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Today’s podcast episode is the second half of our interview with Dr. Onome Scott-Emuakpor, the founder of Hyphen Innovations, a firm that develops low cost, damage resistant aerospace components. When Onome does engineering research, he fuels his creativity by embracing resource constraints and what he calls the “fail fast” mentality. The fail fast mentality means you can look at failure during the problem solving process as a positive. If “failing” means you learn something that propels you forward the next time you try to solve the same problem, then it really isn’t a failure. It’s a success. We also discussed Onome’s desire for more young African Americans to feel confident in their abilities to pursue degrees in engineering.   You can also view the podcast in video form on our YouTube Channel. Listen with the player at the bottom of the page or at your favorite podcast app.                                    Follow us on Social and never miss an update! Facebook: https://lnkd.in/dB_nzFzt Instagram: https://lnkd.in/dcxjzVyw Twitter: https://lnkd.in/dDyT-c9h   Noah Graff: What does the expression “failing fast” mean to you? Dr. Onome Scott-Emuakpor: I ask myself, what will I learn when this happens? If I decide that what I’m going to learn is healthy, it’s not failure. It’s just a prediction. You go fast, you fail, you learn something, you make it better. You go fast again. Graff: You told me previously that you often prefer to stay in the background and observe other people from a distance. Do you see this as a positive? Scott-Emuakpor: I think it’s a positive. I like to pay attention to the way certain things play out in the background before I make a decision. Take this entrepreneurial journey that I’m on right now. A lot of people would say, “I want to start a business.” And they jump right into it. In my case, I went through an entrepreneur opportunity program. I shadowed a lot of people. I called a lot of people. I had a lot of mentors. I took a year, essentially a sabbatical, going through the Air Force, understanding all the intricacies, sitting in the background, and paying attention to how things are done before I actually said, all right, I’m ready to make a move and make a decision. Graff: Do you often consciously see yourself as an artist? Scott-Emuakpor: Yeah. Sometimes I [think], yeah, “I’m a fine arts guy.” You’re drawing something or you’re coming up with some creative idea. In high school, we had an assignment where we were given two dissimilar animals to figure out a way to draw them to create a new thing. Sometimes I apply this to a turbine engine. If you look at a conventional turbine engine, you have a fuel nozzle and a turbine inlet nozzle. These are two separate pieces. How do you manufacture them so they’re the same piece and significantly reduce weight while improving the efficiency of a combustor? That’s the exact same exercise. You’re looking at these two different things that are not together, and then you’re getting creative and you’re bringing them together. The only difference is that now I have to bring in physics to make it actually work. Graff: Do you think many people label themselves as not creative, but they could be creative if they were taught to believe that they were. Scott-Emuakpor:  I think that people just lack confidence because of their environment—not seeing yourself in somebody else. Not seeing your color in somebody else. Not seeing your personality trait in someone else. Not seeing your gender in somebody else.  When I was getting done with my PhD, one of the things that I wanted to do was become a professor. Not necessarily because I wanted to teach, but because I felt like there were a lot of young black people who didn’t believe that  becoming an engineer or getting a PhD while (still) being themselves was a thing.  One of my missions was, I want to be an engineer, but I’m going to keep my hair with long braids. I’m going to keep wearing baggy clothes and keep wearing jeans. I’m going to keep wearing Timberlands, and I’m going to teach classes. And people, especially young black men, are going to see themselves in me and say, “I can be him.” Question: What was your last failure that turned out to be a good thing in the end? For more information about Hyphen Innovations go to https://www.hyphenmade.com/

On today’s podcast, we talk about how you can apply the artistic side of your brain to solve engineering challenges. Our guest is aerospace engineer, Dr. Onome Scott-Emuakpor, founder of Hyphen Innovations, a firm that develops new advanced aerospace components for the Department of Defense and other clients.  Onome’s family immigrated from Nigeria to Lansing, Michigan, before he was born. In high school, he was an average student but excelled in fine arts classes. In college, he played Division I basketball at Wright State. While at Wright State, Onome realized he had a passion for engineering. Today, he says one of the keys to his success as an engineer is using the same type of creative approaches he embraced as a fine arts student. Listen with the player at the bottom of the page or at your favorite podcast app.        Follow us on Social and never miss an update! Facebook: https://lnkd.in/dB_nzFzt Instagram: https://lnkd.in/dcxjzVyw Twitter: https://lnkd.in/dDyT-c9h   Interview Highlights Noah Graff:  Give me a quick explanation of your company, Hyphen Innovations. Onome Scott-Emuakpor: With Hyphen Innovations we make aerospace parts. We make them lighter.  We make them stronger. We make them low cost, and we do that with unique out of the box design. And we use really intriguing advanced manufacturing methods.  Our main interest is turbine engines and turbine engine structures. The reason why we’re focused on the turbine engine is because we know that there’s still a lot of innovation. There’s still a lot of juice to squeeze out of that technology and improve the thrust to weight, so to speak, and do all that while also maintaining affordability with it.  Graff: You mentioned to me before that you were interested in fine arts when you were younger. What kind of art did you do growing up? Scott-Emuakpor: I loved to sketch. Then in high school, there were classes that broadened (my) artistic capability. All of a sudden, I was painting, using watercolors, using colored pencils, painting with pastels, painting with oils. And it was like, this thing that I had been naturally good at as a kid just expanded through to all these other mediums. I was like, this is it. This is what I want to do. I wanna sit in one place, and paint or draw. Graff: Did your parents expect you to do well in school? Were you in honors classes in high school? Scott-Emuakpor: I was not (in honors classes). I don’t think I ever did homework in high school. I did homework five minutes before class, and that’s just because it wasn’t interesting. Math was kind of interesting, but it was interesting to me because I liked the challenge of seeing how well I could do on homework if I did [it] minutes before class.  I took the ACT, and I did terribly on it twice. I [scored] a 19. But on the math part, I got a 30-something.   I remember my dad (when I got to college), said “don’t put fine arts as your major. That’s not a major. I’m gonna go sleep on it and I’ll tell you what you should do.” And [he said] “I had a dream. You should put down engineering.” It wasn’t until I actually started taking engineering classes that I thought, oh, this is kind of interesting. It wasn’t until I actually got a job that I was like, I now see where all the math is going. I now see where all the physics is going. I now see where all these classes are going.  Now all of a sudden you walk into a class and they say, “this is vibration.” And I’ve been working in a vibration lab, and I know what vibration is. Graff:  So you finally got your PhD. You’ve done all this research, you’re a career academic in your mid-twenties, and then you said, what do I do with this? Scott-Emuakpor: I still didn’t know what I wanted to do. So I got my postdoc position, which was through the Air Force, or the National Academies. I was working at the Air Force base (in Dayton, Ohio), the same place that I worked as an undergrad, and the same place that I did my graduate school research. Graff: How do you feel about doing research?  Scott-Emuakpor: I love it. Research essentially allows me to engage in my creative side. It allows me to essentially do art with science and engineering.  When you think about art, it’s like you’re given a blank canvas to create something. You’re essentially creating something from nothing. Even when you’re taking a picture, you’re creating something from nothing. When you’re writing, you’re creating something from nothing. Graff: How much are you leaning on other people’s research for your own research? How much are you inspired by it?  Scott-Emuakpor: I’m constantly looking at what other people are doing, and I’m constantly looking at what people are doing outside of my industry. Inspiration can come from anywhere. It can come from people arguing in a meeting while you’re sitting in the back. I just pay attention. I’m constantly thinking, I’m constantly thinking of how I’m going to solve the problem. For more information about Hyphen Innovations go to https://www.hyphenmade.com. Question: What type of fine arts classes did you take as a student.

With the latest news that unemployment is at its lowest in 54 years, we thought it was important to post this favorite episode about how to hire the employee who fits correctly for a specific position. Our guest on the podcast today is Brian Balasia, CEO and Co-Founder of TalentEi, a company that produces a software platform that matches employers and job seekers across a variety of sectors. Brian says the platform enables companies to hire superior people, more quickly, and at a better price than traditional hiring methods such as job descriptions and resumes. Scroll down to read more and listen to the podcast. Or listen on your phone with Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app.       Find us on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swarfcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swarfcast/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/todays-machining-world/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/tmwswarfblog Main Points TalentEi’s software platform surveys hiring managers, asking them what they are looking for in a particular role. In addition to the obvious information like how many years of experience a candidate should have, the system asks managers questions about the day to day experience and the particular tasks the job requires. An example question would be asking if candidates are expected to learn things on their own, or if will they be receiving continuous coaching and instruction.  When people apply for jobs on an employer’s website or on sites such as Indeed, their contact information goes into TalenEi’s database. Then TalentEi contacts the candidates and asks them to answer a series of questions tailored specifically for that position. After collecting data from employers and candidates TalentEi’s software places applicants into the spots where it feels they have the best chance to succeed at a company. It has the power to pinpoint positions at a company that management may have overlooked. It can even find job openings at different facilities if the company has multiple locations.  Brian says there is a lot of waste in a traditional hiring system. TalentEi sets out to eliminate the waste using a system with common characteristics to the Toyota production model. He says contrary to what tons of employers are saying right now, there actually are a lot of good job candidates out there, but they are being overlooked or falling through the cracks when there are a high number of applicants.  Brian Balasia, CEO and Co-Founder of TalentEi One type of waste TalentEi tries to limit Brian calls queueing waste. It occurs when a company receives an abundance of job candidates. If a company has 100 spots and 200 applicants, it ends up choosing candidates in the order they apply, plugging them into arbitrary roles at the company simply because they are vacant. This type of hiring neglects to understand applicants’ strengths and needs, which results in placing them into jobs where they are not suited or they will not enjoy. Many people who could have been successful hires for a certain occupation turn out to be failures just because they were placed in the wrong shift. Queuing waste also occurs when good people are skipped over because they were so far at the back of the line of candidates they never got a chance to be evaluated.  Employer bias is another cause of hiring waste that TalentEi tries to limit. It occurs when hirers come in with preconceived notions about why a candidate would or would not be a good fit for a company. Brian talks about one manufacturing company that decided they only wanted candidates with “prior manufacturing experience.” The problem was that there are so many different types of manufacturing companies and so many types of jobs in manufacturing companies. Many of the people the company hired because of their past manufacturing experience ended up being poor fits for their positions. Meanwhile, many qualified candidates who didn’t have past experience in manufacturing but could have been great fits in the company were passed over. Brian says it’s not uncommon for an employer to decide against interviewing a candidate simply because they were worried they couldn’t pronounce the candidate’s name correctly. The hirer, already bombarded with resumes, picks someone else to interview because it was hard to differentiate among any of the resumes in the first place.  Brian says placing job candidates in positions they enjoy is a key goal for TalentEi. The company has found that when employees enjoy what they do, they do good work and don’t leave. The objective is to place people in jobs that fit their needs and strengths as well as satisfy the requirements of the companies that are hiring. The software takes into account things such as working hours, commute length, if the job requires social skills, if it requires patience to do one thing repeatedly. Brian says the key to his company’s success is that it attempts to treat applicants as individuals and people, rather than commodities. Question: Are live job interviews unnecessary in your experience?

On today’s show, Lloyd Graff and I are discussing our observations of the machining industry in 2022 and our instincts about where the industry is headed in the coming year. As used machinery dealers at Graff-Pinkert, we saw trends in 2022 such as reshoring, the resurgence of old school cam screw machines, and a growing number of machining businesses that soon may be for sale. We think these trends will accelerate in 2023, and we hope this conversation will uncover some opportunities that your business can take advantage of in the coming year. Listen with the player at the bottom of the page or at your favorite podcast app.           Follow us on Social and never miss an update! Facebook: https://lnkd.in/dB_nzFzt Instagram: https://lnkd.in/dcxjzVyw Twitter: https://lnkd.in/dDyT-c9h   Noah Graff: So dad, when you think of 2022, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?  Lloyd Graff: I think of recovery from the pandemic. I think of change. I think of opportunity. I think it was a continuation of the last half of 2021 when companies and people regained their confidence, decided they were in a mood to make changes. And we were in a position to help them make change Noah: Which machine did Graff-Pinkert sell the most in 2022? And did it surprise you? Lloyd Graff: Oh, absolutely. In the past two years, we’ve sold a tremendous number of Davenport screw machines. We’ve probably sold a hundred Davenports.  Noah: It’s just crazy. Just for people’s reference, the Davenport machine has the same design as it had 80 years ago. It is also known as the machine that won World War II. It’s a five spindle, multi-spindle. It still is one of the fastest machines around. It can produce a part in one second. So dad, what does it mean that the Davenport was the machine that we sold the most of.  Lloyd: It means the kind of work people run on Davenports came back to the United States from China. Work that did not demand impeccable tolerances that you might get on a CNC multi-spindle or a Swiss. It did not require as rugged a machine as a National Acme screw machine. There are a lot of Davenport plants in Mexico where machinists and Davenport operators are obtainable and trainable. Noah: Why don’t we discuss one deal we did last year that was very interesting. It was actually a company that was running Davenports. Lloyd: In this particular deal, the company had been in business since 1945. They were able to pound out a nice living for the family by running this business based on running brass and a little bit of aluminum through Davenport screw machines for a variety of clients. The owners got up in age, and the key owner, who still was very active in the business, was in his eighties. He and his family decided that if they could sell the real estate, which happened to be extremely valuable, that it was the time to get out before they could no longer run the business. It turned out that this building was on 10 acres of land between Tampa and Clearwater, Florida, and it was on the highway. They got an awful lot of money for the property. The new owner of the building said they had to be out by the end of the month. So they called Graff-Pinkert because they had seen our advertising way back in the Automatic Machining days. They called us, and we said, “I think we can help you.” Initially Graff-Pinkert offered to buy all of the equipment and they would hold on to the intellectual property, the customer list, and knowledge on how to run the parts. But ultimately they came back to us and said, “are you sure you don’t want to buy the intellectual property also?” And we ultimately did pay a significant amount of money to also get customer list and the intellectual property. Then we found somebody to buy it. And it turned out that their interest was much greater in the intellectual property than the Davenports. Although they did take Davenports and shipped about 60% of them to Mexico.  It made us think that there is an awful lot of intellectual property buried in these old machining businesses, and in most cases it’ll never be realized because they get to a certain point and they say, the hell with it, I’m just gonna liquidate the shop. Or they get tired. The workers ultimately go away because they see better opportunities elsewhere. Noah: Graft-Pinkert is getting more into buying and selling companies, and we’re going to talk about that more in the podcast as time goes on. One of the things we’ve seen that seems significant in 2023 is that Baby Boomers are retiring. Other people are looking to consolidate and grow, so it seems like a very interesting opportunity for us. Lloyd: Another thing is that it is very hard for small businesses to acquire new customers as opposed to bigger businesses. It’s easier for big businesses because other big businesses want to deal with big businesses, and they have the wherewithal to have salespeople and may use social media in ways that are effective. It’s also difficult for small businesses being run by people in their forties and thirties and twenties who have big ambitions but really do not know where in the world to find new customers. They may have access to capital, they know how to run the machines, they’re good organizers and they have big ambitions. What do they do? They look for possible acquisitions to acquire new customers without the effort, without the long lead time, and with the intellectual property, the knowledge of how to make the parts for potential clients. Perhaps they put it on much more advanced machinery or maybe even find sources out of the country—Mexico, Taiwan, India, who knows where. It’s a fascinating opportunity and people are waking up to it. So it’s an opportunity for us to lend our knowledge, and in some cases to both the sellers and the buyers.  Question: What areas of your business seem the strongest in 2023?

On today’s podcast I interviewed Trevor Blondeel, the founder of Operations Kickstart and the host of the podcast, Mindfulness Manufacturing. Trevor uses mindfulness techniques to coach manufacturing executives so they can better lead their companies. The idea is that if his clients become more conscious of their feelings and their current behavior, it will inspire sustainable change in how they work with others and lead. If you’re interested in the topics of coaching and understanding yourself better I think you will like this episode. You can also view the podcast in video form on our YouTube Channel.     Follow us on Social and never miss an update! Facebook: https://lnkd.in/dB_nzFzt Instagram: https://lnkd.in/dcxjzVyw Twitter: https://lnkd.in/dDyT-c9h Noah Graff: Give me a quick summary of Operations Kickstart and how you came to start it. Trevor Blondeel: We work with manufacturers to connect (management) to the shop floor.  I ran manufacturing plants for 25 years. I made a lot of mistakes and got a lot of battle scars. And I did a lot of actions well. In 2016, I went off and started (Operations Kickstart) to help solve the problem of “disconnect.” Often we have great owners of manufacturing plants and businesses who really enjoy their teams and want to do well, but they get disconnected. That’s the problem that we solve. Everyone has great intentions, but sometimes our intentions don’t land with the perceptions of others. Graff: What caused you to pivot in your career? Blondeel: It definitely was a lot of personal growth. I started reading more on emotional intelligence. I started doing mindfulness practice. I really started exploring and heightening my own self-awareness— seeing that the way that I thought people saw me wasn’t always that way. I started learning more. I was blessed with some great training and some great mentors and coaches who helped me identify that just by shifting a couple behaviors, I could make such an impact for others.  It’s like that first hour in manufacturing. If you start with a good vibe and you start with a green hour and everybody’s organized and aligned, there’s a better chance you’re going to have a better production day.  When you come in, and your boss is not in a good mood, that kind of spins off to the rest of the group. Graff: Give me the general definition of mindfulness. How you use it in coaching manufacturing executives? Blondeel: Where your two feet are. Where you are planted right now, is your mind where your two feet are? Are you present in what you’re doing right now? Because often we have 10 different tasks on our mind, and we’re jumping from task to task or from conversation to conversation because we have a lot to get done. For me, mindfulness is taking that breath, realizing that right now I’m talking to Noah. I’m not checking my phone. I’m just focused on listening to what you’re saying and really getting my mind in a mode where I’m not thinking about what I want to say next. I’m actually just taking in what you’re saying to me. Graff: Millennials are a huge part of the workforce now. How does your mindfulness coaching help for working with millennials.  Blondeel: I have a 23-year-old son. All I know is that he has a unique perspective that I learn from. Whether it’s millennial or whatever label we want to have on it, every generation is a little bit different, and that’s actually what manufacturing needs. We need younger people, especially in the trades. They’re going to be more curious and challenge a little bit more. It’s not going to be the “come to work I’m getting paid a good dollar, so I’m just going to be quiet.” So there’s a greater need to add value. It’s going to require us to have more dialogue back and forth, and it’s going to be less direction and more conversation. They understand the bigger picture. They understand how they connect to the vision, and they understand how their value is connected to what we do for this plant and this community. You don’t have to motivate people. You don’t have to push anybody because they’re connected and they’re driven. Graff:  Your website says that 25% of manufacturing workers are engaged at work, 8% less than the national average of 33%, according to Gallup. Making manufacturing the least engaged industry. Blondeel: Gallup surveys people, asking, “How engaged are you in your work?” “Do you enjoy working there?” “How passionate are you?” They look at the different industries, at how excited people are.  Manufacturing has one of the lowest engagement rates and one of the highest pay rates.  A lot of times we’re (telling) people, “trades get paid really well in manufacturing, and there’s some good benefits, and you can be secure for life financially.” A lot of that is true, but I believe we can have both (high workplace engagement and pay rates). We can create an environment where we can connect to the people and we all have value. Question: What do you do to connect with other people in your workplace?

Today we are starting a new podcast show and blog on the Today’s Machining World Podcast Network called “Seeking Serendipity.” Click the following links to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts. As our regular readers and listeners know, we talk a lot about serendipity in Today’s Machining World and on Swarfcast. Serendipity is the concept of being in the right place at the right time. Some people call it being lucky, a Spanish customer of Graff-Pinkert once translated it as “destino.” But why produce a blog and a podcast about serendipity for a media outlet directed at the precision machining community? Because it’s a concept that applies to the manufacturing business and to living a successful, happy, and interesting life. “Seeking Serendipity” will often center around my experiences as a used machinery dealer, whose livelihood relies on serendipitous events, such as one we had this week. A machinery dealer I’m close with in California called me last week to get an opinion on a Tsugami Swiss machine he had in stock. It was a beautiful machine, manufactured in 2016, but we were both a little fuzzy on its demand. I made a mental note, but didn’t think much of it. I didn’t know anyone who wanted that machine, but as I like to say in our business, all it takes is one customer—that one right customer to make a successful deal. Tsugami B0205 II at Graff-Pinkert A few days ago, a manufacturer inquired about a machine on Graff-Pinkert’s website, a Tsugami B0205 II manufactured in 2014. We have been trying to sell that machine for a while. I just can’t understand why nobody has bought it yet. But that’s a story for a different blog. I was excited to call the customer back to discuss the B0205 II. Unfortunately, he wasn’t actually looking for that model. He just contacted us because we had a Tsugami. The next morning, for some reason the guy’s machine request was lingering in my brain. I suddenly remembered my friend in California who had asked me for advice about that same model the guy was looking for! I called him right away and the machine was still available. I then called the manufacturer I had spoken to the day before. I sent him a quote, and within an hour he wrote back that he would buy the machine! A whole machinery deal nearly completed in a few hours. In case you’re wondering, deals like this don’t happen everyday, and as I write this, no transaction has been finalized yet. Why did this deal happen? What did the three parties in this deal do to create this “luck?” First, I have a good network of people I talk to regularly about machines. This other dealer and I share information often. We have a relationship and have built trust over time. If he didn’t know me, he likely would not have called me the week before to get my opinion about this machine, and there would be no deal. Secondly, the deal happened because a customer searching for treasure took the initiative to experiment. He contacted me, even though I hadn’t advertised the exact machine he wanted. Perhaps he was thinking that if we had a similar Tsugami to what he was looking for, just maybe, we might have the Tsugami that he actually wanted. Then, I connected the dots. I listened to the elements manifesting around me and followed my nudges, which led me to bring the machine to the customer. People in the precision machining industry rely on serendipity constantly. They solve problems for a living. To be successful they have to be present in the moment. They have to notice all the opportunities at their disposal, experiment, and put everything together to make things “work out.” Honestly, I’m not going to claim to be a serendipity guru yet. I don’t know exactly how this blog and podcast are going evolve, and I don’t want to sound like I think I know everything. I’m experimenting and following my nudges with the faith that this will work and be great! I want to take people on this journey with me. We will learn new strategies and share them as a community, which of course, is a key ingredient to creating serendipity. Question:  When did you encounter serendipity recently?

On this podcast I spoke with James Persenaire, a district manager at FANUC America Corporation. James gave insight into the strengths and weaknesses of collaborative robots and how Fanuc’s collaborative robots differ from competitors such as Universal Robot. He also addressed misconceptions about traditional robots that they are expensive and dangerous. He emphasized that the integration of the robot is the primary factor in both its cost and safety. We ran this episode back in 2019 (Ep. 38), but it seems to be even more relevant to people in manufacturing in 2023, as people are embracing more AI technology and trying to combat a labor shortage. In the used machinery business, we are seeing more and more customers purchasing robots. Manufacturers have the following choices–find more good people, buy expensive complex technology that can produce parts complete, or purchase robots that enable multiple operations for a job smoothly. All of these strategies can work, and the diversified manufacturers competent in all three are the ones who dominate. Listen to the podcast on your favorite app. Apple Podcasts Spotify Snipd Question: Have you brought robots into your machining operation?

Recently, we have seen a growing number of mergers and acquisitions in the manufacturing space.  After these deals are finalized there’s a lot of uncertainty for the employees caught in the middle of reorganization.  Our guest on the podcast today is Jennifer Fondrevay. Jennifer is a best selling author and the Founder of Day1 Ready, a consultancy that advises companies on how to prepare for challenges that result from changes in the workplace. This interview will be helpful for anybody dealing uncertainty in their work environment.  You can also view the podcast in video form on our YouTube Channel.     Follow us on Social and never miss an update! Facebook: https://lnkd.in/dB_nzFzt Instagram: https://lnkd.in/dcxjzVyw Twitter: https://lnkd.in/dDyT-c9h Main Points Noah Graff: Explain your company, Day1 Ready. What is the significance of the name? Jennifer Fondrevay: I felt that too often in mergers and acquisitions, buyers sellers on both sides, thought day one was the moment they announced the deal. My philosophy was, nope, that is not day one. Your day one is from the moment you as leaders or business owners or CEOs, start thinking about a merger or an acquisition. Even if you don’t share with anyone that you’re thinking about doing a merger and acquisition, people start to pick up on your decision making, the fact that you’re traveling a lot, that you’re not in the office. My focus is helping you be day one ready, so that the moment you make that announcement, you are ready for all the questions you’ll get. This is how people react. Here are all the ways that you need to be prepared as a leader to help your people navigate the change that’s going to happen. Graff: Tell me about your book, NOW WHAT?: A Survivor’s Guide for Thriving Through Mergers & Acquisitions? Fondrevay: I interviewed 60-plus CEOs and CFOs from Fortune 500 as well as small and middle sized businesses. Consistently they shared the same challenges that they had with people. How people react to change. I was a chief marketing officer at several multi-billion dollar [companies], and I went through three separate multi-billion dollar deals. The first [deal] that I talk about in my book is really what motivated me to write the book. I had the privilege of working at Navteq, heading up the B2B marketing. We were acquired by Nokia in 2008 for roughly $9 billion. Graff: What advice do you have for executives coming into an M&A deal? Fondrevay: Consistently come to the deal with respect for the other side. You have to treat this like a marriage. I have never seen a deal go well when both sides are either arrogant or one side is arrogant, thinking they’re saving another business. Humans don’t like change, they abhor uncertainty. There’s a lot of things that are going to play out. Variables you cannot control, but focus on what you can control. Prepare your people, have answers to questions. Graff: You break employees down into several types in your keynote. Explain some of them. Fondrevay: The “former rockstar” is the person who consistently in the original company had the Midas touch. They could have been head of sales, head of product, head of marketing. The person who had the CEO’s ear. The struggle that will turn them into a former rockstar is that once the deal is done, the metrics for success change. Graff: How do you help them? Fondrevay: Acknowledge the really important role that they played in helping get the business to where it is. But with the rockstar, the number one piece of advice I highlight to CEOs is you can’t coddle them. Because then he or she tends to keep things as the old way of doing things. After a certain point, if you let that person stay on and they continue to say, “this isn’t gonna work,” he or she can become toxic. Graff: What is another type of employee you discuss in your work? Fondrevay: “The missing in action.” The people who hold back. They really don’t contribute much. They don’t volunteer and lead anything. They put in the bare minimum because they’re trying to see how things are going to play. The reason why in our discussion I referenced quiet quitting is it’s a lot of the same symptoms. They actively disengage. But you may not necessarily pick up on it right away. They’re physically present, but you aren’t even sure what they do. So you need to prepare for how that [organization] chart is going to look? What will be the titles, the departments? Are people going to maintain the same compensation? Will they have their vacation days? These sound like very basic questions, but the more you don’t have answers to basic questions, the more people worry and hold back to see what’s going to happen. Graff: Give me one more type of employee? Fondrevay: The dominatrix. That person who is laser focused on the objectives and getting the job done. They’re not there to make friends. They aren’t there to build consensus. That personality can be enormously seductive and very beneficial early on. When we talk about Elon Musk, that is absolutely his leadership style. He doesn’t hide how he leads. He’s said upfront. “I’m hardcore. If you can’t take it, then go.” But what can happen is you lose key talent because people say, “I can’t put up with this. This is not the kind of boss I wanna be with. My values don’t align with this person.” Who knows how this will play out. Question: When have you felt the most uncertainty in your work environment? To get in touch with Jennifer Fondrevay, you can go to her website, https://jenniferjfondrevay.com or contact her on LinkedIn.  

In light of the current chaos in Brazil, we decided to post a great past interview we did with Ali Jamil Jomaa, Executive Director at Samot, a huge Brazilian automotive supplier. Hearing Jomaa describe how difficult it is to run a company in Brazil I think will give some perspective on why so many Brazilians are angry about their country’s politics. On today’s show we are heading back to Brazil as we continue our season exploring the machining industry around the world. Our guest is Ali Jamil Jomaa, executive director at Samot, one of the most significant automotive parts suppliers in Brazil. Jamil has been at Samot for 32 years and is an authority on the tricky business of running a large machining company in Brazil. You can also view the podcast in video form on our YouTube Channel.     Main Points Jamil gives his background. He says he has been working at Samot for 32 years, since he was 18 years old and loves what he does. He started at the company on the shop floor doing maintenance on CNC lathes. Though he already had some training working on CNC machines, as a teenager Jamil worked for his father, who owned a Lebanese restaurant. He also happened to be dating the daughter of the owner of Samot, Tomislav Jancar. One day he was delivering food from the restaurant to her father (his future father in law), and they spoke about Jamil’s knowledge of CNC machines. This led Tomislav to ask Jamil if he wanted to work at the company. Over time he worked his way up to Executive Director. (3:00 – 6:30) More About Samot Jamil tells the story of Samot’s owner, Tomislav, immigrating with his family to Brazil from Austria when he was 13 years old as a refugee of World War II. In Brazil, Tomislav studied mechanics and then went to work at Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen. Then he started his own machining company in 1960. (6:30 – 8:15) Jamil says that Tomislav’s business philosophy was to always reinvest in the company, keeping up with the latest technology. This legacy is clear today with the company’s many INDEX CNC multi-spindles and other late model turning equipment. (8:15 – 10:00) Jamil says that the majority of Samot’s customers are Tier 2 automotive (87-88% of sales). He says the remainder of the parts the company produces are for the defense industry. (10:00 – 10:45) Business in Brazil Jamil talks about how Brazil’s low valued currency (currently approximately 5 Brazil real to one US dollar) effects his company’s exporting strategies. Jamil says that while other companies try alter their business models with fluctuating currencies, he prefers to continue to export regardless whether real’s value falls or rises. He believes if Samot can make parts efficiently it can remain competitive all the time. He says he has put three sales representatives in the United States to bolster the company’s exports. (11:00 – 12:45) Jamil talks about why Brazil is a tricky place to do business. He says companies have to pay considerable taxes and provide lots of benefits for employees. He says the median salary for an employee at Samot is the equivalent of $10,000 US per year. He says the lowest paid person makes $5,000 and the highest paid makes $80,000. Jamil says that Samot has to pay 80% on top of an employee’s salary. This means if an employee makes $10,000 it costs Samot $18,000. The company has to pay several types of taxes and benefits such social security, private health care, and food (he says the company has a great restaurant). Employees also receive a 13th month of salary for vacation that is also increased by 30%. He says employees have to work 150 days per year to pay their taxes. (12:45 – 19:20) Jamil talks about the disparity of income across Brazil’s population. He says Brazil has 210 million people. He says 47% Brazilians are “economically active people,” but among those people, 25 million are unemployed (searching for work). He says 40% of those economically active people are doing work off the grid. He says that 75% of Brazilians are medium to lower class and 19% of Brazilians are at the bottom “miserable class.” Jamil says that every month he and some friends distribute food to 250 poor people in the street. (19:20 – 24:00) The Future of Brazil Jamil says he sees a bright future for Brazil, but he doesn’t know how long it will take. He says the government has been making a lot of promises about privatization and taking away extra benefits given to government workers. He says if the tax laws are changed, the country can thrive because it has so many diverse resources. (24:00) Jamil says he knows a lot of Brazilians who want to move to other countries. However, he says that most of them don’t want to move because of economic conditions. Instead, they want to get away from the corrupt government and crime. (26:20) Jamil says in recent times he has realized a great spirit of the employees at Samot, seeing how well they have come together to deal with the obstacles presented by COVID-19. (27:00) Question: Where are you vacationing during the COVID-19 summer?

Why was 2022 the best year of my life so far? (This blog was also recorded as a podcast narrated by Noah Graff). Listen with the player below, Apple Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast app) Reason Number 1: I Improved My State of Being I began working with my life coach, Ginny Cutler, in January. She is coaching me on “being” who I WANT to be. The idea is that if you “feel” stuck, the only way to become unstuck is to transform your state of being.  She says to ask yourself, “What would I be doing if I didn’t feel stuck?” And then do that! With her help I wrote a document with several statements that declare who “I AM.” Every morning I walk around my neighborhood and recite these statements. Ideally it is good to say them loudly, not caring if others around you hear. The “I AM” statements I recite the most are: —I am a bullet penetrating all resistance in my way. —I embrace discomfort. —I am following all my nudges—whenever, however, wherever they push me. —I am a serendipity magnet. I create, I see, I seize opportunities everywhere. —I am successful, and I am becoming more successful every day. —I am a productivity machine, focused and ready to begin immediately. My transformation continues to be a gradual process, but I know I am moving forward to a much better state of being.   Reason Number 2: There’s MORE to the Used Machinery Business It was a great year for our used machine tool company, Graff-Pinkert. According to Lloyd Graff, the owner and my father, we made the most big deals this year in our company’s 80-year history. We made a few blunders, usually when we bought machines at auctions, but we more than canceled them out with some great scores.  Great scores feel good. They help pay my mortgage. Finding treasure though serendipity and coming up with creative deals—that’s fun. But I want to feel that what I do for a living means more than buying a machine and selling it for a higher price than what we purchased it for. I know there is more to the used machinery business, but I need to pause and look for it. Noah Graff with Davenport Multi-Spindle Screw Machine at Graff-Pinkert & Co. I don’t do it enough, but sometimes I think about the purpose we have as used machinery dealers. We provide valuable equipment to machining companies that they might not be able to obtain elsewhere, so they can succeed in their businesses. If they succeed, they create new jobs and create products the world needs. In 2022, we encountered more startup machining companies than we’ve ever seen. We enabled some of them to purchase their first machine tools. They would not have been able to build their businesses if they had to pay multiple times the price to buy a new machine.  We also helped a company sell their family  operation when they wanted to retire. We enabled them to receive some compensation for their life’s work, which they likely would not have achieved otherwise.  It was also fulfilling this year to develop relationships with customers and partners around the world. It feels great to collaborate with other people in the machining industry. We help each other to be successful and sometimes we become friends. Last of all, working alongside my father, Lloyd, has been a gift this year, as it always has been. We both try to remember to stop sometimes and be present in the moment when we are talking about a deal or collaborating on a blog. Sometimes we even actually tell each other how much we enjoy working together. We know these are precious times. We get to work together regularly with someone we appreciate, and enjoy, and love.    Reason Number 3: We Grew Today’s Machining World’s Podcast Our podcast, Swarfcast, is growing more than ever. Its download numbers are up 50% over the last 30 days. This is partly do to a new podcast coaching program I joined a few months ago called the Grow the Show Podcast Accelerator Program. The most significant contributors to listener growth have been my participation on LinkedIn and being a guest on other podcasts, which I have to say has been a lot of fun and educational. Noah and Lloyd Graff doing Podcast Interview Regardless of download numbers, I’m proud of every one of the 31 episodes I put out this year. They are all enjoyable to listen to, and they teach people things that might help them in their lives. Making the podcast is fun. I get to talk to cool, interesting, smart people. I enjoy the creativity of the production process. But what’s more important is that making Swarfcast, just like writing our blogs, gives me purpose because I know our work affects thousands of people.   Reason Number 4 (By far the most important reason 2022 was the best year of my life!): I Became a Father! April 6, 2022, my wife, Stephanie, and I had our first child, Abraham! Having any child is a miracle, but we are both in our 40s, so we have extra gratitude for our miracle, as Abe did not come easily. Noah, Stephanie, and Abe Graff I understand why people say being a father is the most important job they will ever have in life. It’s a fun job and a hard job. Thank God I have an almost perfect wife and we live in the age of quality disposable diapers. We are also extra blessed that Abe happens to be a great sleeper, a fact which I am probably jinxing now. My analyst once told me, “Adults don’t make kids. kids make adults.” Up until this year, I was a kid. I only had to take care of myself. In 2022, I was blessed to receive an incredible but defenseless person I now have to protect and support. I’ve always been grossed out by babies, but being with Abe I feel a love I have never before experienced. He brings new meaning and purpose to my life. My wife, Stephanie, and I think he is brilliant, of course, and we are positive he is the sweetest, cutest kid on the planet. Not trying to brag, but honestly, people tell us all the time that he looks like the Gerber baby or even a cherub. Questions: What was the best thing that happened in your life in 2022? How did you grow in 2022?