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PODCAST

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders

MakingChips LLC

Manufacturing is tough—but you don"t have to go it alone. If you"re leading a manufacturing business, you face constant pressure: staying competitive, adopting new tech, managing people, and driving growth. MakingChips helps you tackle those challenges head-on. Since 2014, we"ve been equipping manufacturing leaders with the knowledge and inspiration they need to succeed. With hundreds of episodes and over a million downloads, MakingChips is a top resource for the metalworking nation—covering

business management

All Episodes

01:05:29

Lights Out Isn't the Future—It's Already Here, 513

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2026/03/16

Automation and lights-out manufacturing are often framed as the future of machining, but for many shops that future is already here. In this episode of MakingChips, we sit down with longtime industry leader Keith Grano to talk about what lights-out machining actually looks like in practice. Drawing on years of experience working with manufacturers, Keith explains how automation, machine monitoring, and disciplined processes allow shops to run more efficiently and extend production beyond the

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41:58

Low Overhead, High Conviction: A 20-Year-Old's...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2026/03/09

At 17 years old, Michael King bought a brand-new CNC machine despite never having seen one in person. With no formal trade school background or apprenticeship, he relied on years of self-directed learning, curiosity, and a steady stream of YouTube machining content to take the leap. He sectioned off space in his dad's warehouse, installed a Haas DM2, and started figuring it out in real time. What began as a personal interest in building things quickly turned into real production work. A stainless

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47:41

Building a One-Man Shop with Big Vision: Walter...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2026/03/02

In this episode of MakingChips, we continue our young founders series with a story that challenges the traditional growth narrative in manufacturing. At just 26, Walter Peters is balancing a full-time job at a defense-focused shop with building MW Machine Co. from a modest 500-square-foot industrial unit. Walter didn't start with a big loan or a brand-new machine. He bought a used CNC mill for $6,500, kept overhead intentionally low, and focused on getting good at both machining and business

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58:25

Reindustrializing America: How Zane Hengsperger Is...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2026/02/23

What happens when a 26-year-old machine shop kid decides the real bottleneck in American manufacturing isn't machining—it's metal supply? In this episode, we sit down with Zane Hengsperger, founder and CEO of Knox Metals, to talk about building a modern service center powered by AI, automation, and software. Zane's mission is bold: supply every factory in America in under 24 hours at a fair, transparent price. Raised in his father's injection molding shop, Zane grew up on shop floors before pivoting

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47:45

Achieve the Impossible: Inside IMTS 2026 and the...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2026/02/16

Recorded live from McCormick Place in Chicago, this episode marks the official kickoff of the MakingChips journey toward IMTS 2026. With nine months to go, we sit down with two leaders helping shape the show itself: Michelle Edmondson, Vice President of Exhibitions for IMTS, and Bonnie Gurney, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Industry Relations. What unfolds is a behind-the-scenes look at how the largest manufacturing technology show in North America is built — from campaign strategy and

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01:00:36

Workplace Safety Is Non-Negotiable: Addressing...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2026/02/12

This episode of MakingChips is different from most conversations we have on the show, and it needed to be. In late 2025, the manufacturing community was shaken by the murder of Amber Czech, a welder who was killed by a coworker after reporting harassment multiple times. That tragedy forced many of us to confront an uncomfortable truth: workplace violence and harassment are not abstract issues. They are real, ongoing, and present in the trades today. In this episode, Paul Van Metre is joined by Nush

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01:06:47

Never Too Young to Be Taken Seriously: Building...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2026/02/09

Starting a machine shop doesn't always begin with a perfectly laid business plan, a polished facility, or years of hands-on experience. Sometimes it starts in a garage, with curiosity, YouTube videos, and a willingness to figure things out one mistake at a time. In this episode of MakingChips, we sit down with brothers James and Sean Cerven to talk about how they built their shop from the ground up during COVID. With backgrounds in mechanical engineering but almost no hands-on machining experience,

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01:11:41

Advice You Can't Google: Larry Robbins on Building...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2026/02/02

Launching a CNC shop young comes with no shortage of advice — but not all of it comes from experience earned the hard way. In this episode, we bring in Larry Robbins to speak directly to the next generation of shop owners. Larry has spent decades building companies, leading teams, and navigating growth, failure, and reinvention inside manufacturing. Instead of talking tools or tactics, this conversation focuses on the fundamentals that actually last. Larry shares lessons on planning before you leap,

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01:10:57

Starting Young, Thinking Long-Term: A New Generation...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2026/01/26

Manufacturing doesn't always start with a perfectly funded plan or a shop full of machines. Sometimes it starts in a garage, with curiosity, grit, and a willingness to learn by doing. In this episode, we sit down with Caleb Harris, founder of Covenant Manufacturing, to talk about what it really looks like to start a CNC business at a young age. Caleb didn't inherit a shop or wait until everything felt safe. He learned by working in high-mix job shops, making mistakes, taking calculated risks, and

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34:41

Workforce Is the Foundation: What New Manufacturers...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2026/01/19

As new manufacturers step into ownership, one challenge shows up faster than almost any other: building a team. Before you can scale production, invest in automation, or grow revenue, you need people — and not just any people, but a workforce that can grow with the business. That's where this conversation fits. In this episode, MakingChips is sharing a powerful discussion from Manufacturing Executive, where host Joe Sullivan sits down with John Loyack, Vice President of Economic Development for the

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42:05

More Than Words: Defining Our Core Values for...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2026/01/12

Kicking off a new year often comes with big goals, bold plans, and fresh momentum. But before chasing what's next, we decided to slow down and focus on something more foundational: our core values. In this episode, we share the behind-the-scenes process of defining the values that will guide MakingChips through 2026 and beyond. With the help of Jim Mayer, we took the ideas, behaviors, and instincts that had shaped the brand for years and intentionally put words around them. We talk about why core

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37:42

We Put AI in the Hot Seat: Machine Shop Advice from...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2026/01/05

We've kicked off a lot of years on MakingChips, but never quite like this. To start 2026, we decided to try something completely different. Instead of bringing on a shop owner, a technology provider, or an industry expert, Mike and Paul invited three artificial intelligence chatbots to join the conversation. No prep calls. No talking points. Just live questions and real-time answers from Miles (from Sesame), Gemini, and ChatGPT. The result was equal parts fascinating, funny, and just a little bit

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52:46

Building Shops That Last: The Final Lesson of Machine...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2025/12/29

As we close out 2025, we're wrapping up more than just a year. This episode marks the conclusion of the Machine Shop MBA series, a collaboration with CLA and Modern Machine Shop built around insights from the Top Shops benchmarking program. What started as a practical exploration of shop metrics ends with a much bigger question: what truly separates shops that survive from shops that endure? For this final chapter, we're joined again by Brent Donaldson of Modern Machine Shop, who helped kick off the

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01:50:35

At the Boring Bar: Rare Perfection, Real Talk, and...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2025/12/22

Some episodes are planned. Others are produced. And then there are episodes like this one—where the setting, the people, and the moment all collide into something memorable. For the 500th episode of MakingChips, the team gathered once again At the Boring Bar for an unfiltered, bourbon-fueled roundtable with leaders from across the manufacturing ecosystem. Recorded live at Roush Yates Manufacturing Solutions during the Top Shops Conference in Charlotte, this special annual episode brings together

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01:02:49

From Scarcity to Sales Pipeline: How Smart Shops Take...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2025/12/15

What happens when a machine shop does everything right operationally but still feels exposed when markets shift, customers pull back, or one industry cools overnight? In this episode of MakingChips, the conversation turns squarely toward one of the most uncomfortable and misunderstood areas of manufacturing leadership: proactive sales and diversification. We're joined by Gabe Draper, founder of Factur, and Alan Hartmann, CEO of Hartmann's Inc., a multi-generation Texas manufacturer. Gabe shares a

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47:29

Chaos, Curiosity & Chipmaking: Larry Robbins' Wild...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2025/12/08

Some conversations feel scripted. This one… absolutely did not. Larry Robbins walked in ready to talk life, passion, family, culture, workholding, philosophy, and whatever else popped into his head — and somehow it all connected back to manufacturing. This episode of MakingChips is one of the most unhinged, hilarious, honest, and wisdom-packed conversations we've ever recorded. Larry has been in the industry for nearly 46 years, and he's collected enough stories, scars, and laughs for ten careers

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44:53

The Double Your Value Mindset: Planning, Growth &...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2025/12/01

In this special episode of MakingChips, we broadcast from the EBITDA Growth Systems Double Your Value Planning Event—a gathering designed to pull shop owners out of the day-to-day grind and force intentional thinking about long-term growth. This year's event was hosted at the Sandvik Coromant facility in Mebane, North Carolina, creating a perfect backdrop for conversations about planning, strategy, and culture. Paul is joined by three key voices who bring decades of hard-earned manufacturing

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01:04:05

Forged Through Fire: How Phoenix Heat Treating...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2025/11/24

In this episode of MakingChips, we sit down with Charlie Hushek, President of Phoenix Heat Treating, whose family has been in the heat-Treating world for over a century. Charlie is a fifth-generation heat Treatinger—but his leadership story is anything but inherited. When he stepped into the business in 2020, he wasn't handed stability. He was handed a crisis. Within a matter of months, Phoenix Heat Treating lost its NADCAP certification—twice—suffered major operational setbacks, faced COVID

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46:51

Inside the Winners' Circle: Top Shops 2025 Live from...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2025/11/17

Top Shops 2025 brought together the most innovative, forward-thinking leaders in manufacturing—and this year's gathering at the NASCAR Hall of Fame felt like stepping directly into the winners' circle. Surrounded by the energy of hundreds of top-tier manufacturers, we sat down with the four shops recognized as the crème de la crème in their categories: Technology, Shopfloor Technology, Business Strategy, and Human Resources. Together, these honorees represent what's possible when ambition meets

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34:19

IMTS Insider: Building the World's Largest...

Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders ·

2025/11/10

When you walk into IMTS—the International Manufacturing Technology Show—it's easy to be awestruck by the machines, the energy, and the sheer scale. But few people realize just how much planning, logistics, and collaboration go into bringing that experience to life. In this episode of MakingChips, we sit down with Mark Kennedy, Senior Director of Exhibitions at AMT, to get a behind-the-scenes look at how the world's largest manufacturing trade show comes together. This conversation dives deep into

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514 results

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