In this episode of Steelhead Shop Talk, Dean Halonen sits down with Cody Whitehead, Operations & Engineering Manager at Advanced Precision Anodizing, to talk about scaling a finishing operation without losing the culture, quality, and customer service that made it successful in the first place.

Cody shares how APA grew from a 20-person shop running on QuickBooks and tribal knowledge into a 70-person operation with expanded capabilities, stronger visibility, and a foundation built for long-term growth.

The conversation covers operational scaling, retaining top talent, customer communication, automation, lead times, ERP implementation, and what it takes to build a manufacturing business that can continue growing without sacrificing service.

Topics include:
• Growing from 20 to 70 employees
• Why customer communication matters
• Building and retaining a strong core team
• Scaling operations with Steelhead ERP
• Improving visibility and reducing wasted time
• Managing lead times and expedites
• Expanding capacity and pursuing NADCAP
• The role of automation and data tracking in manufacturing growth

Learn more about Steelhead: https://gosteelhead.com

#Manufacturing #MetalFinishing #Anodizing #JobShop #ERPSoftware #SteelheadTechnologies #ShopTalk

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:17 Cody’s background in metal finishing
05:56 What Advanced Precision looked like in 2017
08:42 Growing from 20 to 70 employees
10:00 The hardest part of scaling a finishing operation
12:13 Why APA moved away from QuickBooks
13:37 Improving visibility and customer communication with Steelhead
15:12 Building and retaining a strong core team
18:33 Quality, on-time delivery, and customer expectations
21:23 Scaling revenue without scaling headcount
24:01 How the customer portal improves customer service
27:52 Expanding capacity and pursuing NADCAP
30:59 Managing expedites and customer lead times
33:44 The future of Advanced Precision Anodizing
40:27 Financing growth and reinvesting into the business
42:37 Final thoughts on scaling with Steelhead