Have you ever wondered what it would be like to manage two bi-coastal shops? That is what we are going to explore today with Brian Kippen of KAD Models and Prototypes with facilities in San Francisco and Vermont. Like many shop owners, his journey has had the typical bumps to it and we will explore his experiences and shares lessons learned that might be a value to you as well. Enjoy!

Today’s guest, Andy Reinwald of Ripley Machine and Tool, is an under 30 owner of a jobshop that he purchased from his grandfather in 2015. We discuss what he has done since taking over the shop, why and how he has focused on a low budget digital approach to sales and marketing, and the different ways he acquires the knowledge that he has not yet had the experience to live through.

We have a really fun episode today! Jay chats with his first marketing hire at RAPID, Matt Sordillo.  Matt left RAPID to join Paperless Parts where he is currently Director of Marketing Services helping both Paperless and non-Paperless customers with their digital marketing efforts. We go deep into practical marketing for job shops, particularly digital marketing and even talk about some of the lies marketing companies tell you. Enjoy!

Have you ever considered opening up your company's financials to the workforce? Today's guest Reid Leland has done so and with remarkable success. Reid is the founder and president of LeanWerks in Ogden, Utah, and he has created a better shop; as it is part of their trademark, "we make everything better".

Today we have one of custom manufacturing's rising stars joining us. Custom manufacturers have a reputation of being slow to adopt technology. Sam Griffith, new owner and president of National Jet in Laval, Maryland, believes that whatever the problem, technology is the solution. Their specialty is micro hole drilling, and they continue to push the limits of what is considered possible. How about a hole of a half of a thousandth of an inch? Hear how National Jet is also helping with the fight against COVID-19 as a supplier of material used in PPE equipment. Enjoy!

Ellen Pietrowitz-Phillips of L-E-M Plastics in Fairfield, NJ joins us today as our second female job shop owner.   L-E-M Plastics is both a plastics focused manufacturer as well as plastics material distributor but have been shifting the business more and more to the make side.  Enjoy hearing how Ellen's experience surviving and thriving through past disasters has set her up for optimistic outcomes in the future!

Jay chats with 3D Printing veteran and Pioneer, Kevin Dyer, of InterPro Additive Manufacturing Group. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, hear how Kevin's shop was instrumental in helping prototype and test ventilator adapters to allow one ventilator to support multiple patients.  This story as well as many others over the course of Kevin's tenure in 3D printing make for a unique and exciting episode!

Join us for this fun episode with Kurt Wagner, second generation owner of Wagner Machine Company in Champaign, Illinois.   Wagner Machine is a precision machine shop with all sorts of capabilities and Kurt has innovative mind that doesn’t like to say no!

Jay chats with Harry Moser, President of the Reshoring Initiative, a non-profit, whose mission is to bring good, well-paying manufacturing jobs back to the United States. They offer a number of free tools to help companies more accurately assess their total cost of offshoring, and shift collective thinking from “offshoring is cheaper” to “local reduces the total cost of ownership.”

Jay's guest today is Roger Atkins, President at The National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA). Roger started helping in a family shop when he was ten years old spent and has spent his entire career in metalworking and most recently accepted the role of President of the NTMA early this year. The NTMA supports US small and medium size custom part manufacturers in the quest to not only survive in today’s tough times but to actually thrive!

We interview our first female Job Shop Owner, Kristin Carlson of Peerless Precision out of Western Massachusetts. Kristin shares her experience of being a woman in a male dominated industry as well as how dedicated she is growing her workforce and her commitment to the custom part manufacturing business. Enjoy!

In this very timely episode, Jay chats with Patrick Davidson, VP at Metalmite and Mark Freir, Patrick's executive coach and author of "The Choice to Show Up". They explore the soft skills of running a shop and offer advice on being a leader during these turbulent times.

Jay chats with Jeff Robinson of the newly formed Hybrid Machining. Jeff speaks candidly about his experience selling his previous shop, AllRout, and starting his new shop shortly thereafter.

Steve Lynch, Jay's friend and former Director of Technology at RAPID, joins us for today's episode. Steve and Jay reflect and share stories about their 14 year journey together. Steve opened his own shop - Approved Sheet Metal in early 2020 and has already seen tremendous success! You are sure to enjoy this episode!

ay recently traveled to the NTMA (National Tooling and Machining Association) Chapter Leadership Summit in Orlando, FL. The NTMA connects many of the nation's top custom precision manufacturers through regional chapters and national events. Their goal is to improve members capabilities through the accelerated adoption of tools, technologies and best practices! Jay asks some of the nation's top industry leaders how they are feeling going into 2020 and how being a member of the NTMA has helped their business. Listen and enjoy!

So impressed with Matt Guse, our guest on Episode 20 of The Job Shop Show and owner of MRS Machining. Listen to how he and his father helped get Cardinal Mfg up and running, a for-profit Job Shop in a local high school. Matt reveals in-house software that dramatically reduced material movement times and how open company financials has increased team profit-sharing AND company profits. Dig in!

On this week's episode, Jay speaks with Steve Doody of CSI whom he met through Strategic Coach - a coaching program for entrepreneurs. Steve has built his success and business on his mission to help people that may have had setbacks early in life or made poor decisions in the past. Listen to Steve share his incredible journey!

Today we speak with Eric Nekick of Lang Technovation. Several guests have mentioned Lang so we thought we'd speak with them directly and get to the nitty gritty of workholding and fixturing and understand why so many shops are investing in Lang.

We have a fun episode today! Jay chats with Tom Pursch, the former Chief Operating Officer at RAPID and now co-owner of PGC Wire Cable. Without Tom making Jay's ideas real at RAPID, RAPID would not have reached the levels of growth and success that it did. Today we focus on operations and discuss some of the things that were critical in making their Journey at RAPID so rewarding and successful.

We're going international! In this episode of the Job Shop Show Jay speaks with Dan Kirby, CEO and co-founder of The Tech Dept. The Tech Dept is a technology implementer specializing in working with UK manufacturers. They believe their future – like all businesses – is digital. Jay and Dan speak about adaptability and how making small incremental changes to manufacturing process and technology can yield great results!