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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: April, 2022
Apr 28, 2022

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 before they retire? In this episode of MakingChips, we talk through a few ideas you can use to learn as much as you can from your expert machinists. 

We’d like to hear from you—How would you extract knowledge from peers? Reach out to info@MakingChips.com 

Segments

  • [3:25] A conversation about retirement
  • [5:34] Why we never learned anything from our dads
  • [7:21] Manufacturing news: Germany is in a recession
  • [12:30] An impromptu ProShop ERP Shoutout
  • [15:55] How to approach a conversation with a veteran machinist
  • [18:52] Four ways to extract knowledge from veteran machinists
  • [25:30] What inspired me to choose this episode’s topic
  • [27:54] Don’t miss IMTS in September 2022!

Resources mentioned on this episode

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Apr 18, 2022

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 our businesses
  • [4:37] Manufacturing news: Shoe manufacturing shifting to the US
  • [8:00] Becoming the CNC Samurai: Steve Courchane’s origin story
  • [15:02] The convergence of programming and gaming
  • [19:37] The interface between Roblox and machining
  • [24:37] Gaming: Attracting the next generation to manufacturing
  • [26:08] How to apply gaming principles to motivate employees

Resources mentioned on this episode

Get The Boring Bar Newsletter - Text CHIPS to 38470 to subscribe!

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Apr 11, 2022

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 strategy and how you can, too.

Segments

  • [3:40] What’s happening in our lives?
  • [6:16] Learn all about Matthew Nix
  • [8:23] What Nix Companies looks like 100 years ago
  • [14:47] How Matthew rapidly grew his business
  • [20:28] The difference between growing and scaling
  • [24:31] Nix Companies’ three-prong approach to growth
  • [26:52] Should you provide your leadership team with equity?
  • [32:22] How to use acquisitions as a growth tactic
  • [35:58] Financial advice for acquiring businesses
  • [40:10] Manufacturing news: lead times & pricing

Resources mentioned on this episode

Get The Boring Bar Newsletter - Text CHIPS to 38470 to subscribe!

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Apr 4, 2022

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

Each panelist shares their perspective on the importance of taking care of your people, implementing the right processes, and how to compel and measure performance. We also have the pleasure of announcing this year's Manufacturing Excellence Award. Don’t miss out on a unique perspective from manufacturing leaders in the trenches!

Segments

  • [0:33] Don’t forget to register for IMTS!
  • [1:43] Learn more about each of us!
  • [7:41] Successfully hiring and retaining top talent
  • [25:10] Processes and procedures to meet customer demand
  • [35:55] The PDCA process: Plan, do, check, and act
  • [39:10] The impact of compensation and benefits on performance
  • [44:44] Applying gamification to impact performance
  • [49:01] How to recover culture post-COVID
  • [52:43] Making processes adaptable when hiring and promoting
  • [56:52] Presenting the manufacturing excellence award
  • [1:02:31] Make sure to listen to the MakingChips Podcast!

Resources mentioned on this episode

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