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How to Take Your Meetings from Terrible to Terrific in 2022

Published On: Jan 19, 2022 12:00:00 PM

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In your manufacturing business, there is often nothing worse (from your team’s perspective) than a bad meeting. The problem is that many leaders don’t recognize a bad meeting when they see one because THEY are the ones leading them. We’re not trying to bust your chops, we’ve all done it, and with the best of intentions. But intentions don’t translate into effectiveness… we just need to learn...

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8 Advantages of Setting Annual Goals

Published On: Jan 12, 2022 12:00:00 PM

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If you are not a goal-setter — personally or for your business — it’s our hope that this article changes your mind. Many people don’t set goals because it feels like more effort than it’s worth, but the reality is that it’s one of the most important and beneficial things you can do. Goals benefit you in eight specific ways.

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How the Ownership Mindset Behind ESOPs Could Make Manufacturing Companies More Profitable

Published On: Dec 29, 2021 12:00:00 PM

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Back on episode 292, we featured Jeff Taylor, President and CEO of Craft Technologies. When Jeff came into the role as CEO, his first and highest goal was to make the company world-class in everything it did. His leadership was instrumental in making that happen, but it wasn’t through his charisma and smarts, it was through utilizing approaches to employee empowerment that he’d long wanted to...

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How You Can Retain Team Members In Spite of “The Great Resignation”

Published On: Dec 22, 2021 12:00:00 PM

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Bankrate conducted its “jobseeker” survey this past August and the responses received are of concern for manufacturing leaders. When questioning 2,452 adults, 55% of people currently employed in the workforce, meaning that they’re currently working or actively looking for employment, said they are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months.

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Overcoming the Challenge of Retiring Machinists with the Knowledge of Legacy Parts

Published On: Dec 15, 2021 12:00:00 PM

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As older skilled machinists begin retiring many manufacturers are going to start running into a significant problem: they will lose irreplaceable legacy knowledge. These skilled machinists have mastered decades of parts manufacturing of things that are considered intellectual property. How can manufacturing businesses combat the loss of this knowledge?

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A Three-Step Strategy to Handle the Supply Chain Crisis

Published On: Dec 8, 2021 12:00:00 PM

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There likely isn’t a single business that hasn’t been impacted by the supply chain crisis. The impact trickles down to customers, which creates further problems. In a recent episode of Making Chips, we talked about some of the causes of the chaos as well as three things you can do to mitigate the impact on your business.

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The Basics of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan

Published On: Dec 1, 2021 12:00:00 PM

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The very technical definition of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) is that it is an employee benefit plan that gives workers ownership interest in the company; this interest takes the form of shares of stock. ESOPs give the sponsoring company—the selling shareholder—and participants various tax benefits, making them qualified plans. Employers often use ESOPs as a corporate-finance...

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ZENGERS Three-Step Hiring Process

Published On: Nov 24, 2021 12:00:00 PM

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What does your hiring process look like? We have a great three-step process in place at ZENGERS that helps us hire the right people. What does it look like?

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Business Forecasting: Key Questions to Ask

Published On: Nov 17, 2021 12:00:00 PM

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In a recent episode of Making Chips, we talked about preparing your family and your business for the potential of a recession. But how do you forecast future growth? What questions should you ask to determine goals and next steps?

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10 Things to Consider When Getting AS9100 Certified

Published On: Nov 15, 2021 2:18:45 PM

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Manufacturers who are AS9100 certified demonstrate to their customers that they are serious about creating and delivering high-quality systems through tested processes. The AS9100 standard works in conjunction with the ISO 9001 standard and is the quality management system (QMS) standard for aviation, aerospace, and defense. As important as this certification can be, it is no surprise that the...

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How to Prepare Yourself—and Your Business—for a Recession

Published On: Nov 10, 2021 12:00:00 PM

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I’ve been in business for 41 years and I’ve never seen anything like this. Business is better than it’s ever been. But I haven’t been able to sleep at night. Why? I think about why we’ve been so busy. The majority of the reasons are positive: We’ve done a great job of identifying industries that are a good fit for what we do. We’ve been focusing on creating a dynamic and authentic culture ...

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Titan Gilroy’s Philosophy: Solve People’s Problems to Find Success

Published On: Oct 27, 2021 12:00:00 PM

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When Titan Gilroy first started in manufacturing, he was told “If you can solve people’s problems, you’ll always be successful.” He’s taken that to heart in everything he does. He built this incredible platform that’s available in 170 countries. He's serving the industry with free education. He works with companies to sponsor the machines they run, tools they use, etc. Doing so allows him to...

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