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Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders

Manufacturing is challenging, but if you are connected to a community of leaders, you can elevate your skills, solve your problems and grow your business! MakingChips was launched in 2014 to equip and inspire the metalworking nation. Hundreds of episodes and a million downloads later, it’s an industry-leading source of information, inspiration, and entertainment for manufacturing leaders of all types. It’s hosted by Jason Zenger and Nick Goellner, two multi-generational manufacturing leaders, and they’re joined by a rotating panel of expert guests – including Titan Gilroy (TITANS of CNC), John Saunders (NYC CNC), Mark TerryBerry (Haas Automation), and many more. Join us as we tackle the topics that keep you up at night - leadership, operations, technology, growth, workforce development and culture.
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Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders
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Now displaying: February, 2017
Feb 15, 2017

Hello Metalworking Nation! Today we are excited to bring you another story that we hope will equip and inspire the younger generation of manufacturing leaders. Flying all the way in from Washington State, we are joined by Paul Van Metre, Co-Founder and VP Marketing of Adion Systems, an ERP-based software solutions company.

Paul shares with us his success story of co-founding a machine shop with his friends right out of college. With little money at first, they were able to grow the business to an $11 million dollar company during the tech boom of the late 90's, by being ahead of the curve and utilizing several key processes including lean manufacturing and SEO. Eventually this led to the development of a web based and completely comprehensive ERP system that would take Paul and the company in a different direction.


Earlier on in the episode we'll get to hear Jim and Jason's debate on authentic Chicago Deep Dish, and in manufacturing news, we'll discuss Rhode Island's Governor calling for new focus on manufacturing jobs.

Episode Structure:
[01:12] - Chuck Rigali with Alro Steel
[03:12] - Manufacturing News
[08:18] - Welcome Paul Van Metre
[10:40] - Vehicle Research Institute
[14:06] - Starting a Machine Shop
[17:55] - Writing the First Paychecks
[19:32] - Kaizen Newspapers
[23:05] - Free Food and Other Perks
[24:31] - Fully Digital Operation
[26:53] - Moving Away From Old Processes
[28:15] - Developing Software
[30:23] - Starting a New Company
[32:40] - Knowing Where We Came From
[34:30] - Conclusion of Episode

Mentioned in this Episode:
Manufacturing News
Paul Van Metre | LinkedIn

We Want to Hear From YOU, The Metalworking Nation:
• Jim@makingchips.com
• Jason@makingchips.com
• Ryan@makingchips.com
Telephone: (312) 725-0245

Feb 7, 2017

"The way we run a business today is completely different than how my dad would run his business.” - Jim Carr

Hello Metalworking Nation! We are excited to share our collaborative wisdom with you today about a topic that we believe is one of the most important things for your company to define -- Core Values. In previous episodes, we have discussed why core values are important, as well as some strategies that can help you set your company's core values. Today, Jim takes us through the creation of Carr Machine's 10 core values while Jason critiques him, and makes suggestions on how to narrow them down. In manufacturing news, we talk about Ford's announcement to cancel a $1.6-billion plant in Mexico and to invest $700 million in metro Detroit's Flat Rock Assembly plant.

Episode Structure:
[02:22] - Manufacturing News
[06:20] - “Fake News”
[08:20] - Creating Carr Machine’s Core Values
[14:10] - The “Aha” Moment
[16:02] - Communicate
[19:25] - The Band
[22:10] - Feel Good
[25:30] - Jason’s Critique
[27:47] - First Class
[31:15] - The Ticket To Doing Business
[34:46] - Conclusion of Episode

Mentioned in this Episode:
Manufacturing News
MC046: What Makes Fusion OEM Unique
MC58: "Life is Great!" - Developing Your Core Values

We Want to Hear From YOU, The Metalworking Nation:
• Jim@makingchips.com
• Jason@makingchips.com
• Ryan@makingchips.com
Telephone: (312) 725-0245

Feb 1, 2017

"My first clue that we need to do something different is when I hear that we’ve done it this way for 20 years.” - Jeff Rizzie

Hello Metalworking Nation! We are glad to have you back for another episode of MakingChips. We have an exciting episode in store for you today as we welcome back Jeff RizzieSr. Manager of Business Development at Sandvik Coromant. Jeff is a veteran in the manufacturing industry. Starting in the early 80s’ as a machinist and working through various roles on the shop floor, he segued into various technical and strategic leadership roles for the major players – Sandvik Coromant, Mazak and Emerson Electric. Jeff joints us for a robust conversation about the future of manufacturing, as he introduces Sandvik's new open platform, The CoroPlus. We also get a chance to talk with Chuck Rigali of Alro Steel, as he stops by our MakingChips Studio.

Other topics of discussion in this episode include our future trip to Sacramento, what manufacturers do with their data, the different ways we consume information, and what a state's favorite car says about who they vote for. In Manufacturing NewsJim and Jason share two different articles about GM, which leads to a discussion on the state of the media.

Episode Structure:
[01:10] - Chuck Rigali of Alro Steel
[05:45] - Approaching 100 Episodes
[07:00] - Manufacturing News (Jim)
[11:06] - Manufacturing News (Jason)
[14:20] - Newspaper & Coffee
[16:43] - Sacramento Interview
[17:40] - Welcome Back Jeff Rizzie
[21:20] - Jeff’s Role at Sandvik
[24:06] - Introducing “CoroPlus”
[26:55] - CoroPlus Tool Guide
[29:00] - Adveon
[31:50] - Gathering Additional Data
[34:25] - CoroBore Plus
[35:50] - Promos 3+
[36:30] - Advanced Machining Analytics
[39:11] - Doing Something with Data
[42:15] - Conclusion of Episode

Mentioned in this Episode:
Alro Steel
Chuck Rigali | LinkedIn
Manufacturing News (Jim)
Manufacturing News (Jason)
Titan Gilroy
MC074: How Digitization Will Affect Manufacturing with Jeff Rizzie
"Robust"
Jeff Rizzie | LinkedIn
Sandvik Coromant
CoroPlus®

We Want to Hear From You, The Metalworking Nation:
• Jim@makingchips.com
• Jason@makingchips.com
• Ryan@makingchips.com
Telephone: (312) 725-0245

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