Jim and Jason are back in the studio to start their new series on process by talking about the Entrepreneurial Operating System. This podcast series on process is designed to help you evaluate your current processes and determine where in your

  It’s time for you to start dialing in manufacturing processes that can revolutionize your business. Manufacturing is challenging. But MakingChips is here to help through every aspect of running and growing your business. One of the best ways to

On this episode of MakingChips, Rob Sattler talks about how his family business took manufacturing from the farm to the shop floor. Rob is the Vice President of Sales, Estimating and Engineering at Sattler Inc in Ira, Michigan. He comes from a

On this episode of MakingChips, Jim interviews his son Ryan Carr, Operations Manager at CARR Machine and Tool, Inc. along with Paul Van Metre, Co-Founder of ProShop ERP, about the risk and reward of implementing a new ERP system. During the

In order to generate measurable growth in your manufacturing company, you need to develop a sales playbook. While marketing can help you get noticed among prospective clients, a sales division converts them into revenue producing clients. In order

In order to have a successful cutting tool manufacturing business, you must have a plan. As Benjamin Franklin once said, failing to plan is planning to fail. Manufacturers shutter their doors every day, not because they aren’t providing a valuable

Building an outbound marketing strategy for your marketing business is crucial. The reality is that, in order to stay in business, you have to have customers. You need someone willing to buy what you are manufacturing. While it would be great to

Hello Metalworking Nation! We are thrilled at what’s to come in the near future for the MakingChips Podcast. While Jim and Jason are busy implementing the final changes to the new MakingChips, we wanted to share with you one of our favorite episodes

Hello Metalworking Nation! We are excited to bring back Phil and David from Orbitform as we conclude our interview with a detailed discussion on Orbitform's continuous process improvements. We'll talk about the steps that your manufacturing business

Hello Metalworking Nation! On today’s episode, we welcome two very special guests from Orbitform to the MakingChips Podcast. We are pleased to welcome Phil Sponsler (President of Orbitform) and David Shirkey (Manager of Strategic Initiatives).

Hello Metalworking Nation! We are coming to you from our studio at the DMDII in Goose Island, Illinois. On today’s episode, we continue to have a dialogue about what you can do to prepare your manufacturing business for the future. Jim and Jason

Hello Metalworking Nation and Happy Holidays from all of us at MakingChips! We are happy to be back in our DMDII studio where today we will be expanding upon some similar processes from our last episode.

Hello Metalworking Nation! We are pleased to welcome back by popular demand, Bill Strauss – Senior Economist and Economic Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Hello Metalworking Nation! We are thrilled to bring in a very special guest this week; someone who we truly believe can help elevate your leadership to the next level. Today we welcome Andrea Olson, founder and CEO of Prag'madik. Prag'madik  works

Hello Metalworking Nation! After a short break, we are so excited to be back in the MakingChips studio. On today's episode we'll discuss the importance of creating routine processes in order to take you and your business to the next level.

Hello Metalworking Nation! We welcome you to another episode of MakingChips. On today's episode, we share some tips that will help you stay productive and battle distractions. From resisting the temptation of checking email first thing in the

Hello Metalworking Nation, we are excited to be back in our MakingChips Studio! On this episode of MakingChips, we dive into the 5S Methodology and how it’s implementation can help your business improve it’s productivity. The five key steps, just

Hello Metalworking Nation! On this episode of MakingChips, we sit down with Paul Ricard, Co-Founder, Co-Owner and President of DP Technology Corp. Paul has nearly 35 years of experience in the CAM industry in managing sales and marketing,

Welcome to another special edition of MakingChips! On this episode, we meet with Nick Goellner and his brother Noah at the IMTS 2016 TV studio. Nick works as the Marketing Director at Hennig and AME. Hennig designs and produces custom machine

This week: We are coming to you live from IMTS 2016! On this special episode of MakingChips, we welcome Jason Harrelson, founder of Harrelson Trumpets to our IMTS TV studio. Harrelson Trumpets is a leading manufacturer of world class trumpets and

On this episode of MakingChips, we welcome back Karla Dobbeck to the show. Karla is a certified professional in Human Resource Management with over 20 years experience in many aspects of human resource management and employment law compliance

Where are you going?

On this episode of MakingChips, we welcome to the show Bill Angsten, co-founder of Compass Automation. Compass Automation designs and builds custom equipment to automate manufacturing processes. Bill talks with us about how he started the company,

It is not unusual for multiple members of a family to work at the same business.  However, such situations can be troublesome if the relationships give rise to suspicions of favoritism or unfair treatment. We see this a lot in family business,

On part 2 of this episode of MakingChips, we continue our discussion with Bill Strauss, Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Topics discussed in this episode include the world economy, energy prices and their impact on

On part 1 of this 2 part episode, we have a conversation with Bill Strauss. Bill is a senior economist and economic advisor in the economic research department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. His research papers include analysis of the

We're all familiar with Murphy's Law; "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong". We've talked about this extensively in a previous MakingChips episode on crisis management, but what can you do to make sure that your manufacturing company is

Today on MakingChips: We are coming to you from the Sandvik Coromant Headquarters located in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. On this episode, we have a conversation with special guest Troy Stashi, Industry & Application Specialist in Automotive/Milling at

There is an old adage that has been floating around the business world for ages; “you should never do business with friends". If you’ve never worked together with your friend, it can be difficult to translate their skills from a social context into

There are several options when it comes to selling one of your old machines. Some are more convenient than others, but might offer you less money than what you expected. With a little bit of added effort, you can get the most money out of your old

There is an old saying: “Expect the best, prepare for the worst.” It’s not something we want to think about, and it can be a difficult topic to discuss. Crises don’t happen very often, but when they do occur, they tend to have significant

Throughout history, successful individuals such as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison all met with groups of like-minded people on a regular basis, to help one another achieve common goals and grow. Today, this concept is called a

We come to you from two separate locations (Dallas & Chicago) on this remote episode of MakingChips. Today we talk about establishing and exploring your manufacturing company’s niche. Jim and Jason share their idea of what niche means to them in

A few months ago, we met with Craig Zoberis of Fusion OEM to talk about his company's Core Values. In that episode, we covered the importance of figuring out who you are as a company and what you stand for.  More than anything, being a leader is

An important part of what makes a manufacturing leader successful is their ability to think outside of the box. This line of thinking should also extend to the hiring process. Successful companies are good at bringing the right people into

Finding the right person for your company is crucial for building a thriving business. When recruiting for open positions, employers look for candidates with the skills, experience, and demeanor they believe will benefit their company. That said, it

It’s the beginning of a new year, which for many is a time to start following through with resolutions and goals. Unfortunately, many people come to find that many of those resolutions don’t always pan out the way we would like them to. If you’re

Some people think additive manufacturing will radically change the face of manufacturing. Although it is still a relatively new technology, additive manufacturing (also referred to as 3D Printing) has caused quite the buzz in the manufacturing

This is MakingChips Episode 50!

Episode 44 of MakingChips is inspired by Matthew Feight of Miller Welding.  He writes:

Get out your scuba gear, we’re taking a deep dive today! In this episode of Making Chips Jason and Jim are with a guest, Jon Berard who has a ton of experience in the research and implementation of ERP (Enterprise Resource Management) systems in

Welcome to Episode 38 of the MakingChips podcast.  In this episode Jason Zenger and Jim Carr discuss growth through acquisitions in the manufacturing industry with Tom Hilaris of Ergoseal.

The nature of things in the manufacturing industry has changed. Gone are the days when a physical filing system will adequately contain all the documents and resources you need to help your company thrive. The technology era is here and the

Why are employee annual reviews a bad idea? It’s not the idea of having a meeting with employees that’s a bad idea, it’s the verbiage we use to describe what is happening. An “annual review” or “evaluation” has a top-down implication that puts the

Every employer has to deal with the complex issues that are a part of employment law in the modern age. But they also have to run a shop that is well-tuned and efficient. Too often those two responsibilities conflict in ways that they don’t expect.

Today’s episode of Making Chips features a listener question. You can leave your question for Jim and Jason to answer by going to www.MakingChips.com to leave your question. They just might answer it on an upcoming podcast episode. Today’s question

Every now and then we like to go to square one to discuss some fundamental issues surrounding the work done in the average machine shop. This episode is one of those episodes. Jim and Jason are talking SFPM - Surface Feet Per Minute in this episode.

Does your machining company need a vending system? This is a hot topic edition where Jim is asking Jason about vending systems.  You may have the impression that vending machines are just for large manufacturing companies, but is that true? You’re

In this episode, we interview Michael Magliano, an industrial real estate broker from Cushman & Wakefield, about strategies for buying, selling and leasing industrial real estate.

What are the 3 most important actions that manufacturers can take now to improve their utilization of Computer-Aided Manufacturing?  In this episode, we interview Matt Sump with ShopWare to discuss CAM Software and Dynamic Machining.  Jim answers

In this episode, Jim and I discuss how grant money can help to expand your manufacturing business.  We specifically discuss the Federal TAAF (Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms) Grant that Jim was awarded and the process that he went through to

When should the owners of a business start succession planning?  NOW!

What is the right method for getting paid for your work?

Are international standards important for your company or your partners?  In this sixth episode, Jim and I discuss ISO and the impact of ISO on his company.  We discuss the specific standards of ISO 9001 (Quality Management), ISO 14001