In this episode, host Jay Jacobs speaks with Cody Lee. At 29 years old, Cody acquired Everyday Technologies—a Western Ohio-based metal fabrication shop established in 1928—becoming its sole owner alongside his wife. Cody, now serving as both owner and CEO of Everyday Technologies, shares his deliberate journey into business ownership, including his process of evaluating and purchasing the company and the inevitable challenges that followed.

Rhett Ross, with over 30 years in aerospace and industrial manufacturing, acquired Leech Industries in 2021, bringing his extensive experience to the company. Under his leadership, Leech Industries has emphasized workforce development through apprenticeship programs and partnerships with local schools, fostering the next generation of manufacturers. Ross has also implemented Lean Manufacturing principles to enhance operational efficiency, addressing common issues like space utilization. A recent investment in marketing has led to significant business growth, demonstrating the impact of strategic marketing in the manufacturing sector.

In this episode, we delve into the global manufacturing landscape with Alfonso Aramburo, a seasoned leader at ESL Power Systems. Drawing from his extensive experience in Mexico, Germany, and the United States, Alfonso offers a comparative analysis of each region's manufacturing strengths. He highlights Germany's unwavering commitment to quality, the U.S.'s emphasis on timely delivery, and Mexico's competitive edge in assembly and continuous improvement. Alfonso also shares invaluable advice for shop owners, emphasizing the importance of embracing technology, cultivating skilled teams, and building trust for sustained success.

In this episode, Jay interviews Michael Gimbel, founder and CEO of Gimbal Automation. Michael's entrepreneurial journey is truly remarkable. At 19, he decided to leave Johns Hopkins and start a 3D printing company. Today, he leads a rapidly growing automation business.

In this episode, Jay interviews Mark C. Winters: teacher, coach, and facilitator who spends most of his time directly engaged with entrepreneurial leadership teams as an Expert EOS Implementer.

Dynamic Metal Innovations (DMI) was founded by Mark Sternat and Scott Hartrick in 2019 and is located in Emmaus, PA. Being digital natives and not having legacy equipment and systems has allowed Mark and Scott to jump feet first into technology as a pillar of shop growth.

Rafal Gliwiak, owner at Pro Fabricating Machining and Welding, joins us on this episode. Rafal’s journey embodies the entrepreneurial spirit in America. He shares how he got started, obstacles to growth and how he's learning and improving every day.

We are speaking with Kevin Heins of KLH Industries located in Germantown, Wisconsin. KLH Industries was recently recognized as a Modern Machine Shop Top Shop in the business strategies and performance category. This is a follow up to a great article that was written about them and their implemenation of a company operating system.

Have you ever wondered whether having a robot in your shop makes sense? Are you worried about the cost of buying one, getting it up and running and then maintaing it? Saman Farid founded Formic Technologies with the goal to make robot implementation much easier for Manufacturers. Formic owns, installs, and then leases robots to manufacturers at an hourly rate, much less than the human team member. Listen and learn how you can get robot automation implemented in your shop with minimal risk!

Bill Bonner is here today to talk about the unique challenges of supporting IT in small organizations, especially those going through rapid growth. He has experience dealing with cyber threats and building better systems to combat them. We will be discussing that as well as some of the latest trends in information technology.

Precision Parts Fast (formerly Precision Additive) is an industrial 3D printing, CNC machining, and manufacturing design & consulting company based outside Denver, Colorado. Founded by brothers, Jason Korbelik and Brian Korbelik, in early 2021; Sensing an opportunity to bring precision additive manufacturing to the Rocky mountain roots, they have taken the plunge. We explore thoughts behind starting a business, challenges they're facing how they think differently than someone coming directly from additive manufacturing, and even answer some questions they have regarding redundancy, generating leads, expedite markups, and equipment strategy

Jonathon Friedl and his brother Isaac Houchens are the owners of Black Mountain Manufacturing just outside Denver. As a young shop owner, Jonathon shares his non-traditional background, his struggles of being a shop owner in the early days. How he built up his company quickly just to have it crash and how he's successfully rebounded. This episode is full of personal experience and inspiration.

Sam Gupta of ElevatIQ joins us as we take a deep dive into ERP Systems. Why do you need one? How do you chose one? How does it help with business transformation? ElevatIQ consults with companies to assist with the procurment of business systems such as ERP and provides implementaion assistance. Sam is also host of the popular program WBSRocks; a community and a media company focused on digital transformation and business growth. It runs several initiatives including a podcast, clubhouse rooms, happy hours, Twitter chat, slack, and LinkedIn communities, and a network of LinkedIn influencers.

Ari Santiago, CEO of CompassMSP and Host of the popular Made in America Podcast joins us on this episode! CompassMSP's mission is to help small to medium size businesses utilize the power of technology to help reach their goals. Ari has worked with a number of Connecticut Manufacturers and his passion for manufacturing led him to start his own podcast made in America two years ago. He interviews some of the Manufacturing leaders and pioneers in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts; the importance of technology in business and what lessons Ari has learned from talking with manufacturing leaders.

Jay is joined by Nick Polanosky of P3D Creations, outside of Orlando, Florida. They delve into the world of automation; from quoting to inspection and everything in between. When Nick comes across a process he doesn’t want to have to do again, he finds a way to automate it!

Juan March owns Jacksonville Precision Manufacturing, specializing in quick-turn prototyping, short to medium-run production, and one-off specialty components primarily for the automation industry. Juan is passionate about robotic educational programs and shares his experiences being involved with FIRST Robotics.

This episode is APPROVED! Steve and Jay first spoke in early 2020 after Steve and his partner had just purchased their own sheet metal shop, now Approved Sheet Metal. Steve is back to fill us in on his first year as an owner, improvements he has made and his outlook for the future!