We chat with our first veteran plating and finishing expert, Tamea Franco, President and CEO of Global Metal Finishing out of Roanoke, Virginia. Tamea shares some of the secrets of the trade and also expresses how important it is to have a great relationship with your finishers! This is an episode not to miss!

Dan Donaworth of Dan's Custom Machining out of Williamsburg, Ohio joins us today!  Dan is just four years into his dream of owning his own shop and was recently featured in Modern Machine Shop Magazine.  Anyone in their early stages of running a shop is sure to grab some good takeaways!

Today we chat with Craig Zoberis of Fusion OEM; a contract manufacturer of light industrial equipment for OEMs and certified systems integrator for Universal Robots. Craig brought a collaborative robot into his shop after struggling with the skills gap in the manufacturing world. Since doing so he has also created a robot integration company focusing on Job Shops.  If you've ever wondered how robots could help your shop in the future, you will learn a lot from Craig!

Joining us today is Rodd Blessey of Aldine Metal, a sheet metal fabricator in New Milford, Connecticut. As a very forward thinking leader, Rodd, has been able to grow his shop 10% a year after implementing change. In line with his forethought Rodd loves data and shares his vision on how job shops must work with their customers in today's world. Enjoy this exciting episode!

This episode is out of this world! Jay chats with Will Gibbs, founder and CEO of MODICA and Harbor Island Waterjet, both out of Seattle, Washington. MODICA's goal is to provide automated microfactory modules with the tagline of factory as service and uses Harbor Island as it's testbed. Enjoy!

Jay and special co-host guest, Steve Lynch join fellow car enthusiast, David Bamforth of Rennscot, a design and manufacturing company with an in-house line of aftermarket performance parts and accessories. David started Rennscot before even graduating from Wentworth Institute of Technology where he received his BS in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in manufacturing.

Grady Cope of Reata Engineering and Machine Works outside Denver, Colorado joins us on this episode! Grady is not only the owner of a very successful multi-dimensional machine shop, starting from ground zero 27 years ago, he is the past President of the NTMA, and a founder of the Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Association.

Jay interviews a true Champion of U.S. Manufacturing; Terry Iverson. While Terry’s day job is running Iverson & Co a seller of new and used machine tools; Terry’s true passion is to educate our country on the importance of Manufacturing in the USA.

Bill Berrien, owner of Pindel Global Precision in New Berlin Wisconsin joins us on this exciting episode! Pindel is a global manufacturer of precision machine components that has been in business since 1947 and acquired by Bill in 2012.

Jay chats with Ryan Murray, General Manager of A&E Manufacturing; a precision sheet metal shop out of Levittown, Pennsylvania. A&E is a multi-generational family owned and operated shop which creates its own set of unique dynamics. Ryan also shares how technology like Microsoft Teams and Zoom are keeping his team connected and organized through the pandemic. Enjoy!

Do you want to spend more time working on your business rather than in your business? In other words, does your business drive your day to day activities and you spend your time fighting fires yet you know that to grow your business you need to be more intentional and proactive in working on things that will make you and your company better tomorrow? Our guest today, Jamie Spitzer President of Precision Machine has figured out some of those answers! Enjoy!

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.”