Machine Shop Mastery

Buying a machine shop looks simple on a spreadsheet. Leland Licciardi and Kirsten Failing share what it looks like once you own it. They took over a shop founded in 1944 four years ago, and I wanted to walk through how they got there: the two years of deciding, the due diligence, the SBA loans and seller financing, and what they'd do differently if they bought another one.

The first four years were about systems. They rebuilt the QMS, moved to a new ERP, fixed scheduling, and built accountability around the metrics. The results are real numbers. First pass yield went from about 85% to 96%, on-time delivery has been around 97% for the last three months, and their rejection rate is 0.05%. Kirsten explains the change that got them there, moving in-process inspection onto the operators and turning QA into roaming auditors, and why the shop pushed back before it worked.

We also talk about earning trust from a veteran team that knew more about machining than the new owners did. Small fixes came first, then whole processes, then the ERP. They credit rolling out ProShop with pulling the floor and the office into one company, and with getting knowledge out of people's heads. After thousands of customers over 80 years, they also explain how they narrowed in on a niche.

And there's the side of ownership nobody puts in the forecast: a fire sprinkler line that burst in January, an ERP reporting failure on the morning of their first AS9100 audit, and projections that were, in their words, optimistic. If you're thinking about buying a shop, their advice is to learn the industry first, be honest about your risk tolerance, and remember you're a manager too. It lines up closely with what I wrote in Precision Manufacturing, Precision Business.

• (0:00) Hear Leland and Kirsten's story and learn what Fairchild Precision Parts does
• (4:53) From Lockheed Martin and consulting to buying a shop and moving to Connecticut
• (8:15) Hennig Workflow: automated pallet delivery for more spindle uptime without adding headcount
• (9:06) Shop size today: about 20 people, seven Swiss machines, and two recent Citizen additions
• (10:11) Kirsten's path from industrial engineering to consulting, and wanting to own the impact
• (14:50) CLA: helping manufacturers grow revenue and cut costs
• (16:00) Leland's college job at the shop, and finding his old KPIs during due diligence
• (17:28) Due diligence: LOI, SBA loans, seller financing, and what they'd do differently
• (22:39) The first six months on the floor, and a customer base that was 75 to 80% recurring
• (26:53) Working together as a couple and building credibility with a veteran team
• (28:42) Kennametal: tooling built for the real demands of the shop floor
• (29:30) Defining the niche: aerospace, defense, and industrial Swiss and turned parts
• (31:52) Earning trust through small fixes, owning the QMS, and the AS9100 push
• (36:28) How ProShop gave the floor the information to make decisions without the office
• (38:47) Current challenges: finishing the ERP move, accountability, and OEE
• (43:48) Navu: AI chat for your website, trained on your own content
• (45:00) The fire sprinkler pipe that burst over the warehouse in January
• (49:30) The morning of the first AS9100 audit when custom ERP reporting broke
• (50:15) Biggest win: moving in-process inspection to operators and lifting first pass yield
• (55:17) Advice for would-be buyers: learn the industry, accept risk, and manage people
• (59:27) Forecasts vs. reality, and why the first four years were about foundation building

• Hennig Workflow
• CLA
• Kennametal
• Navu
• ProShop ERP
• Precision Manufacturing, Precision Business by Paul Van Metre

• Fairchild Precision Parts
• Leland on LinkedIn
• Kirsten on LinkedIn

Most of us were taught to guard our processes. Brett Lister built a group around doing the opposite—and it's paying him back in work, tooling, and knowledge. I sat down with Brett to talk about Open Tolerance, the collaboration group he runs out of B&B Dynamic Machining, and what happens when small shops decide to help each other instead of fighting over scraps.

The group started as a way to swap ideas and turned into a way to swap work. A shop with a long lead time on a five axis job hands part of it to a shop with an open machine. A job that needs live tooling goes to the shop that actually has it. Brett took on a job another owner couldn't run, made $26,000 on it, and then used it to make the case that the owner should buy the machine himself.

We also get into the unglamorous parts of running a small shop. Employees are Brett's biggest struggle, and his answer is profit sharing plus a sales commission for anyone whose video brings in an RFQ. He explains why he walked away from a sale that would have paid what he wanted, why he shuts his VF4 down at noon on cutting tool demo days, and how a rejected set of parts turned into a teaching moment instead of a fight.

If you've wondered how to start something like this where you are, Brett's advice is simple. Go to the next local event and shake as many hands as you can. More people will say yes than you expect. He also covers the free tooling that shows up when you just ask vendors, and how virtual meetings are pulling in owners who live too far away to drive to a shop on a Wednesday night.

• (0:00) Learn more about Brett Lister, his shop, and his love for networking
• (5:29) 28 years in the trade and the school idea that became a machine shop
• (7:56) Why finding and keeping employees is the hardest part
• (9:28) Profit sharing, and a sales commission for employees whose videos bring in RFQs
• (10:35) Hennig Workflow: automated pallet delivery for more spindle uptime without adding headcount
• (11:26) Working with the Community College of Philadelphia and local programs to bring in new machinists
• (15:51) How Open Tolerance started, from a mastermind idea to a collaboration group
• (23:08) Going virtual in August, and why consistency keeps the meetings going
• (25:00) Factur: the go to market steps to max out before you hire anyone
• (31:10) How the in-person meetings get organized, third Wednesday at 6 PM
• (34:06) Why he walked away from a chance to sell the shop
• (37:47) Family, the collaboration meetings, and running chips after hours
• (40:23) How the group became an unintentional support group for owners
• (43:45) Kennametal: tooling built for the real demands of the shop floor
• (44:33) Power of attraction, visualization, and the $3,000 PO that showed up on its own
• (47:15) Advice for startups: get active on social media and pay it forward with free tooling
• (50:28) How to start a collaboration group in your own area
• (52:26) Sometimes all you have to do is ask

• Hennig Workflow
• Kennametal
• Factur
• Open Tolerance
• B&B Dynamic Machining
• IMTS
• Think and Grow Rich
• Precision Manufacturing, Precision Business

• Open Tolerance Website
• Open Tolerance on Instagram
• B&B Dynamic Machining Website

Every machine shop has an origin story, but not many start with a drill press on the family dining room table and grow into a company machining 276-inch wing spars for military aircraft. In this episode, I sit down with Joey Schmucker and Alyssa Da Costa, the brother-and-sister team leading Volumatic, a third-generation family-owned machine shop in Macon, Georgia. What started with their grandfather in 1969 has grown into a highly specialized defense manufacturer with approximately 25 employees and a reputation built over decades.

What fascinated me most was the sheer scale of their work. We're talking about massive structural components that can require weeks of machining, creative fixturing, and multiple setups just to complete a single part. But the business challenges are equally interesting. Volumatic doubled its sales last year and is experiencing tremendous growth again this year.

Joey and Alyssa share how they're navigating that expansion, managing expensive materials and cash flow, and protecting the customer relationships that have fueled their success. We also get into why they're willing to turn down work rather than promise delivery dates they can't meet, and how smaller, quick-turn jobs have become an unexpected financial advantage.

We also explore one of the biggest challenges facing established shops today: transferring decades of knowledge before experienced employees retire. With several team members approaching 30 years at Volumatic, Joey and Alyssa are figuring out how to preserve that expertise while developing the next generation of machinists. From navigating volatile material prices to deciding when a multimillion-dollar machine investment makes sense, this conversation offers a fascinating look at the decisions behind a growing, multigenerational manufacturing business.

• (0:00) Introducing Volumatic and its third-generation leadership
• (5:03) Inside a shop specializing in massive defense components
• (6:10) Kennametal designs tooling for the real world of the shop floor
• (6:59) From a dining room drill press to a family manufacturing legacy
• (9:13) Finding a niche in aerospace and defense, building customer relationships, and diversifying
• (13:35) Creating a family-oriented culture that retains employees for decades
• (15:00) Recruiting and developing machinists from within
• (17:18) Why finding qualified, motivated employees remains the biggest challenge
• (18:07) Check out the Hennig WorkFlow automated pallet delivery system
• (18:59) Managing scrap risk when machining extremely expensive parts
• (22:14) Weighing the risks and opportunities of investing in larger machines
• (25:24) Managing rapid growth and increasing production demands
• (27:03) How quality, on-time delivery, and customer scorecards drive growth
• (30:35) How Navu can get your customers reliable and accurate answers in real time
• (31:48) Negotiating lead times and managing outside processing delays
• (37:32) Using quick-turn jobs to improve cash flow
• (40:25) Balancing production schedules with jobs requiring weeks of machining
• (43:27) Navigating rising tooling costs and volatile raw material prices
• (46:11) Strategies for protecting material pricing and managing financial risk
• (49:14) Why you should check out the Lights Out podcast
• (49:39) Preparing for retirement and preserving decades of tribal knowledge
• (53:32) Introducing the next generation to machining careers
• (55:06) Advice for building lasting customer relationships and winning new business
• (58:12) Navigating CMMC cybersecurity compliance in defense manufacturing
• (1:00:07) Final thoughts and connecting with Volumatic

• Volumatic, Inc.
• Boeing Defense
• Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)
• Mastercam
• CMMC Cybersecurity Requirements
• NIST SP 800-171

• Joey Schmucker on LinkedIn
• Alyssa Da Costa on LinkedIn
• Volumatic on LinkedIn
• Volumatic Website
• Email: [email protected]

A beautifully machined bicycle component might get your attention. But what does it take to build a company that earns that same loyalty for 50 years?

In this episode, I sit down with Kirby Bedsaul, president of Chris King Precision Components, to explore the business behind an iconic cycling brand. From bearing production to the finishing details that make their parts look like jewelry, there's a remarkable amount happening behind the factory doors in Portland, Oregon. And some of their most interesting decisions have as much to do with what they value as what they manufacture.

We get into owning your processes, building a workplace people want to stay in, and finding capable employees beyond the usual hiring pool. Kirby also shares the pressures of keeping manufacturing local—and why an empty factory represents a much bigger loss than the jobs inside it.

Whether you make bicycle components or run a job shop, this conversation raises some worthwhile questions about the business you're building, the people you're trusting, and what your community gains when you succeed.

• (0:00) Kirby on rallying yourself as a leader on a bad day, and owning the apology
• (1:01) Introducing Kirby Bedsaul and Chris King Precision Components
• (6:50) Hennig Workflow: automated pallet delivery that adds spindle uptime without adding headcount
• (7:41) High-end bicycle component manufacturer: products that wear-in, not out
• (10:41) Owning every process so you control cost, performance, and what happens to the waste
• (12:11) The anodizing partnership and why finish is make or break
• (16:42) Walnut shells, dry paste tumbling, and a plant with no wastewater permit
• (19:37) Hire MFG Leaders: recruiters who are current and former shop owners
• (20:06) The benefits package, the bike commute challenges, and funding a program so it works
• (25:56) Hiring for mechanical aptitude instead of experience and explaining the job
• (32:00) Navu: AI chat trained on your own website content so buyers get answers fast
• (33:12) How transparent to be with numbers, and why Kirby shares revenue instead of EBITDA
• (36:46) Working leads on the floor, and the daily scrap, quality, and DMR meetings
• (37:52) The empty buildings in his neighborhood, and what's pushing shops five miles out
• (44:48) Ground Control: automated FAI generation and PO review for aerospace and defense
• (45:28) West Coast costs, tariffs, and exporting without a tariff department on staff
• (48:13) Why you should be targeting an unreasonable amount of margin
• (49:57) Hire people way smarter than you and put the ego in your pocket
• (53:15) Clarity and elevate the team as core values, and why leadership is hard

• Hennig Workflow
• Hire MFG Leaders
• Navu
• Ground Control
• ProShop ERP
• Portland Community College
• Mount Hood Community College

• Chris King Precision Components
• Connect with Kirby on LinkedIn

Plenty of shops machine parts to a tenth and then run the business on guesswork. Sebastian Montalvo is building M3 Aerospace the other way, with the same precision behind the desk as on the floor, and three years in, that's exactly why they're growing as fast as they are.

I'll be honest, this one got to me. He's running a shop that behaves like it's been around for twenty years with a hundred people on the floor, and there are thirteen of them. Every step of the workflow went up on a whiteboard with one question attached to it: where can this go wrong, and what do we put in place so it doesn't? People told him he was exaggerating. He kept going anyway.

We got into the practical side of it too. How he used Xometry to buy himself immediate demand while he learned the market, then deliberately diversified off it. Why he made compliance the North Star instead of an afterthought, and what it took to earn AS9100, ISO, ITAR, and CMMC without hiring a consultant to do it for him. How he's hiring in a city most people overlook, and why paying above the local average is a strategy and not a cost.

The cash flow conversation is worth the listen on its own. He's turned down large RFQs, not because the shop couldn't make the parts, but because he couldn't float a bill of materials that size and then wait months to get paid. If you've ever had to say no to work you were fully capable of doing, you already know how that feels.

And then there's the part I didn't expect. His mom opens the door to every new unit they take on. His dad is there at five in the morning, after three years without a day off. When I asked Sebastian what keeps him going, he didn't say revenue or contracts. He said his parents. I've talked to a lot of shop owners on this show. This one I'll be thinking about for a while.

• (0:00) Sebastian on tracking the reshoring shift and getting certified before the demand arrived
• (1:03) Why this conversation with Sebastian Montalvo of M3 Aerospace has me choked up
• (3:09) Going all in with his father while starting a part time MBA at Berkeley
• (5:17) Two CNCs under a tent to 10,000 square feet, 15 machines, and AS9100, ISO, ITAR, and CMMC
• (5:49) Immigrating from Ciudad Juarez at 10, and a father who ran side businesses after teaching all day
• (8:16) Grow your top and bottom line with CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA)
• (9:07) Why he never claims to be a machinist, and who gives a brand new shop work
• (10:15) Buying immediate demand through Xometry, then deliberately diversifying off it
• (12:53) Why aerospace and defense (and making compliance the North Star from day one)
• (14:27) Earning AS9100 and ISO without a consultant and mapping every workflow risk on a whiteboard
• (18:00) Why running the business deserves the same precision as running the parts
• (19:24) Why you need to talk to Verdant Commercial Capital to finance your equipment
• (21:48) The banks that said no, and the $90,000 job that tied up machines for eight weeks
• (23:08) Growing the team: maquiladora experience, trade schools, and paying above the local average
• (27:42) UTEP, the technical colleges, and the 250 acre advanced manufacturing district breaking ground
• (32:56) Getting a cage code, bidding through DLA, and the city consultants who scrape opportunities for free
• (38:35) Navu: Get reliable and accurate answers in real time
• (39:47) Set aside invitations from primes (and the first bid he and his dad built over Christmas)
• (42:04) Why cash flow, not capability, caps growth, and what supplier net terms changed
• (45:37) How Sebastian learned estimating and pricing for profitability
• (48:40) Moving his desk onto the shop floor and telling the team why he wants the data
• (51:13) Machine sensors, the spindle time gap, and discovering what packaging actually costs
• (55:47) Sebastian's most memorable experience building M3 with his parents
• (59:44) The real story behind the name M3 Aerospace

• CLA
• Verdant Commercial Capital
• Navu
• Xometry
• SAM.gov
• Precision Manufacturing, Precision Business by Paul Van Metre

• M3 Aerospace
• Sebastian Montalvo on X
• Sebastian Montalvo on LinkedIn
• [email protected]

Gavin Giguere went from zero to a running machine shop in a matter of months. A conversation with a childhood friend about wanting his own shop, an LLC filed two weeks later, then five weeks of gutting and renovating a building while two new machines landed on the floor. His first order shipped on time, and so has every order since.

What I wanted out of this conversation was the whole startup sequence, not the highlight reel. Gavin joined the NTMA before he had machines. He had five committed customers and letters of intent before he had machines. He ran an ERP from day one because he didn't want to backtrack out of spreadsheets later. He wrote a quality manual and an employee handbook before he had a payroll to apply them to. Most first time owners build those systems after the pain shows up. Gavin built them first.

There's a buying side to the story too. A Facebook Marketplace trip that was supposed to be one Bridgeport ended with eight machines, and the tooling and inspection gear in that deal has been worth more to him day to day than the iron. If you're running a small shop, there's a real lesson in there about what the stuff you've accumulated over the years is actually worth, and what happens to it if you never write it down.

The startup story doesn't end when the doors open. Gavin would hire two people today if he could find them. He's been at it for two months, on LinkedIn, on Indeed, with his partner helping, offering full benefits, and he's already had a candidate accept an offer and then take a counter from their current employer. Meanwhile he's running both machines himself, quoting at night and on Saturdays, and turning away work he can win but can't produce. He thinks he could double revenue if he could staff up.

• (0:00) Gavin would hire two people today if he could find them
• (3:53) How the NTMA brought us together and why joining was Gavin's first move
• (4:38) Picking trade school in eighth grade and getting the town to pay for it
• (6:27) Gavin's career trajectory from running manual mills to Director of Operations and Business Development
• (15:53) Why you can't sleep on the Hennig WorkFlow Automation System
• (16:44) How Gavin turns tooling reps and vendors into actual relationships
• (19:21) Launching a machine shop and buying his first two machines
• (23:37) Why we created (and why you should use) Hire MFG Leaders
• (24:06) Gutting the building and getting machines on the floor in five weeks
• (25:50) A Facebook Marketplace Bridgeport that turned into eight machines
• (26:48) Why the tooling and inspection gear beat the iron in that deal
• (28:30) The thousands of small shops that are worth nothing without their owner
• (30:20) Mike Payne's lesson on itemizing every asset in your shop
• (32:02) Why we love SMW Autoblok workholding products
• (33:16) Building the Reign Manufacturing name in public on LinkedIn
• (36:29) Using AI for business planning, billing rates, and an employee handbook
• (37:57) Getting machines running, setting up automation, and fulfilling orders
• (41:24) Running an ERP from day one instead of spreadsheets
• (42:24) Splitting the day between running the business and running parts
• (45:24) Two months of recruiting, one counter offer, and still no hire
• (49:18) Turning away work and what a robot arm or two hires would unlock

• Hennig Workflow Automation System
• Hire MFG Leaders
• SMW Autoblok
• Reign Manufacturing
• NTMA

• Reign Manufacturing
• Connect on LinkedIn
• Gavin Giguere by email: [email protected]

Assa Gill didn't grow up dreaming about owning a machine shop. He came to Canada from a small village in Punjab, discovered CNC machining through a college course, and spent nearly nine years developing his skills on the shop floor. But the idea of building something of his own never went away.

That idea became real when Assa bought his first CNC mill—before he had a building, a customer, or even a registered business. He started running jobs during evenings and weekends, gradually built a reputation, and eventually left his full-time job to focus on Rise Machine Works. Today, the shop has four CNC machines, an automated saw, its first full-time employee, and more growth on the horizon.

But rapid growth came at a cost. After a year of long days and trying to handle everything himself, Assa realized that working harder wasn't going to build the company he wanted. Reading The E-Myth Revisited helped him begin documenting processes, defining roles, delegating work, and creating a business that wouldn't always depend entirely on him.

In this episode, Assa shares the realities of starting with limited resources, earning customers through relationships and quick turnarounds, protecting cash flow, and building systems early. We also discuss the major opportunity that could take Rise into its next stage—and why machining ability alone isn't enough to create a sustainable machine shop.

• (0:00) Why the cheapest quote never keeps a customer, and what does
• (1:39) Assa Gill's story: From a village in Punjab to rural Manitoba
• (5:50) Nine years at a local manufacturer, running programming and two departments
• (8:25) Learn how DN Solutions can take your shop to the next level
• (9:38) Starting his own shop: buying a machine and getting his first customers
• (14:24) Quitting the day job, going from one machine to five, and making his first hire
• (16:58) The MakingChips machine giveaway with DN Solutions and Kennametal
• (17:43) Finding customers in a town of 600, and the LinkedIn message that turned into a contract
• (19:49) Dropping everything when a customer's line is down: why relationships outlast price
• (22:21) Adding two DN Solutions lathes at six months, then an Okuma mill as a backup
• (25:37) Running four CNCs off a 400 amp phase converter and outgrowing the building
• (26:12) Ground Control: automated workflows for aerospace and defense manufacturers
• (26:53) Reading The E-Myth in year one, and building the franchise prototype early
• (29:40) Acquiring a 20 year old cylinder manufacturer with two business partners
• (30:54) Why 15,000 square feet at 25K a month didn't pencil out
• (33:25) The shop owner who told him to read The E-Myth—and the call three years later
• (37:10) How an org chart sets a vision instead of just a reporting structure
• (39:33) Strategies from my book: "Precision Manufacturing, Precision Business."
• (40:58) Managing growth, guarding cashflow, and the 20 hour days he doesn't want back
• (41:52) The biggest challenges that Assa's worked through and overcome
• (47:00) Assa's message to anyone sitting on the idea of starting a shop

• Rise Machine Works
• DN Solutions
• MakingChips Machine Giveaway
• Kennametal
• IMTS
• Ground Control
• The E-Myth
• Precision Manufacturing, Precision Business by Paul Van Metre

• Rise Machine Works
• [email protected]

Alex Fitzgerald got the keys to his first factory on January 6, 2025. Eighteen months later Isembard has 14 factories across the US, the UK, France and Germany, just under 100 people, and a business model nobody in this industry has run at scale. Ten of those factories he doesn't own. They belong to franchisees.

The franchise piece is the part I keep turning over. Before he started, Alex went through the McDonald's franchisee process himself, worked in a restaurant, got all the way to an interview with the chief restaurant officer for the UK. He doesn't look at McDonald's and see a burger business. He sees heat treatment and assembly, run to the same SOPs in every location, for a customer who knows exactly what he's getting. That's the bet. Build the systems once, then hand them to people who own their own shops.

I gave a talk at the Top Shops Conference back in 2017 arguing something close to this. Even if you never open a second location, run your shop as if there's one a thousand miles away that you'll never visit. If it only works because you're standing in it, it doesn't really work. Most shops fail that test, and Alex named the reason. Too much of the business lives in the owner's head.

We get into the practical side too. How he found his first four people, why he spends about half his week hunting for the next one, the hiring process that ends with a candidate standing in front of the entire company, how work gets funneled across 14 sites, and the two setbacks that actually hurt, an AS9100D audit and a machine crash.

You may never franchise your shop. But the systems thinking here is 10% worth the hour.

• (0:00) Learn more about Alex Fitzgerald and his journey to Isembard
• (4:24) What Isembard makes in 14 factories (and the franchise model behind the growth)
• (7:39) The two books that made him care about manufacturing and the manual mill course that sealed it
• (9:56) The MakingChips machine giveaway with DN Solutions and Kennametal
• (10:41) Sourcing locations, hiring great people, and finding customers
• (14:57) Sean in Exeter, from a LinkedIn DM to a live factory in under 90 days
• (17:09) Justin, the Green Beret who ran a Chick-fil-A, and the first US factory in Dallas Fort Worth
• (18:52) The two kinds of franchisee, new builds and conversions, and what they screen for
• (21:55) Take your shop to the next level with DN Solutions + automation
• (23:07) Building a business development team that goes and gets demand instead of waiting for it
• (26:39) How the SOPs got written, and making the happy path the only path
• (28:16) My 2017 Top Shops talk on shop franchising, and why consistency is the product
• (29:46) The real problem with most shops—everything lives in the owner's head
• (32:16) How they've been able to hire 100 people in 18 months
• (35:41) Kennametal's Next Level Shop at IMTS 2026
• (37:13) Narrowing down machines to purchase versus work they're winning
• (38:31) The two setbacks that stuck: The AS9100D audit and the machine crashes
• (40:58) Map the employee journey like a customer journey—including the way people leave
• (44:21) How Alex funded this franchising venture with investors
• (45:54) How work gets funneled across the network and what a franchisee does with overflow
• (48:00) The franchisee conference Alex launched for training
• (50:09) Vibe coded internal tools and hiring software people from outside manufacturing

• Isembard
• MakingChips Machine Giveaway
• DN Solutions
• Kennametal
• IMTS
• Freedom's Forge
• Material World by Ed Conway
• The E-Myth
• Manufacturing Technology Centre

• Isembard
• Connect on LinkedIn
• Mention mastery2026 for an exclusive discount

Wil Jorgensen started a machine shop at 22 with a $4,000 screw machine he found on Craigslist. He's 26 now, running Evolution CNC in Wenatchee, Washington, with seven people and a pallet automated 5-axis machine that runs close to around the clock. What makes this conversation worth your time isn't the growth curve though. It's how he thinks.

Wil and his team wrote a four page manifesto before they made the big bets. Not a business plan, an emotional document about what would make betting their careers on this thing feel worthwhile. Then they bought a Matsuura MAM72 35 with 32 pallets when they had almost no money in the bank, overdrew the account by $4,000 to close it, and gave themselves about 30 days to make it work.

It worked. Bookings went from $252,000 in 2024 to $1.1 million in 2025, and they're pushing toward $2 million this year. His advice on automation is blunt. Don't wait until you think you can afford it. The smaller the shop, the more automation you should have.

The part that stuck with me most is the promise Wil makes to everyone he hires. He will not be angry. He spent a stretch of his early twenties running on anger and determination, and then decided he didn't have time for it. If one of his guys scraps $25,000 in parts and Wil stays calm, nobody else in the building gets to be angry either. That one decision shapes how the whole shop operates.

There's a lot in here about buying machines you can't afford, cutting loose customers who don't pay, and getting out of your own people's way. If you're early in building a shop, or you're still touching everything yourself, this one will land.

• (0:00) The one promise Wil makes to everyone who works for him, he will not be angry
• (2:56) Evolution CNC today, and how a job at L.E. Wilson at 17 led to screw machines at Pacific Aerospace
• (5:33) The $4,000 Craigslist Citizen L16 that started the shop in December 2022
• (6:29) Buying Evolution from his mentor Leonard, and working six months for free to do it
• (8:55) Cutting ties with every customer who didn't pay on time, and keeping the one who did
• (9:27) Hiring his old boss Ted Keyes, then Dale Siegel and Gerard McGlashan
• (11:39) IMTS Job Shops Workshop and Networking Reception on September 15
• (12:16) Committing to 5-axis and automation before anyone on the team had seen a 5-axis machine
• (14:09) Todd Newhouse at Selway, and the Matsuura MAM 72-35 that was wildly out of their wheelhouse
• (15:38) Nobody checked whether the machine would fit through the door until the day before delivery
• (16:10) Going from a comfortable $2,000 Haas payment to one that could end the company
• (18:40) Cutting chips before the trainer arrived, and shipping a 100 piece order the week after
• (19:30) Why one Matsuura carries 60 to 70 percent of throughput across four machines
• (20:51) Running the Matsuura around the clock, with five hours of downtime over a full weekend
• (22:05) No credit line, running on cash, and 30 days of runway if the machine didn't work
• (23:34) Overdrawing the bank account by $4,000, and the four page manifesto behind the bet
• (27:25) Bookings from $252,000 in 2024 to $1.1 million in 2025, and the push toward $2 million
• (27:25) Hennig Workflow Automation System
• (31:51) Why he'd still start with an automated Haas if he were doing it over today
• (34:11) Turning down work, and the 30 inch ring he ran on a VF4 with the doors removed
• (38:35) The MakingChips machine giveaway with DN Solutions and Kennametal
• (41:55) George McCorley and Ty Neff, and trading a drill jig for installing airlines in Illinois
• (47:22) Everything I touch is bad, and learning to get out of his own team's way
• (56:44) The shift from running on anger to deciding he didn't have time for it
• (57:58) Why Gerard pushed him to stop working weekends, and what didn't break when he did

• IMTS
• Hennig Workflow Automation System
• MakingChips Machine Giveaway
• Matsuura USA
• Mastercam
• Renishaw REVO
• Lights Out podcast

• Connect on LinkedIn
• Evolution CNC

After more than 300 conversations across Machine Shop Mastery, MakingChips, and Manufacturing Transformed, I wrote a book.

It's called Precision Manufacturing, Precision Business, and I keep saying "we" wrote it because that's the truth. I got the words onto the page, but the hard lessons, ideas, and wisdom came from this community.

The premise is simple: you'd never ship a titanium part at 99% accuracy, so why run your business that way? Shops obsess over holding dimensions, but that same precision doesn't always carry into quoting, planning, scheduling, procurement, or contract review. That gap is the opportunity.

In this episode, I share my journey in manufacturing, starting in 1997 with six college friends, a second mortgage, one Haas VF4, and very little idea what we were doing. The discipline I write about didn't come from a textbook. It came from getting things wrong and having people willing to tell us why.

I'll also give you a sneak peek inside the book, covering everything from niching down and estimating to culture, compliance, and quote-to-cash. It's about building a business that runs with the same discipline as the machines and has real value whether you ever sell it or not.

Precision Manufacturing, Precision Business launches September 1, just before IMTS, at disciplinetoprofit.com. More than 50 people from the shows are quoted in it, and if you want a signed copy, come find me at the ProShop booth or the MakingChips booth in the South Hall.

• (0:00) I announce the book, and why the credit belongs to the metalworking nation
• (1:02) Why a book after more than 300 conversations across three podcasts
• (3:21) The premise behind "Precision Manufacturing, Precision Business"
• (4:19) What changes when you apply shop floor discipline to business processes
• (6:26) My journey in the industry, from Pro CNC to ProShop ERP, and podcasting
• (13:16) Part one: Why manufacturing is the hardest business in the world
• (16:37) Part two: The E-Myth, the Goal, and the machinist to owner gap
• (17:09) Part three: Sales as a system, niching down, and the riches in the niches
• (19:10) Part four: People, culture, growth ceilings, and compliance
• (21:03) Part five: Quote to cash, Top Shops, and building a business worth buying
• (23:11) Mitch Free on leadership and accountability outrunning technology
• (24:36) Who the book is for, the September 1st launch, and disciplinetoprofit.com

• Discipline to Profit Website
• IMTS
• ProShop ERP
• The E-Myth by Michael Gerber
• The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt
• Top Shops benchmarking program by Modern Machine Shop

• ProShop ERP
• Connect on LinkedIn
• Machine Shop Mastery
• MakingChips
• Manufacturing Transformed