Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders

In this week's episode, Jim, Jason, and Nick talk about the different sales channels that you can utilize for your manufacturing company, and their strengths and weaknesses. Segments: 0:00 | Nick explains how he sees ProShop ERP on shop floors across the country. 5:15 | The hosts share manufacturing news and purchasing trends for 2021 15:21 | Nick introduces different sales channels and how they function 19:55 | Jason discusses why companies such as Tesla don't go through local distributors and dealers 22:00 | Jim calls Matt Bain of Mazak North America to talk about IMTS Spark 30:38 | Nick introduces the concept of business development leaders, who handle distinct product groups at a national level 32:55 | Nick explains using regional sales managers as a direct channel 37:37 | Jim brings up how too many people in the sales channel could take a longer response time 42:55 | Nick discusses independent manufacturer's representatives as a sales channel 46:38 | Jason and Nick analyze the distributor relationship within a sales channel 49:56 | Jim shares the sales channels that he utilizes

As we move forward into 2021, the MakingChips podcast hosts look back at 2020, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and share more lessons they learned as a result. Segments: 6:06 | Jim shares information on the characteristics of a visual learner. 9:37 | The hosts discuss the potential usage of wearable technology in machine shops. 13:26 | The hosts emphasize the importance of cybersecurity, and how it will advance in 2021. 15:22 | The hosts discuss integrations of robotics in machine shops, as well as other possible future trends. 21:13 | Jim shares the thoughts and reactions of manufacturing leaders on the pandemic in March of 2020. 23:40 | Jason and Nick explain how they kept their team members informed during the pandemic. 25:00 | The hosts share how they used their organizations and affiliates to gather COVID-19 information for their peers. 29:20 | Jim talks about integrating virtual meetings, how taking risks may lead to new opportunities, and supply and demand issues during the pandemic.

Part 2 of this 2-part series continues the interview with special guest John Miller, founder of Way of the Mill, an education platform for CNC milling. In this episode, John shares more of his manufacturing knowledge that machine shops can benefit from. 3:38 | John shares his thoughts on how a commitment to details can improve a shop 10:20 | John explains how shops may need to be more open to hybrid solutions across brands and suppliers 12:15 | John tells why he started Way of the Mill in the middle of a pandemic and what the goals for his clients are 17:06 | John explains the process of tap testing and what shops should be using it 24:20 | Jason asks how distributor employees can help manufacturing leaders make choices

In Part 1 of this 2-part series, the MakingChips hosts welcome guest John Miller, founder of Way of the Mill, an education platform for CNC milling. In this episode, John shares his background in the manufacturing industry, including his time at Makino and Apple, and why he chose to start Way of the Mill. 6:09 | Jason shares current news about the near future of the manufacturing industry due to COVID-19 12:10 | Guest John Miller, founder of Way of the Mill, tells his origin story in manufacturing 16:00 | John shares information on his experience working on turnkey projects at Makino 23:20 | John explains why he chose to share his milling advice online, and how good and bad fundamentals affect a company 27:05 | John discusses his time at Apple, and their involvement in the manufacturing industry 31:09 | John explains how he maintains unbiased content and the value it brings

In the 250th episode of MakingChips, the hosts discuss new factors and trends in the estimation process, especially when utilizing an ERP system. Jim Carr also shares his quoting process, and the tips and tricks he has used over the years that other manufacturing leaders should take into account. 3:30 | Nick tells a story about quoting 9:00 | Jim shares manufacturing news about the surge in metal prices 12:50 | Jim breaks down the estimation process into 3 factors: the estimator, the tools, and the tactics 19:30 | Jim explains his quoting process 23:30 | The hosts compare a traditional spreadsheet to an ERP system, and what columns to utilize 30:15 | The hosts discuss veteran quoting processes vs newer quoting tactics 34:50 | Jim lists some "red flags" to look out for during the estimation process 38:00 | Jim summarizes his thoughts on effectively quoting a job

In this week's podcast, hosts Jason Zenger, Jim Carr, and Nick Goellner share the new leadership principles and processes they adopted during 2020 to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how other manufacturing leaders can benefit by doing similar. 6:20 | The hosts share recent manufacturing news, plus Nick has his own special announcement 13:20 | Jason explains how he focused on growing his company's core values in 2020 16:15 | Jim discusses the new implementations he made at CARR this year 18:30 | Jason recounts how he increased communication between his employees 28:50 | Nick describes how his leadership team implemented new Lean practices and playbooks 33:09 | Jim shares the added business responsibilities he felt due to the COVID-19 pandemic 35:00 | Jason gives details on his experience of testing positive for COVID-19

In this week's episode, we share our experiences with imposter syndrome and discuss what it means. We talk about how it affects different generations and how to rise above the feeling that you aren't qualified or don't know what you're doing. 5:01 | Nick covers general manufacturing news - and improving market trends 8:55 | Nick defines imposter syndrome 10:05 | Jason brings up a bible verse that illustrates that everyone is a little bit of an imposter 13:32 | Jason asks how you'll learn anything if you never ask 22:26 | Jason and Nick discuss what imposter syndrome means for a manufacturing leader 25:42 | Nick shares a story about feeling like you can't ask questions or make mistakes 30:32 | Jason mentions how important it is to get your self-worth from multiple places, and Nick talks about how ego plays into imposter syndrome

In this week's episode, we share our experience as guest speakers at DMG Mori's sales conference this year. We touched base on the evolving sales process during COVID, how DMG really sells, and what old school techniques you can implement in today's new normal. 3:53 | DMG MORI's team announces keynote speakers - MakingChips 5:17 | Nick discusses the sales challenges brought on by COVID and how his team has adapted to overcome them 7:10 | DMG's area sales manager talks about how they've adapted to the closed doors 11:01 | Nick asks DMG MORI "How does your customer buy?" 20:14 | Jason talks about cultivating relationships and avoiding going silent 31:50 | Jim goes over old school sales tips in the new "not normal" world 39:21 | A new way to make "cold calling" work again 44:24 | Jason and Jim talk to Marty from Autodesk to talk about what they're doing with IMTS Spark 49:31 | Q&A with MakingChips and DMG MORI

In this week's podcast, hosts Jason Zenger, Jim Carr, and Nick Goellner invite guest Peter Eelman, Vice President & CXO at AMT to discuss how IMTS pivoted into an online digital destination for Manufacturers. Segments: Missing IMTS - Everybody gets together (2:15) Good News with Jim Carr (6:30) Manufacturing News: Smart manufacturing platform revenue to pass $32B annually by 2025 (7:04) Introducing our Guest: Peter Eelman (14:12) IMTS Spark is a digital destination for a connected manufacturing community (16:45) Peter: This is not a virtual tradeshow (21:45) Jason: The main theme of 2020 is rebuilding the supply chain (30:20) IMTS is coming back in 2022 (38:30) Why you should sign-up for IMTS spark today (40:34) What happened to IMTS 2020 swag? (44:00) Takeaways from IMTS Spark (46:10) The Boring Bar Newsletter - Text CHIPS to 38470 to subscribe!

In this week's podcast, hosts Jason Zenger and Jim Carr invite guest Jenn Ryan, SVP of Global Network Operations at Xometry to discuss how they pivoted during COVID and how it helped them transform who they are as a business. Segments: Jim and Jason's businesses thriving when the industry is down (1:44) Good news at Carr's: 4th new CNC machine (6:06) Jason Discusses the Manufacturing News: Foxconn fails to meet requirements in Wisconsin (6:47) Introducing our guest: Jenn Ryan, SVP of Global Network Operations at Xometry (11:40) Check out our previous episodes 122 & 189 with Xometry Jenn: Keeping the doors open during COVID shutdowns (14:10) Jenn: Changing the binary questions "What part of this job can I do?" (17:10) Jason: Why we created the Makingchips podcast (19:20) Jenn: Partner Success stories in 2020 (21:00) Jason: We need more manufacturing in the US (31:05) The Boring Bar Newsletter - Text CHIPS to 38470 to subscribe!