Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders

In the final special edition episode of MakingChips recorded live at IMTS, we sit down with Craig Zoberis of Fusion OEM and RoboJob USA and Derek Goodwin with Trinity Robotics Automation to talk about a paradigm shift in the industry:  Automation . We cover the difference between pallet automation and machine tending, implementing automation, and calculating the true ROI of automation. Automation...

Have you implemented a machine monitoring system in your machine shop? Do you know how to leverage the data to make meaningful improvements in your shop? CEO and Co-founder of Amper Technologies Akshat Thirani joined us live at IMTS to talk about how his company has simplified machine monitoring and made it accessible to every shop. The bottom line is that your shop can take the data from machine...

What would the shop of the future look like? What's more exciting—hardware or software? What can manufacturing leaders learn from B2C businesses? In this special LIVE episode at IMTS 2022, we chat with special guests  Mike Payne  with  Hill Manufacturing   and  Eike Huebner  with  Ellison Technologies  about what they would do with their shops if they had 10 million dollars to spend. Listen to thi...

As a leader looking to grow his business, Tom Schroeder knew it was time to start gathering data to inform the growth process. So Tom began to implement machine monitoring technology in his shop. In this episode of MakingChips, hear how Tom implemented Amper Technology and the impact it has made on his business.  Because let's face it, if you're not monitoring your machines, you don't know which o...

According to Peter Eelman, if you walk every bit of carpeting at IMTS, you'd walk  69 miles . Those 69 miles cover everything from The Modern Machine Shop's Top Shops' Panel to the 3D Printing Workshop for Job Shops, from Women Make Manufacturing Move to The Smartforce Student Summit. In this episode of MakingChips, we go beyond the exhibits to cover what's happening at IMTS 2022 that you can't mi...

Does your team know what they're really getting when you offer employee benefits, such as health insurance and a 401k? In this episode of MakingChips, Jason and I dissect the employee benefits we offer at Carr Machine & Tool. When we calculate what we're investing in our employees, the number is shocking. Learn just how valuable offering employee benefits can be in this episode! After all, you hav...

Scheduling  is the art of planning your activities so that you can achieve your goals and priorities in the time that you have available. When it's done effectively, it helps you understand what you can realistically achieve with your time. Why is it a big deal on the shop floor? As technology and automation are being implemented, it forces you to be faster. So you  have  to be efficient. Paul Van...

The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) is back! This is the first time that IMTS has been forced to go on hiatus since World War II. It's taking place September 12–17 at McCormick Place in Chicago and will consist of  1.2 million square feet  of exhibition space.  In this episode of MakingChips, Peter Eelman—the Chief Experience Officer at AMT—joins us to share what's happening at...

We've all gone into plants that smell  awful  because they're dealing with coolant problems. But that smell is a symptom of other, bigger problems. If you have a smelly shop, foggy and dirty windows, and gunk on your tables, you've got a coolant problem that's creating an unhealthy environment for your team. Learn how to identify coolant problems and how to solve them in this episode of MakingChip...

The key to being a good salesman is to add value wherever you can for your customers. I want to be able to talk with ZENGER's customers about integrating their tooling management with their ERP system and why it can help them. That's why, in this episode of MakingChips,  Paul Van Metre  comes back to share how tooling management works using ProShop ERP. Because if you're not properly managing your...

Whether you rely on inbound marketing, outbound marketing, or a combination of both, sourcing new customers can be a hassle. But it's how you grow your business, so you can't give up. Thomas™, a Xometry company, is America's #1 industrial sourcing platform and marketing powerhouse.  It could also be your #1 driver of new customers . Thomas™ President Shawn Fitzgerald shares how in this episode of...

Why is a skills gap analysis helpful? How can it make your company more efficient? What does the process look like? In this episode of MakingChips, we define a seven-step process you can use to help you run a skills gap analysis on your manufacturing business. Special guest Crystal Van Vleet shares how she's brought the process to life in her role with Advanced Machine & Engineering ( and  at Maki...

What can you do to  double  the value of your manufacturing company and increase your likelihood of selling it exponentially? In this episode of MakingChips, Michael Watkins and  David Capkovitz  from EBITDA Growth Systems (EGS) share how they can help you increase your profitability and  Paul Van Metre  from ProShop ERP shares how he partners with EGS to bring value to his clients. They are all p...

Many manufacturers are facing a common struggle: Their team members are retiring. Even worse, they're struggling to replace them. Matt Carr—the President of Storch Products Co—found an ingenious way to solve the skills gap at his company by attracting talent from a local technical college. How? He shares a strategy that any manufacturing leader can adapt in this episode of MakingChips. After all,...

AS9100  is a standardized quality management system for the aerospace industry. If a manufacturer wants to work in this field, they have to be AS9100 certified. The credentialing process is difficult to achieve quickly. Integrating it into your quality management system (QMS) can be even more time-consuming. In this episode of MakingChips, special guest John Jones shares how he used ProShop to spe...

Do you struggle with any pet peeves? We've compiled a list of three sales and marketing tactics that people utilize that drive us crazy: misusing lead capture forms, cold calls, and spammy LinkedIn connections. But instead of just complaining about these things, we're going to share what anyone in sales or marketing should do instead. There's a right way—and most definitely a wrong way—to do it. F...

Gino Wickman and Jim Collins popularized the term, "Right people, right seat" in reference to getting the right employees in leadership positions. But what if we take that terminology and apply it to customers? How do you decide what type of customer is the right fit for your manufacturing business? What type of customer will be the most profitable for your business? Those are the questions that w...

Do you struggle with time management? Do you find yourself overwhelmed and exhausted at the end of the week with an endless backlog of things to do? After a rough week of long workdays and back-to-back dinner meetings, I felt like a  zombie . I thought it wise to dive into an episode about time management. So in this episode of MakingChips, Jason and I tackle mastering time management in three are...

"King Richard" is a movie about Venus and Serena's dad, Richard Williams. I remember watching their rise in tennis and was fascinated by this movie that followed their path to success. Their father was a large driving force behind their successful careers. So in this unique episode of MakingChips, we talk about 7 takeaways from King Richard and how they can be applied to the manufacturing world. I...

5S is a methodology that I decided to implement when Carr Machine & Tool moved to a new location. We were  meticulous  about each decision we made so that we could create a clean and safe work environment to lead to increased productivity. The 5 S's consist of  sort ,  set in order ,  shine ,  standardize , and  sustain . In this episode of MakingChips, I share how we implemented 5S in our shop. O...

There's so much wisdom my generation needs to extract from our older colleagues before they retire. Many young people in this industry are naive because it takes time and experience to master a trade. I don't want someone to retire and still have lingering questions I wished I would've asked. That's why we NEED to document the wisdom of our elders. So how do I extract wisdom from my colleagues bef...

How do gaming, programming, and the world of a machinist look intersect? In this episode of MakingChips, Steve Courchane—the CNC Samurai—shares his "origin story," talks about how programming and gaming are aligned, and how to apply gamification to machining to motivate employees. Because if your employees aren't making chips, you aren't making money! BAM.  Segments [2:27] What's going great in ou...

If your business has been slow-growing or stagnant, can you ramp up your growth? Matthew Nix would know—he's grown his family business by a 100x multiple and spent seven straight years on the Inc. 5000 list. But how do you grow from a small mom-and-pop shop to an acquisition and growth machine? In this episode of MakingChips, Matthew shares how they've scaled their business with a three-prong stra...

Today's episode of MakingChips is recorded at a special LIVE Tri-State Manufacturing Alliance (TSMA) event in conjunction with the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership. We are joined by three amazing panelists: Leah Curry : The President at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana David Conner : The CFO at Anchor Industries in Evansville, IN Matthew Nix : President at Nix Companies in Poseyville, IN...

We're on a five-hour drive to a speaking event for the Tri-State Machining Association (TSMA) so we thought, why not do an episode on the importance of travel for manufacturing leaders? In this special episode of MakingChips, we cover the benefits of travel, the potential downsides, and how to use your time wisely when you're on the road. Welcome to  MakingTrips .  Segments [0:35] Don't forget to...