It’s official: Jim Carr is leaving MakingChips. He’s stepping back to take more time to focus on Carr Machine & Tool. Jim has been an integral part of the success of MakingChips. So in this episode, I’ll share six things I’ve learned from Jim that are impactful in both business and
life. We’ll sure miss our banter, but we’ll keep MakingChips, because if we aren’t MakingChips, we aren’t making money. BAM!
– Nick
In this special episode of MakingChips, we are taking my journey with MakingChips full circle by recording a follow-up episode to our very first episode, “Social Media in Manufacturing,” which aired in December 2014. This episode will cover why we still care about social media in manufacturing and what platforms you should leverage. Because if you aren’t leveraging social media, then you aren’t MakingChips. And if you aren’t MakingChips, then you aren’t making money. BAM!
— Jim
Have you read the book, “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win” by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin? The book talks about the mindset of Navy SEALs and how the techniques they employ in and out of combat can be embraced by leadership. So in this episode of MakingChips, we break down some of the facets of extreme leadership and share how they’re applicable to the manufacturing nation. Because if you’re not taking extreme ownership of your business, you’re not making chips. And if you’re not making chips, you’re not making money. BAM!
– Nick
When do you ask customers to pay their invoices? How do you ask your customers to pay their invoice(s)? Collecting on a debt that’s owed is an art and a science. You have to be careful so you don’t lose a customer. In this episode of MakingChips, we cover a recent frustrating situation I dealt with that should have been handled differently—because they just might lose me as a customer. Don’t miss this episode to hear the whole story!
– Jim
We believe that there are three components to running a great manufacturing company: People, process, and performance. And properly managing each of these areas will drive the success of your business. In this episode of MakingChips, we moderate a panel at the CV Manufacturing Conference with special guests Mike Allison and Ryan Howard. We cover everything from finding and retaining top talent to achieving and sustaining high-output results. Don’t miss this special edition of the MakingChips podcast!
Do you struggle to sleep at night? Do you lay in bed and think about work and show up in the morning exhausted? Guess what—sleepy leaders are NOT better leaders. I’m going to share why I think that and how manufacturing leaders can get higher-quality shut-eye in this episode of MakingChips. Because if you’re not getting enough sleep, it’s like being drunk on the job. And if you’re drunk, you’re certainly not MakingChips, and you’re not making money. BAM!
I met Jamie and Lee Marzilli at ProShop ERP’s happy hour event while we were at IMTS 2022. When I heard how they founded and grew a machine shop as a married couple, I knew we needed to have them as guests on MakingChips. So in this episode, Jamie and Lee share their background in machining and how they built Marzilli Machine from the ground up. Don’t miss hearing about their grassroots success story!
Kelsey Heikoop and Paul Van Metre met in an entry-level engineering class. They hit it off right away—while simultaneously falling in love with machining. Once they graduated college, they started their own machine shop. How did that lead to founding ProShop ERP? They share the ProShop ERP origin story—full of overcoming challenges to reach success—in this episode of MakingChips!
How do you make an industry event a worthy investment for your business? Can you prepare ahead of time to see an ROI? What should you avoid doing when you’re attending an event? In this episode of MakingChips—with IMTS fresh on our minds—we talk about the dos and don’ts for industry events. You have to be strategic because if you’re not making chips, you’re not making money. BAM!
– Nick
I believe if you find your passion you will have a successful and fruitful career. I didn't realize what my true passions were until later in life. In this episode of MakingChips, each of us will break down and share with the metalworking nation what we are passionate about. Because if you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, you’re not living to your full potential. And if you’re not happy with your job, you’re not making chips, and if you’re not making chips, you’re not making money. BAM!
— Jim
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 can increase spindle utilization and help your shop make more chips to make more money. BAM!
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 monitoring to become more efficient, immediately. Because if you’re not efficient, you’re not making enough chips, and you’re not making money!
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 this episode to find out what the machine shop of the future looks like. You need to use technology to make chips efficiently because if you’re not making chips, you’re not making money!
BAM!
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 ones are making enough chips, and if you’re not making enough chips, you’re not making money. BAM!
– Nick
BONUS: Akshat Thirani—the CEO and Co-Founder of Amper—also joins us in this episode to cover machine monitoring from every aspect.
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 miss!
– Jason
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 have to incentivize your employees to make chips, so you’re making money! BAM!
– Jim
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 Metre joins us in this episode of MakingChips to share how ProShop can help your shop become more efficient. Because if you aren’t being efficient, you aren’t making enough chips. BAM!
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 IMTS, how to book your hotel stay, how Chicago is safer than ever, and even shares what to do to enjoy your stay. Even better, we will be in the Grand Concourse Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Come by and say hi!
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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 MakingChips!
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 tools, you’re losing money (and definitely not making chips).
– Jason!
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 MakingChips. Because if you’re not gaining new customers, you’re not making chips, and if you’re not making chips—you’re not making money! BAM!
– Nick
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 MakingChips). The bottom line is, if you don’t have skills, you’re not making chips, and if you're not making chips, you’re not making money!
— Nick
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 passionate about improving business performance in manufacturing companies and impacting lives. Don’t miss this episode packed with actionable insight.
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, you need talent on your team to make chips!
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 speed up and complete the implementation in just 4 months. Listen to this episode for his strategies!
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