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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: May, 2022
May 23, 2022

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 we dissect in this episode of MakingChips. Don’t miss it!

Any great tips I can use to find THE right customers for Carr Machine & Tool? Email me at Jim@MakingChips.com

Segments

  • [6:28] The definition of “right people, right seat”
  • [7:22] What’s happening in our lives right now
  • [10:35] Business News: Dow falls for sixth straight day
  • [15:43] How do you decide who the right customer is? 
  • [16:52] Step #1: Focus on solving problems
  • [20:10] Step #2: Focus on sales not vanity metrics
  • [23:15] Step #3: Get the word out about your business
  • [26:14] Step #4: Improve your customer retention
  • [28:14] Step #5: Track your analytics
  • [32:14] How we filter our customers at Carr
  • [36:07] What work is the most profitable?
  • [39:02] Study your customer’s behaviors

Resources mentioned on this episode

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May 18, 2022

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 areas: your phone calls, your calendar, and your time off. Because if you’re not managing your time efficiently, you aren’t making chips efficiently, which means you aren't making money, are you?

— Nick

Do you have a great system for time management? Let us know! Email us at info@MakingChips.com

Segments

  • [2:23] What’s happening in our lives
  • [8:57] Manufacturing News: China Opposes Semiconductor Bill
  • [15:15] Tip #1: Schedule phone calls and Zoom meetings
  • [22:17] Tip #2: Share your calendar to avoid availability ping pong
  • [24:33] Tip #3: Time block your calendar to get work done
  • [29:59] Tip #4: What’s required and what’s optional changes
  • [35:36] Tip #5: Manage “out of office” time the right way
  • [43:14] Jason is certified as a “Full Focus” professional

Resources mentioned on this episode

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May 9, 2022

“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. If you want to rise to the top, you have to make chips. Because if you’re not making chips, you’re not making money. BAM!

Segments

  • [3:01] The sacrifice(s) it takes to achieve success
  • [6:25] What’s happening in our lives
  • [9:21] Manufacturing News: Manufacturing Activity Slows
  • [15:08] Takeaway #1: The importance of planning
  • [18:41] Takeaway #2: What are you willing to sacrifice?
  • [21:31] Takeaway #3: Hard work and tenacity can take you places
  • [23:20] Takeaway #4: The more successful you are the more haters you’ll have
  • [24:25] Takeaway #5: Don’t make success about getting in the spotlight
  • [26:23] Takeaway #6: The power of a positive mindset
  • [28:20] Takeaway #7: Make no excuses

Resources mentioned on this episode

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May 2, 2022
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 sortset in ordershinestandardize, and sustain. In this episode of MakingChips, I share how we implemented 5S in our shop. Our process is something that any shop can learn from and implement. It’s time to get organized and make sustainable changes so you can safely and efficiently make chips. BAM!

Segments

  • [3:13] What is the 5S methodology? 
  • [7:07] What’s happening in our lives
  • [11:18] How we implemented 5S in our inspection department
  • [21:04] How we implemented 5S on our shop floor
  • [23:13] The two hardest S’s: standardize and sustain
  • [30:50] Why we bought a floor scrubber to shine our epoxy floors 
  • [32:45] Don’t forget to register for IMTS 2022! 

Resources mentioned on this episode

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