing the blame game? Do you struggle to consistently delight your customers? If any of these apply to you, maybe it’s time to step back and take a look at the culture of your company.

It is the start of a New Year and we want your business to perform better than ever. One way to help you is to provide a tool and some resources that help you make informed business decisions. The tool, the Decision Matrix and Example, is free and it can be found at https://fabricatorscoach.com/free-helpful-tools/ Listening to this podcast, while looking at the tool will help with implementing it...

So, you’ve taken all the advice in my SRG articles this year, your business is running more smoothly, and now you are wondering what to do next.  The answer:  Craft your 2023 plan for the business now. As you consider what 2023 may have in store, you may have questions like: I think I need to add an install crew – will I have the sales to sustain them? I want to start a marketing campaign – can I...

Will you have a place to sit, or will you be “out’ of the game?  In the game of musical chairs, we have to guess when the music will stop and hope that, when it does, we will have a place to sit so we can continue to play the game.  Otherwise, we are out. We know the economy is shaky. Would you rather ‘guess’ when the music is going to stop – when this super strong demand for countertops will end...

Do you feel like your business is running you into the ground? Do you feel like you always have to be at the shop just to make sure the business functions properly? Do you think it’s just impossible to get away and relax?   If you find yourself answering ‘Yes’ to these questions, then you should consider this question:  Are you a fabricator or are you a business owner?   Mentioned in this webinar-...

Have you ever had a month when sales were strong, you worked harder than ever, yet your month-end Profit and Loss statement (P&L) showed poor results? Being able to quantify which market segments and which specific customers are financially better for your business is an essential piece of preparing for an economic slow-down. While you already have a good intuitive feel, learning the calculations...

We all know that, if we want our business to improve, we have to change something about how we run it. While it can be tough to know what to change, it can be even tougher to begin the change process. Even more challenging is implementing changes that will truly last. Join Ed and fellow fabricators discussing this challenge.

Even if you don’t need to increase sales for your shop today, you soon will if we hit the recession that the newsreaders are forecasting.  If that happens, you are going to need a sound marketing strategy and implementation plan that doesn’t rely on pricing to get sales leads.  You will also need new sales techniques to effectively convert those leads to booked sales. This podcast discusses option...

We don’t know when it will happen, but this phenomenally tight labor market will eventually loosen up.  Until then, we still need to run our shops profitably.  This requires taking a different approach to how we utilize the people we already have as well as how we recruit and retain new employees.     Listen to this session with fellow fabricators as they discuss how to make the most of the people...

This podcast discusses with Fabricators from across the US whether they: have months of backlog and need MORE CAPACITY NOW, or have significant production capacity that is not being used - and need MORE SALES NOW. When Fab Shop owners prefer to have excess capacity, they often think this gives them time to respond quickly to a customer need, because they can drop a job into the schedule. However,...

Someone once asked me how to know if a business had grown too big for the owner to manage.    I think the answer is, if you can’t get your business to generate consistently good results, or if you have management problems in your business that you don’t know how to resolve, the business may be outgrowing your ability to manage it.    One key to managing your business well is understanding the true...

The fewer jobs in your shop (work in process – WIP), the shorter your lead time.  Having a lot of jobs in your shop means your lead times may be longer than you like. Lean is a popular process improvement tool and it pushes for the lowest inventory to generate the shortest lead times possible – and, therefore, great competitive advantage.  So, if we want short lead times, then this must be the bes...

Countertop Fabricators! Would you like to be able to process 10 percent more square footage through your plant every day – without additional capital investment, without adding people, and without working additional hours? You can get that very quickly if you apply the simple principles discussed in this podcast from a Fabricators Coach webinar. Ed discusses Value Added and Non-Value Added activit...

Some days your shop runs pretty smoothly, but many days are filled with entirely too much chaos. This session discusses how to have fewer of the chaotic days and more of the sane days. FIRST: DECIDE 03:30 NEXT: TAKE CARE OF THE BASICS 07:30 THEN: SHIFT INTO HIGH GEAR 30:00 In this public coaching session, we discuss the first critical steps of this trip to less chaos in this coaching-session-turne...

This episode discusses the article of the same name published in The Slippery Rock Gazette in December of 2020. It is taken from the January 2021 webinar and answered questions about the article and the process.

This podcast comes from the February 18, 2022 webinar of the same name. If you want to find out more about how to implement measures that you can share with your whole team, and use to drive better company performance and better control of your business, this is your Podcast!