Machine Shop Mastery

Most machine shop owners will talk your ear off about spindles and tolerances. Ask Mike Marzetta what makes Altek work and he says the word  love . Not as a slogan. As the actual thing holding a 200-person advanced manufacturing company together. Mike runs Altek in Spokane, a shop his dad started 50 years ago that's grown into full contract manufacturing: machining, injection molding, assembly, te...

Most family shops don't get a clean handoff. Somebody gets sick, the calendar moves faster than the plan, and one person has to decide whether to step in or let the doors close. That's the story Christy Subia lived at Bedard Machine, and it's why I wanted her on the show. Bedard is a 95% aerospace shop in Brea, California with 23 people and 17 machines. And four years ago it was almost none of wha...

Most shop owners who hit 50 employees, steady profit, and a fourth generation coming up behind them would be tempted to coast. Andrew Borg decided to double down instead. Not because he has to, he's quick to say the shop is profitable right where it is, but because he wants to build something that outlasts him.  A big part of that answer is automation. Borg Design runs a fleet of cobots that load...

Almost every shop owner I talk to wants to grow. Far fewer build something that can survive a real downturn. That's the thread running through my whole conversation with Chris Welch of Swissomation, and it's why I wanted him on after we met at Machining on the Summit. Chris runs a high-mix Swiss machining operation, two locations and around 120 spindles, and just about everything he does comes bac...

In this episode of  Machine Shop Mastery , I got to sit down with Kenny Williams of Native Aerospace and Defense. Kenny has a really interesting background because he did not come into manufacturing through the traditional path. He started in technology, worked with major ERP companies, served as a CIO for several manufacturing companies, and saw firsthand how deeply connected systems, process, pe...

When Ashley Parent first appeared on Machine Shop Mastery, Mills Machine Works was fighting for survival. After the unexpected loss of her father, who founded the company in 1995, Ashley and her siblings inherited not only a family business but also the challenge of keeping it alive. Almost overnight, the shop lost roughly half of its revenue as customers questioned whether the next generation cou...

When I sat down with Casimir Sienkiewicz (CAZ) from CazTek, I immediately connected with his story because it reminded me so much of the journeys so many shop owners go through. What started with a Bridgeport mill in a garage has evolved over the last 22 years into a growing engineering and precision machining company tackling everything from advanced prototypes to 5-axis machining, Swiss work, au...

From shadowboxing aerospace tool kits with a CO2 laser to running thousands of work orders annually across machining, sheet metal, and waterjet operations, Low Country Aerospace  has grown by embracing systems, trust, and relentless customer focus. In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, Paul Van Metre sits down with founder Barry Russell to unpack the unconventional path that transformed a small...

There are certain companies in manufacturing that are so woven into the fabric of the industry that you almost stop noticing just how influential they've been. That was my realization after sitting down with Matt Schron from Jergens. Like a lot of machinists, I've spent decades around Jergens products without fully appreciating just how deep their roots go, from workholding and lifting solutions t...

When I sat down with Alex Mazerolle from Archer Precision, I thought I knew where the conversation was going. We were originally planning to talk about their ProShop journey and some of the operational improvements they've made along the way. What I didn't expect was to walk into a full-on masterclass in how to build a modern, high-performance machine shop. As Alex started sharing his perspective,...

What happens when a shop owner refuses to accept the tradeoff between developing people and driving efficiency? In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery,  Brian Kippen shares a story that feels less like a linear journey and more like a carefully engineered system—one where workforce development and automation aren't competing priorities, but deeply connected levers for growth. Brian's path into ma...

What do you do when your entire business model collapses almost overnight? For Sven Klatt and the team at Vineburg Machining, the answer wasn't to retreat—it was to reinvent. After losing their three largest customers to overseas outsourcing in the early 2000s, the company made a bold decision: walk away from high-volume commodity work and rebuild from the ground up around complex, high-mix machin...

What does it really take to build a $50 million machine shop from scratch? In this episode of  Machine Shop Mastery , I sit down with David Dussault and Joel Lape, co-founders of P1 Industries, to unpack one of the most impressive growth stories I've come across in manufacturing. They started with a single used lathe and a Bridgeport—and over the past 20 years, they've built a 150-person operation...

What does it look like to build a manufacturing company where the primary purpose is to create joy through kindness?  In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, Jean Pitzo of Ace Metal Crafts shares how that philosophy shaped her leadership approach and helped grow the company into a thriving, multi-division manufacturing organization. Her story challenges the traditional notion that success in manu...

In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, I sit down with Skip Markley of Die Craft Machining & Engineering to explore a transformation story that spans more than two decades. Skip walks me through how he acquired a small shop running on manual equipment and carbon paper work orders and gradually evolved it into a standardized, process-driven CNC operation serving the steel mill industry. It's a ca...

What happens when an entrepreneur with deep manufacturing roots but limited machining experience buys a 30-year-old job shop? In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, Billy Banks shares what it looks like to step into ownership, inherit a legacy culture, and begin reshaping a business with fresh energy, new leadership philosophy, and a long-term growth vision. Just 13 months into owning General Ma...

Taking over a family machine shop is one challenge. Scaling it rapidly while navigating defense-industry cybersecurity requirements is another entirely. In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, Paul sits down with Jessica Eckman of Bent River Machine, an Arizona-based factory tooling and automation company that has been building complex equipment since 1978. After Jessica and her husband took over...

Buying a machine shop from the outside can sound intimidating. For Nik and Aaron of Mahler Machining, it was also an opportunity. In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, Paul sits down with the two partners who acquired a precision machining business in Vancouver, British Columbia after spending nearly a decade in corporate finance and private equity. Instead of continuing to advise businesses fr...

In this deeply personal and powerful episode of Machine Shop Mastery, Paul sits down with Dave Hataj, third-generation leader of Edgerton Gear in Wisconsin. What begins as a conversation about a custom gear job shop quickly unfolds into something much larger — a story about culture change, humility, sabotage, burnout, mentorship, and the responsibility manufacturers carry in shaping the next gener...

What happens when a high-performance race shop decides to jump into aerospace and defense manufacturing — and goes all in? In this episode of  Machine Shop Mastery , I sit down with Marty Moran of TKO Precision Machining and TKO Motorsports in Reno, Nevada. What started in 2008 as a motorsports-focused shop building custom race cars and high-end components evolved into a serious aerospace and defe...

What does it take to grow a third-generation family machine shop into a diversified, nearly 100-person operation pushing $20 million in revenue? In this episode of  Machine Shop Mastery , I sit down with Zac Overton of Overton Industries to unpack the evolution of a business that started as a 900-square-foot carbide tooling shop in 1968 and grew into a multi-division manufacturing company spanning...

Taking over a family machine shop is never just a business decision. It's personal. In this episode of  Machine Shop Mastery , I sit down with Nubia Perez of Gretna Machine Shop to talk about what it really means to carry a founder's legacy forward while finding the courage to lead in your own way. Nubia shares the origin story of Gretna Machine Shop, founded by her father after immigrating to the...

Some machine shop owners talk about people-first leadership. Few are willing to put everything on the line to prove it. In this episode of  Machine Shop Mastery , I sit down with Gary Poesnecker, founder of Spectrum Machine & Design, whose leadership was tested when the world shut down. Faced with collapsing demand during COVID, Gary made a decision most owners wouldn't: he borrowed over $1 millio...

Most machine shops grow by adding capabilities, chasing new markets, and saying "yes" as often as possible. Forest City Gear took the opposite path — and built a 123-person company by doing it. In this episode of  Machine Shop Mastery , I sit down with Kika Young, President of Forest City Gear, to unpack how extreme specialization became the company's competitive advantage. Instead of trying to be...

Reaching 100 episodes is more than a milestone. It's a moment to step back and recognize what's been built together. In this special compilation episode of  Machine Shop Mastery , I reflect on the most powerful ideas, lessons, and human stories that emerged from the first 99 conversations with shop owners and manufacturing leaders across the industry. When this podcast started, I thought we were c...