Buy the Numbers

Most shop owners believe the number on their business is locked in by their earnings. It isn't. Two shops with identical profit can sell for wildly different prices, and the gap almost always comes back to one question a buyer is quietly working out in their head: does this thing run without you? For this one I brought back Phil Hanke from CLA and added Heather Parbst, who leads CLA's owner transi...

Most shop owners never sell a business before the day they actually sell theirs. You build something for thirty years, then one phone call later you're trying to figure out what it's worth, what the buyer is really paying for, and why the number in your head doesn't match the offer on the table. The fix is simple to say and hard to do: start thinking like a buyer long before you ever plan to sell....

Part two of a good conversation is where things usually get real. In this episode, I pick back up with Nush Ahmed and Brooke Laing from Sisterhood of Trades, and we get into the questions most shop owners quietly wonder about but rarely say out loud: why more women aren't walking through the door, what it actually looks like to attract them, and whether our instinct to "just hire good people" is a...

In this episode of  Buy the Numbers , I sat down with Nush Ahmed and Brooke Laing for one of the more entertaining and eye-opening conversations I've had in a while. What started with jokes about generational slang and communication styles quickly turned into a serious discussion about leadership, workplace culture, and what younger generations are actually looking for in manufacturing careers. As...

Recorded live from the DN Solutions open house near Chicago, this special crossover episode blends the worlds of  Buy the Numbers  and  Lights Out  into one conversation about manufacturing growth, automation, and the real numbers behind machine tool investments. Surrounded by machines making chips all around us, we dive into what actually drives smart capital expenditures in a modern machine shop...

If you're like most shop owners, HR, payroll, and benefits are necessary evils—important, but far from the reason you got into manufacturing in the first place. Yet those "back-office" functions can quietly drain your time, introduce risk, and even limit your ability to attract and retain great people. In this episode of  Buy the Numbers , Mike sits down with Jon from Thrive PEO to unpack one of t...

Breaking the Ceiling: Systems, Data, and the Truth About Scaling a Machine Shop, Ep #44 Manufacturing will humble you—no matter how good you get. I was talking with someone recently about how this might be the only industry where you can perform at a world-class level and still lose money on scrap. That's just the reality we operate in. So the question becomes: how do you build a business that can...

What actually makes leadership work in a manufacturing environment? Is it KPIs, lean systems, and dashboards? Or is it something far more human? In this episode of  Buy the Numbers , I sit down with Jason Woodard, COO of Geislinger Corporation and author of  Manufacturing Leadership That Works , to unpack the leadership principles that drive real operational performance.  While the conversation to...

CMMC is no longer something manufacturers can afford to ignore. If you're doing work in the defense supply chain—or even thinking about it—this is quickly becoming a requirement, not a "nice to have." And what makes it challenging is that it's not just about passing an audit. It's about how your entire business handles data, systems, and security. In this episode of  Buy the Numbers , we break dow...

Most of the time on Buy the Numbers , we focus on revenue growth, margin improvement, cash flow strategy, or capital investments. But in this episode, we turn our attention to something many manufacturers rarely question: utility expenses. Electricity. Gas. Water. Sewer. Waste. For most of us, these bills show up, we pay them, and we move on. They're viewed as fixed costs of doing business. But wh...

Too many manufacturers treat taxes as a once-a-year compliance exercise. You gather the documents, sign the return, write the check, and move on. But the reality is that tax planning is one of the most powerful strategic tools available to business owners, especially in capital-intensive industries like manufacturing. In this episode of  Buy the Numbers , I'm joined by  Dylan Valentyn  and  Julie...

Quality is often treated like a cost center in manufacturing. Something we have to do to satisfy customers, auditors, or certifications. But in my experience, quality is much more than that. It's one of the biggest drivers of cash flow, reputation, and long-term profitability in a shop. In this episode of  Buy the Numbers , I sat down with Mehul from Ground Control to talk through the real, often...

One of the patterns I keep seeing in manufacturing has nothing to do with machines, software, or technology. It shows up in how teams respond when something goes wrong. In this episode of  Buy the Numbers , I sat down again with Josh McKain from Throughput Mastery to talk about the habits that actually drive throughput, especially accountability, communication, and culture. Josh has now hosted mor...

What changes when you're not building a business to sell, but building one to hand down? That's the question that kept coming up for me in this conversation. In this episode of  Buy the Numbers , I sat down with Jack Watson of HFW Industries, a fourth-generation manufacturer whose family has been operating the same business for nearly 80 years. Jack's story starts with his great-grandfather in 194...

Inventory is one of the most overlooked levers in manufacturing finance, yet it is often the single largest asset sitting on a company's balance sheet. In this bonus episode of  Buy the Numbers , Mike Payne is joined by inventory accounting experts Erica Parra and Cindy Houser from CLA to unpack why inventory accounting methods deserve far more attention than they typically receive. Most manufactu...

Innovation in manufacturing is often framed as a technology problem. Better machines, faster software, smarter automation. But in this episode of Buy the Numbers, the conversation takes a different turn, one that looks past tools and toward the human systems that actually make innovation stick. Mike Payne is joined once again by Al Whatmough, CEO of Toolpath, for a wide-ranging discussion on why i...

KPIs can feel like a buzzword—every manufacturer knows they  should  be tracking them, but few feel confident about where to start or what actually matters. In this episode of  Buy the Numbers , Mike Payne sits down once again with Jon Hughes of CLA to unpack the real purpose of KPIs, why they're so misunderstood, and how data-driven decision-making can completely change the way a shop performs. M...

In this special crossover episode of  Buy the Numbers , Mike Payne joins Josh McCain on  The Throughput Show  for a fully interactive, live conversation about one of the most misunderstood and mission-critical topics in manufacturing:  cash flow . Unlike traditional episodes, this one unfolds in real time with audience questions, open dialogue, and the kind of raw, honest examples operators rarely...

When Section 179 and bonus depreciation come back into play, it's easy to get swept up in the excitement of "saving on taxes." Every year around this time, I start hearing from shop owners who are ready to buy a new machine before the end of Q4—sometimes for the right reasons, but often for the wrong ones. Don't get me wrong, I love a good deduction as much as anyone. But if you wouldn't buy that...

When tariffs, trade policy, and cash flow collide, manufacturers are forced to think creatively—or risk being crushed by uncertainty. That's exactly where Mary Buchzeiger, CEO of Lucerne International and Lucerne Global Solutions, found herself. With skyrocketing tariffs on imported automotive components, Mary realized the solution wasn't to absorb the hit—it was to rewrite the playbook altogether...

In this episode of Buy the Numbers , host Mike Payne sits down with continuous improvement coach and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt  Brian Karp  to dig into the metrics that matter most for manufacturing leaders. Together, they explore how data can be used not just to measure performance, but to transform culture, drive engagement, and spark meaningful improvement across every department. For mo...

In this episode of Buy the Numbers, I sit down with Roger Atkins, President of the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA), to talk about the real state of U.S. manufacturing as we close out 2025. Representing more than 1,000 small and medium manufacturers nationwide, Roger brings a boots-on-the-ground perspective to the headwinds, opportunities, and trends shaping the industry right now...

When you're buying a machine shop for the first time, it's easy to feel like you're lost in the dark. I've been through more than 150 transactions in my career, but I still remember what it was like sitting across from my first seller—wondering if I was asking the right questions or if I was missing something important. That's why I love conversations like this one. In this episode of  Buy the Num...

In this episode of Buy the Numbers , Mike Payne sits down with  Dave Necessary , Executive Vice President of Products and Markets at Gardner Business Media, to dig into the power of benchmarking and the  Top Shops  program. For more than a decade, Top Shops has been the definitive survey that shows manufacturers where they stand—highlighting the practices, strategies, and investments that consiste...

Selling a business is rarely just about the numbers—and in this episode of  Buy the Numbers , we explore why. Recorded at the CLA Connect Center in Minnesota, Mike Payne and guest co-host Erin Mickels sit down with two sets of owners who have recently gone through the process of selling their companies. From fielding unsolicited offers to choosing between 26 potential buyers, their stories highlig...