Machine Shop Growth

Kirk Phelps didn't just talk about starting a shop — he went and did it.

In Episode 34 of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast, Kirk gives you a raw, unfiltered look at the first 60 days of Omni Max Aerospace: two Haas machines, a 3,500 square feet building, no employees, and parts shipping in week one.

This is real-world startup content from someone in the trenches every day — not theory, not hypotheticals.

Key topics covered:

• Who to hire first (and why the answer might surprise you)
• Vendor negotiation tactics when cash is tight at startup
• Why machine brand doesn't matter — service does
• How Kirk's decade of standardization made lights out machining possible in month one
• The real math on buying special tools vs. using what you have
• Zero-point work holding and single-piece flow from day one
• The first crash, the $650 tool holder, and what he learned
  

"My standardization gives me a repeatable process right out of the box. I'm just repeating what I did last week, last month, last year, the last decade."

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and all major podcast platforms.

Most shops quote aerospace work the same way they quote everything else. That's the problem.

In Episode 33 of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast, Kirk Phelps gets into the tactical details of how to stop underquoting and make aerospace work actually profitable — from choosing what to chase to pricing it right.

Kirk introduces the Ideal Part Profile framework: a three-tier system to define the work your shop is best at, decent at, and capable of but not built for. He breaks down why variable margins matter — factoring in payment terms, material cost, workload, and critical features — and why your win rate is one of the most honest signals about whether your pricing is right. He also cuts through the noise on ITAR and CMMC, explaining who really needs to worry about each and why spending a quarter million on a cert you don't need is one of the worst strategic moves a shop can make.

Key topics covered:

• Building your Ideal Part Profile (3-tier framework)

• Variable margin strategy for aerospace quoting

• The PITA Factor: pricing high-risk, critical-feature parts

• Why a 30–40% win rate is your target, not your ceiling

• ITAR compliance: what's at stake and what to do

• CMMC: separating policy from fear-mongering

• How lead time and payment terms affect your true margin

"If you're winning over 40% of your quotes, you need to seriously rethink how much you're charging." — Kirk Phelps

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms.

Everyone talks about the opportunities in aerospace.

Very few talk about the costs.

In this episode of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast, Kirk Phelps breaks down what machine shops need to know before pursuing AS9100 certification—and why getting the certificate is actually the easy part.

From inspection equipment and calibrated gauging to ERP systems, cash flow challenges, ITAR requirements, personnel, and expensive aerospace materials, Kirk shares the realities that many shops discover only after they're already committed.

You'll learn:

✅ Why AS9100 is a culture—not a checkbox

✅ The hidden costs most shops underestimate

✅ How to evaluate whether your current equipment is aerospace-ready

✅ Why cash flow can become a major challenge in aerospace manufacturing

✅ How to enter the aerospace market without betting the entire company

If you've ever thought about pursuing aerospace work, this episode could save you from some very expensive mistakes.

And Kirk leaves us with a question:

Are you ready for AS9100—or are you only ready for the certificate?

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review—it helps more machine shop owners find the podcast.

From Machine Operator to Shop Leader: Manufacturing Career Advice for Young Machinists | MSG Episode 31

Most machinists start in the same place:

Standing at a machine.
Pushing a green button.
Doing exactly what they're told.

But what separates the people who stay there from the people who become programmers, supervisors, leaders, and shop owners?

In this episode, Kirk Phelps shares the lessons that transformed his own career—from sweeping floors and running manual machines to leading manufacturing operations and helping companies grow.

You'll learn:

✅ Why initiative is the fastest way to earn opportunity

✅ The difference between confidence and arrogance

✅ How fear silently limits career growth

✅ Why humility makes you more valuable than technical skills alone

✅ The mindset that helped Kirk progress from operator to leader

Most people spend their careers waiting for opportunities.

The people who grow create them.

If you're a young machinist wondering what's next—or a shop owner trying to develop future leaders—this episode is for you.

Subscribe to our weekly format:

📈 Sales & Marketing (1st & 3rd Tuesdays)

⚙️ Operations & Engineering (2nd & 4th Tuesdays)

🎙️ Bonus episodes when opportunity strikes

If this episode helps, please leave a review and share it with someone starting their manufacturing journey.

You don’t start a machine shop by buying a machine.

You start it by solving a problem.

In this episode, Mike Fritz and Kirk Phelps unpack the reality behind building a machine shop from scratch—and it’s probably different than what most people expect.

Everyone talks about machines.

Very few talk about:

• Cash flow pressure
• Customer concentration risk
• Investors and financing mistakes
• The hidden costs nobody budgets for
• Why your first customer matters more than your first machine

And one statement from this episode flips conventional thinking upside down:

"Don't buy the machine and then go find customers."

If you're dreaming of launching your own shop—or wondering if now is the right time—this episode walks through the real-world decisions that determine whether you grow... or struggle before you ever get started.

PLUS A MAJOR announcement about the future of Machine Shop Growth and the launch of Manufacturing M&A

🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms.

Setup time is stealing more money from your shop than you think.

In this episode of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast, Kirk Phelps digs deeper into standardization—specifically, tool holders, tooling storage, inventory systems, and the 80/20 rule that every machine shop should be using.

Most shops don’t lose efficiency because people aren’t working hard.
They lose efficiency because too many variables are left up to chance.

Different tool holders.
Unclear standards.
Tools scattered across drawers and toolboxes.
Operators searching for what should already be ready.
Setups taking longer than they need to.

Kirk breaks down why standardizing your tooling and tool holders is not about making your shop rigid. It is about removing unnecessary decisions, reducing mistakes, improving repeatability, and giving your team a better system to work from.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

• Build a master tool list around standard holders
• Reduce setup time by eliminating unnecessary variables
• Choose tool holders based on application, not habit
• Use tooling inventory systems to save time and money
• Track tooling usage by job, part, machine, and operator
• Apply the 80/20 rule to process improvement
• Turn spindle downtime into more production time

Kirk also shares real examples of tool holder decisions that doubled tool life, reduced downtime, and helped shops make better decisions based on data—not guesswork.

If your team spends too much time looking for tools, reworking setups, chasing holders, or saying “this is just how we’ve always done it,” this episode is a practical wake-up call.

Because the fastest ROI in your shop may not come from buying another machine.
It may come from standardizing what you already do every single day.

Your shop may be busy…
But is it actually growing?

In this episode, Mike Fritz breaks down the 5 KPI’s every machine shop should track if they want more control over sales, production, profitability, and long-term growth.

Most shops judge success by whether there’s money in the bank, parts are shipping, and customers seem happy. But that only tells part of the story. Without tracking the right numbers, a shop can miss warning signs like low margins, weak RFQ flow, poor follow-up, or dangerous customer concentration.

Mike walks through the five growth KPIs that reveal what is really happening inside your shop:

You’ll learn how to track:

• RFQ volume from new, current, and dormant customers
• Win rate and why you are winning or losing work
• PO volume and customer concentration risk
• Shipping volume and how it connects sales to the floor
• Margin and how to improve profit without always raising prices

This episode also covers why dormant customers need intentional outreach, why OEMs change vendors, how to use KPIs to drive decisions, and why growth should be measured before it becomes a crisis.

If you want your shop to stop living and dying by the next PO from your biggest customer, this episode will help you start tracking the numbers that actually drive growth.

Subscribe to our 2026 weekly format:
Sales & Marketing — 1st & 3rd Tuesdays
Operations & Engineering — 2nd & 4th Tuesdays
Bonus joint episodes on 5th Tuesdays

If this episode helps, please leave a review. It helps more shop owners find the show and grow their business.

Before you buy the robot…

Fix the process.

In this episode of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast: Operations Edition, Kirk Phelps breaks down what shops need to standardize before they ever think about automation, second shift, or lights-out machining.

Because automation sounds exciting.

But if your tooling changes every job, your workholding is inconsistent, your programmers are reinventing the wheel, and your shop floor depends on tribal knowledge…

That robot may just become an expensive decoration.

Kirk covers:

1. How to stop treating every part like a brand-new process
2. Why standardized tooling reduces errors from programming to the floor
3. How workholding can make or break unattended machining
4. Why high-mix, low-volume shops still need repeatable systems
5. The role of CAM standardization and verification software
6. Why lights-out machining comes before full automation

If your shop wants to grow capacity without creating more chaos, this episode gives you the foundation.

Start with standardization.
Then scale.

Subscribe to our weekly format:
 1st & 3rd Tuesdays: Sales & Marketing
 2nd & 4th Tuesdays: Operations & Engineering
 Joint episodes: Special industry deep-dives with Mike and Kirk

If this episode helps, leave a review. It helps more shop owners find the show.

A second shift sounds like growth.

More hours. More output. More revenue.

But what if adding a second shift is actually the fastest way to multiply your problems?

In this joint episode, Mike Fritz and Kirk Phelps tackle one of the most common ideas floating around machine shops right now:
“Should we add a second shift?”

On paper, it sounds simple.

In reality, it can create more complexity, more liability, more labor pressure, and more process breakdown than most shops are prepared for.

In this episode, we break down:

• Why most sub-$5M shops are not actually ready for a true second shift
• The hidden cost of off-shift management
• Why process refinement should happen before labor expansion
• How automation, fixturing, tooling, and better routing can unlock capacity first
• Why lights-out manufacturing is often a better “second shift” than a manned one
• How bad processes duplicated at night only fail faster

This episode is a must-listen for shop owners who are feeling maxed out, thinking about growth, and wondering whether second shift is the answer—or just a very expensive distraction.

Because sometimes the capacity you need is already sitting inside your current shop...
You just have not uncovered it yet.

Subscribe to our weekly format:
 1st & 3rd Tuesdays: Sales & Marketing
 2nd & 4th Tuesdays: Operations & Engineering
 Joint episodes: Special industry deep-dives with Mike and Kirk

If this episode helps, leave a review. It helps more shop owners find the show.

Your shop isn’t struggling because you’re too expensive.
It might be struggling because you’re still pricing like you’re afraid.

In this episode of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast, Mike Fritz breaks down one of the most dangerous habits in manufacturing:

USING PRICE AS YOUR MAIN SALES STRATEGY.

A lot of shops think lowering prices wins more work.
But in reality, it often wins the wrong work.

Mike shares why shops without a niche are forced to compete on price, how underpriced jobs quietly destroy your margins, and why “cheap work” can end up being the most expensive work you ever take on.

Inside this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why a shop without a niche is always left arguing on price
• How bad pricing creates chaos, burnout, and cash flow pressure
• Why quality and delivery matter more than being the cheapest
• How to find your differentiator and attract better-fit customers
• Why profitable growth starts with disciplined quoting

And here’s the twist:

One of Mike’s shops increased the price on a part by nearly 80%…
 and got the PO back almost immediately.

That moment says a lot about what customers are really buying.

If your shop is constantly busy but still feels squeezed, this episode will help you rethink pricing, quoting, and what it really takes to grow.

Subscribe to our weekly format:
Sales & Marketing — 1st & 3rd Tuesdays
Operations & Engineering — 2nd & 4th Tuesdays
Bonus joint episodes on 5th Tuesdays

If this episode helps, please leave a review—it helps more shop owners find the show.