HFW Industries Shop Talk

We are back on the HFW Shop Talk podcast and excited for a great year underway and the fantastic things to come!

Welcome to episode 28! Today we talk about big capital projects underway in our spray shop, some great continuous improvement efforts by several members of our team as well as some big life changes happening outside of work. As always, thank you for listening!

Welcome to Episode 28! Today we talk summer picnics, spray shop upgrades and continuous improvements you will see in the shop soon.

Tucker Holladay joins the podcast once again to discuss the latest improvements in the shop!

Welcome to Episode 26! In this episode, we discuss Tucker's first couple weeks on the job, Two Second Lean and a recent example that shows off how this can be put to practical use!

Welcome to Episode 25! Today we had a great discussion with HFW's newest employee, Tucker. Discussing everything from lean to lake effect snow, this was a fantastic conversation. Thanks for listening!

Welcome to Episode 24 and our first episode of 2025 (try keeping that straight!).  In this episode, I discuss some recent thoughts, some of the topics reviewed at our recent leadership offsite meeting and preview the year ahead and what we can expect to see at HFW.  We are building the foundational elements that will foster tremendous growth at HFW, and we look forward to building a brig...

Thank you to our incredible team and our wonderful customers and vendors. We are grateful to have the privilege of working with such high quality people.

We are thrilled to have Todd Tevens, Managing Director at Lawley Retirement Advisors, back on the podcast today.  Todd is a wonderful asset to everyone at HFW, and talks through important details on HFW's 401k program, changes coming in 2025 and issues everyone should consider in their retirement portfolio.  We are so thankful for our great partnership with Todd and Lawley! Special thank...

Welcome to Episode 21 with Chris Coupal! This is a great episode where Chris and I discuss everything from 5S and continuous improvement to hiking mountains and getting stranded in a blizzard. Chris is a fantastic example of the amazing people we have at HFW, and I was thrilled to have him on the podcast.

Welcome to Episode 20! Today we officially unveil our HFW Core Values.  We are very excited to discuss these values and how they define who we are as a business. We are building a monster., and our Core Values are a big piece of that :) Let me know your thoughts!

Today we have Peter back on the podcast to discuss a little bit about the culture we are trying to foster. Peter is a tremendous example of what you can become at HFW, and we are very excited about the trajectory of the business with the great team we have.  Listen in to hear more about what kind of person is a good fit at HFW, our lean and 5S initiatives, some of the improvements Peter is wo...

Today we have a fantastic conversation with our Plant Manager, Peter.  A 30 year veteran at HFW, Peter has seen a lot and has worked his way up from starting as a manual machinist to running the whole shop. We are fortunate to have a strong leader like Peter in our business. Enjoy this episode!

Today we introduce Traction/EOS as part of a larger initiative to grow our business and further develop our people. Our goal is for HFW to be the best employer in the manufacturing industry, which will propel our business to future success. Traction is one way to help us cultivate this high-performance culture we are after. Let me know if you would like to be on a future episode!

Merry Christmas! Thank you to our great team and all of the wonderful people we have the great fortune to work with. We appreciate all of you.  Here is looking forward to the great things we will do in 2024!

Welcome to episode 15! Today we have a great episode with Jayden, one of the newest members on our team.  For being only 18 years old, Jayden has a tremendous amount of knowledge and wisdom, and we are very fortunate to have him on our team. He is developing into a supremely talented machinist and learning a lot from the amazing team we have at HFW! This was a great episode and I am thankful...

Thanks to everyone who makes HFW the business that it is! Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcome to episode 13! in this episode, we review a few happenings around the shop including our new tool program, a few new hires and recruiting and a few work anniversaries. Thanks  for listening, and let Jack know if you would like to be on the podcast.

Welcome to Episode 12!  Today we have a fantastic conversation with Peter Santasiero, a CNC machinist who came to HFW in the 90s, traveled the country in the 2000s and is now back at HFW! Peter has had a very interesting career that is a great example of what is possible in the trades! This was a great conversation, hope you enjoy! For feedback or if you would like to be on the podcast, speak...

This is episode 10 (not 9 as I say repeatedly in the episode...oops!).  This is a fantastic episode with the one and only Mike Auquier, our CNC supervisor and project engineer. Mike's background is classic HFW in that it is varied and interesting. In this episode we discuss Mike's upbringing, getting into the trades, how he thinks about his role now and a couple special shoutouts for people t...

Welcome to Episode 9! Today we have a cool conversation with Matt Watson about a neat opportunity Matt recently had to participate in a conversation with Scott Bieler, President and an owner of West Herr Automotive Group. Even though West Herr is a very different business to ours here at HFW, Scott talked about a lot of great lessons that have helped turn West Herr into a $3.2 billion revenue busi...

Welcome to Episode 8! This was a great conversation with Jacob Samland, whose official title at HFW is expeditor and shipping manager. In reality, Jacob is much more than that. One of our newer guys in the shop, this was a terrific conversation in which we discuss how Jacob found his way into manufacturing, why the work we do is fulfilling and all the opportunity that a business like HFW can provi...

Welcome to Episode 7! Today we are thrilled to have Rich Hender on the podcast.  With forty years of experience, Rich is one of our senior CNC machinists and a great example of the life that a career in the trades can provide.  In this episode, we explore Rich's upbringing and how it was his shop classes that forged his love of working with his hands, what he likes about machining, what...

Welcome to the fourth episode of our technical talk series. Today we discuss another thermal spray process that we commonly use in the shop, electric arc (which can also be referred to by twin-wire arc).  EA is a process that HFW has performed for much of our 75 year history, and while there may be more "advanced" techniques that we use today, electric arc is still an important one to utilize...

Welcome to Episode 6! We have a great episode with Ben discussing his upbringing, how working on a farm has shaped him as a machinist and how he aims to keep the tradition going. This was a great episode getting to learn more about Ben and what makes him tick. People like Ben are the heart of HFW, and we are so lucky to have him. As always, thank you for listening! If you have any questions or fee...