June 25, 2025 • 40 mins
Manufacturing Manager, Daniel Anglemyer, didn’t take the traditional path into manufacturing, and that’s exactly why you’ll want to hear his story.
From hog barns and cage fights to union shops and now leadership at Hibshman, Daniel brings grit, humility, and a clear-eyed approach to modern manufacturing! In this episode, he opens up about how culture, not just equipment, drives real change on the shop floor.
You’ll hear how personal setbacks have transformed into leadership lessons, and why identifying and empowering emerging leaders in the industry is important. Additionally, he shares how technology is supporting the creation of a team-first, process-driven operation at Hibshman, where people show up, speak up, and take ownership.
If you care about building strong teams, growing future leaders, and creating a shop culture that works, this episode is for you.
Show Notes
01:54 — From Farming Roots to a Fourth-Generation Machinist
06:17 — Losing a Job But Finding a Path
10:51 — What MMA Taught Daniel About Leadership
13:42 — NTMA's Emerging Leaders program
22:21 — Turning Core Values into Action
26:51 — The Tools Behind Hipschman’s Smart Shop Transformation
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Welcome to Manufacturing Mavericks, a podcast where we showcase and celebrate
exceptional people from across precision manufacturing who are boldly
embracing new ways to improve their processes, grow their bottom lines,
and ensure American manufacturing will thrive for generations to come.
(00:26):
Welcome to this episode of Manufacturing Mavericks.
I’m your host, Greg McHale, and I am joined today by a very special
guest, someone who I have bumped into in the past at various NTMA
events and someone that I know is very focused on modernization,
investments in culture, and investments in technology, and
(00:46):
that is Daniel Anglemeyer from Hibshman Screw Machine Products.
How are you doing today, Daniel?
I’m doing pretty good.
Nice day out.
That’s good.
That’s great to hear.
We’re overdue for nice days this time of year, so
we’ll take them when we can get them, that’s for sure.
Daniel, I know that you’ve been very involved in various events with the NTMA.
(01:07):
I think we’ve bumped into each other at Emerging
Leaders, Engage, some of the other field events.
I know Hibshman always has a very strong presence
at the NTMA, so definitely love to see that.
I think NTMA is a fantastic organization that does very well by
its members, and for its members, and for manufacturers overall.
(01:28):
So, Daniel, I would love to hear the origin story for you.
How’d you get into manufacturing in the first place, and then we can
leave that journey up to how things are going currently at Hibshman?
All right.
Yeah, that sounds good to me.
Let’s go with what was it that caused you
(01:48):
to first want to get into manufacturing?
How did the spark fire for you?
I was working at a farm.
I’ve done that all my life, and my dad was a
farmer, but my grandfather was a manufacturer.
He worked with Acme Gridleys since ’62.
His father-in-law got him into manufacturing and machining,
(02:11):
and then my uncle’s in there too, so I’m pretty sure I’m
a fourth generation machinist for Acme Gridleys, you know?
That’s my bread and butter.
I can tear them down, put them back together, you know?
But, it all comes from farming.
You got to be able to fix your tractors and stuff like that,
so having that attitude to fix things is real important.
In school, I did a little bit of—high school—I did a little manufacturing
(02:36):
and stuff, did a little college credits and stuff here and there for it.
Had a real knack for math and reading [micrometers] and calipers and stuff.
All my buddies would copy off my work, so I’m happy I got them through.
Hopefully you got rewarded for that somehow.
I got a buddy that fixes boats and stuff.
He sucked at math, but man, he can fix anything, so,
(02:57):
like, when my boat breaks down, he’s there for me.
So, I get friendships, everything, so yeah—
Do you help them do the math on the bill?
Do you get to turn the numbers down or what?
If I have to, I will.
It’s just funny how some people, you know, they just can’t,
you know, they can’t put the decimal on the right side.
It’s always fun.
But after high school, I went back to farming
(03:19):
and I was preparing to go to the Marines.
That’s what I wanted to do.
I wanted to go to the military.
I was big into MMA, cage fighting and stuff like that, and I
thought, you know, the Marines is where I could pursue that a
little bit more, so I can get into cage fighting a little bit more.
Because before I was an amateur and then I was doing my testing and stuff.
(03:40):
And my grandpa, he was working down at Jessen
Manufacturing in Elkhart, Indiana at the time.
And he was like, “Hey, come down here and fill out an application, and
we’ll see if you like it.” At that time, I was like, “Okay,” you know, and
he’s like, “Well, you’re going to get paid ten bucks an hour, but that’s
for the first 60 days, then your pay will go up.” It was a union shop.
(04:02):
But he’s like, it’s only a part-time gig for now, on second shift.
So, I was like, “Okay.” So, I was farming and working at this machine
shop. So, I was working—I’d go in the farming at seven in the morning, and,
you know, I was in a pig barn, so I was helping give birth to baby pigs.
So, I like to think I saved lives or bacon either way.
(04:24):
[laugh] . Bacon’s good.
You know, bacon’s always good.
But I started, you know, and started working both
jobs, and then they said, here’s a full-time gig.
So, I got out of the farming and went straight into manufacturing.
And I started as a chip spinner.
You know, I’d go in there and spin chips all day.
That was my job, in tumble parts.
(04:45):
And then I worked in the steel room for a little while, putting
away stock and just making sure everything’s flowing really good.
Down there at Jessen’s, they had a real good process about how they did things.
Real good teaching skills, and classes, and stuff.
You had all these old guys that, you know, are far
retired now, but it was fun learning from them all.
(05:06):
And then a union shop, they put up a bid for Acme
Gridleys, and that’s where I signed the piece of paper.
And they’re like, “Here you go.
You’re getting stuck with your grandpa.” So, I got to work with him
for about a year, learning how to operate and run an Acme Gridley.
And then they—I did that for a year.
You know, he’s the hardest critic that I’ll ever know.
(05:29):
Working with him and my uncle, I’ve gotten so much from them.
I learned so much.
My grandpa, he’s one of them old timers that’s always hard.
He does not like new technology.
Does not like new technology.
Don’t like computers.
He just retired—he’s retired five times now, but he came
and worked with me last summer, and he was 81 years old.
(05:49):
He’s the youngest 81-year-old you’ll ever see in your life.
Guarantee it.
So, I’m like, thank God for those genes.
Because I’m a pretty healthy 36-year-old,
so I like to think I got that from him.
But I worked there for four-and-a-half years and it was great.
Get involved with the wrong girl, and then that started
went in south a little bit with the whole job thing.
(06:11):
You know, young and dumb—early 20s—and I ended up losing
that job because, you know, I just couldn’t show up to work.
But I’m one of those people that, you know, I show up,
I’m going to do my ten hours of work in five hours.
I’m there to get the job done.
But in a union, you point out and, you know, you’re doing dumb things.
So, I ended up losing that job.
(06:31):
And it was funny because I went right back to farming.
I did that for another two years.
And then I met my wife within those two years.
And she has been the driving point for me
for continuous improvement, CI management.
My whole shop is probably built around my wife, I would say
(06:52):
because all of her ideas have drove me to the point where
I’m at now with my success and what’s bigger and better out
there, and what technologies can help my operators, you know?
It’s all about the people you work with, and teamwork.
So, that’s what I’m trying to improve every day is just the teamwork.
It ain’t even about improving the machines
(07:13):
or anything; it’s about improving my culture.
I want people to go out and say, “I love my job. I love going to work
every day. You should try to get work here,” is what I want to hear.
When I got into Hibshman’s, it was… the plant manager wasn’t the greatest.
My wife drove me into the filling out that
application because we didn’t make any money.
(07:36):
No money.
Like she ended up going to working with my mom in assembly
work, and we’re driving one vehicle, so a lot of times
I’d ride my bike though the farm when I worked there.
But when I got into Hibshman’s, my whole life changed.
I was a supervisor in a year there because when I got in there, it was
just, like—it was ran like it was in the ’80s, where people just run parts.
(08:00):
They wouldn’t—quality wasn’t on the mind.
It was just, run parts.
We need as many parts out as we can.
Chad is a—him taking over about that time, about the
time I started, it was a complete shift when I started.
So, we’ve seen a lot of change in a short amount of time, in about 2016.
Chad took over, I think, in 2014, we got a new sales guy in 2015, and
(08:24):
then I got hired and I took over the maintenance of the Acme Gridleys, and
everything, and helped over in the [unintelligible] where I could and stuff.
I have a real knack for tearing stuff apart
and putting it back together right, I guess.
I’m lucky, I guess.
I’m not a programmer.
I’m learning.
You know, I go in, I understand Swiss machines,
(08:46):
or at least I understand how they work.
I can go in and be like, okay, it’s doing this.
We should be able to do this.
So, Matt there—we’ve gotten a lot closer now than when we first started.
Because he started in
2022, I want to say.
So, at first, you know, we butted heads a little bit, but he’s a programmer.
(09:06):
You know, he’s a CNC guy.
He ain’t in old school working on these machines, like I was brought up.
So, there’s a different shift in that.
But Chad’s really been—been me and Cha—it was me and Chad for a long time.
And the sales guy, I guess you say he was involved.
He ain’t there no more, so things have changed.
But in 2019, I went back to Jessen’s for, like, three months.
(09:31):
I call it my vacation time, my learning time.
I was learning processes and stuff, but I went back to Jessen’s.
That’s funny because they called me back and they took me
out to dinner, wined and dined me and they were like, “Oh,
we’re going to bring you back. We want you to be a manager.”
Well, I can tell you right now, being a manager in a union shop
sucks because as much as you think you’re in control, you are not.
(09:53):
So like, get me out of this, man.
Hibshman’s was so much better because you had more free will.
I get to hunt in the backyard, but I guess that’s another thing [laugh]
. But you know, just working with Chad is, you know, I’m grateful for him.
I’m blessed.
I grew up in a poor family.
My dad was in and out of jail for, you know, drugs and stuff like
(10:13):
that, so like, I grew up around a lot of that stuff that drove
me to not want to be like that because I’ve seen a lot of it.
You know, I understand a lot of street things that go on around drugs and stuff.
But I’m a hillbilly.
I’m a hillbilly, so I’m in the country, you know?
Like, I’m the biggest redneck.
I hunt, I fish.
(10:34):
That’s what I live for, and if my job provides me the
chance to be able to do that, that’s what I want to do.
And being with Chad, he really lets me do my thing.
And he doesn’t—he’ll question it, but it’s always good questions.
It’s the way a company should be ran, you know?
Like, we should be about the people that work
(10:54):
there, not so much the parts that are ran there.
If you have good people, you get good parts, you get good results.
So, much to unpack so far.
I mean, I don’t know if I start at hog farming, cage
fighting, [laugh] grandpa, or your wife and the impact there.
I think I’m going to jump in all of it.
The most curious point first (11:16):
talk to me about the cage fighting.
How did you get into cage fighting?
Well, I was always into it since I was about 14.
So, I always did some backyard brawling.
I never did wrestling, but I should have.
I was good at jiu-jitsu, so choking somebody, putting somebody in an arm bar.
My, uh, my fight name was Daniel ‘Anglebar’ Anglemyer.
Any angle I
(11:37):
was in, I was getting you in an armbar and you know, you watch some of my fights
on YouTube and stuff, you see them all, and I’m always tapping somebody out.
I got to make sure I’m really on your good side.
Wow.
I am not an aggressive person at all.
[laugh]
. I’m the most chill, fun—I love life.
You know, I just want to laugh and have a good time.
I’m just there to live it because you only live once.
(11:57):
Well, you live every day, but I guess you only die once.
It’s true, especially if you’re on the other side of a chokehold for too long.
But that’s where, like, when I got hired in where my
grandpa worked, I had to train the next chip spinner guy.
And the next chip spinner guy was somebody
that did a little MMA, a little cage fighting.
I was about 23 when I took my first fight.
(12:18):
It was right after my son was born.
I got a 12-year-old son.
He’s about 13.
The kid’s almost taller than me.
I can’t believe it.
I was, like, half his size at his age.
But he was born, and my buddy was like, “Hey, these cage fights are down
here in this hotel. You want to come and do it?” And I was like, “Yeah.
Why wouldn’t I want to do it?” My brother is going to do it too.
(12:41):
Because of my twin brother, we just beat the hell out
of each other every day because that’s what we do.
What’s my best block?
My face.
But he was like, “Come in and try these cage fights.” And ever since
then, it was a little tiny cage in this little conference room.
You could reach up and touch the ceiling
because it was off the floor a little bit.
And went in there and I grappled with a guy for three rounds.
(13:04):
I ended up losing, but I stuck with it.
I ended up becoming 12 and 6 as an amateur, and then I went pro.
I should have trained harder.
I should have trained more.
I had some good connections.
Probably could have been in the UFC at one point.
I wasn’t fighting enough.
I would take a fight, like, once a year, so when I
(13:25):
went pro, it was like once a year, I’d take a fight.
So, I ended up taking three fights, went two and one as a pro.
I’d say my last fight was a controversy because I busted that dude up so good.
That was a great time.
It was awesome.
But that was my fighting career.
You know, I met a lot of great people in that.
What’s big with me is coaching.
I coached boxing, and I coached MMA.
(13:48):
I’ve coached jiu-jitsu.
Now, I’m coaching manufacturers in culture
for people, trying to build on that more.
Because from the NTMA, Coach Em—Emma Doyle—she is awesome, phenomenal.
She was a tennis coach in Australia, and
she’s just an awesome person to learn from.
She brings excitement to manufacturing
(14:11):
and to teaching people that is phenomenal.
If you ain’t taking Emerging Leaders with her,
you probably should have been or should be.
I’ve done Emerging Leaders 1 and Emerging Leaders 2.
Sorry, Dave and Mike, but Emma Doyle is where it’s at.
She interacts with people, and she makes you interact with people.
(14:33):
It isn’t a, they’re teaching you, talking to
you, explaining things to you all the time.
She’s making you do it.
You know, like here, we’re going to break you out in these rooms
and stuff, talk to each other and stuff, learn from each other,
and it really brings excitement to the game of manufacturing.
It’s turned my life around—well, not around—but I did a 180 or
(14:56):
something like that, and I was like, okay, I want to coach people.
You know, I want to be here to support people and help people through anything.
I’ve lived a lot, I’ve learned a lot, I’ve done a lot of dumb things.
I’m not the smartest person in the book, but I love
life and I think everybody should love their life.
It’s your choice to love it.
(15:17):
So, nobody else has that choice.
Nobody’s making you do anything.
It’s always your choice.
My wife, she coaches me through every day.
So, that’s what she’s there for.
[crosstalk]
. Daniel, I got to tell you, I mean, your candor,
your honesty, your transparency is amazing.
I mean, I can tell there is a lot of wisdom and experience and reflection
(15:42):
in the different pieces of the story here as they’re coming together.
And the one that I really want to dig into, I mean, first of all, I
don’t know how many people come on the show and say, “Hey, I got with
the wrong girl, I was missing work, I got fired, I was screwed up.
I had to go back to farming.
And then I met my wife and she straightened me out.” And you
(16:05):
were just connecting that with the she’s been coaching you.
Take us down that path, Daniel.
What exactly was it in meeting your wife and in that relationship and in
that dynamic that kind of unlocked the Daniel that we’re hearing today?
Well, my wife, she’s wound a little tight.
It gives me that stability that I need in
life to know what my responsibilities are.
(16:27):
She drives me to be better in life, in financial.
I’m onto my second house because of Hibshman’s, and my wife.
I’ve done bought my second house.
So, bought one, sold one, bought a new one.
And now I’m living over here in between a bunch of
lakes, and just, it’s a dream come true, really.
It just keeps getting better.
(16:47):
Just because I’ve come from the bottom,
and now I rose up and I hit bottom again.
Now, I’m just a straight rise the whole time.
She keeps learning.
She’s working on—she wants to get her green belt in Lean, which she
should because she’s one of the smartest people I know [crosstalk]
— So, she’s in manufacturing too?
(17:07):
Yeah, she works at Lippert.
She’s a cop—she was a cop in Topeka, Indiana, for a little bit.
Coming from the outlaws that my family is, you know, and then I’m with a cop.
It’s always fun to bring that up.
But she wants to follow the laws and stuff, and then she
gets with me and I’m like, well, let’s go do this, you know?
And she’s like, “That’s against the law.” “Only if you get caught.”
(17:30):
But I mean, you know, I’ve never really
done anything that’s super wrong, I guess.
Depends who’s looking in the window [laugh] . But watching
her learn everything, I was never a person to read books.
She started telling me about continuous improvement books, and here I am.
I’ve read 10x is Better Than 2x.
I’ve read the was the—what is it—Seven Habits of Effectively People—
(17:54):
Yeah, Highly Effective People.
I, you know, I love Dan Sullivan.
That dude is a phenomenal person, book-writer.
We’re getting ready to start the EOS Life thing.
So we, you know, starting Datanomics and EOS all at the same time.
Which there was a point where we’re, with [unintelligible] , they push
you so far, and then it’s like, you know, you feel like you’re stuck.
Like, I’m doing the same things every day.
(18:17):
I’m looking at the same things every day.
I’m not a person that wants to look at the same things every day.
I want something new, fresh.
That’s where the EOS comes in, you know?
Every 90 days, you should be doing something
new, something fresh, or striving to do better.
Not just we’re going to look at some numbers.
Your ROI should be here.
You know, I’m not here just look at numbers;
(18:38):
I’m here to improve every day, you know?
Give me those ideas.
I want to know how to improve.
But when it comes down to it, you’re the one that’s got to improve.
Nobody’s going to tell you how to improve unless you have the will to improve,
so here I am improving my life every day, improving the shop every day.
I’m one of those managers that goes around, I’ll paint
(18:59):
lines, I’ll work on machines, I’ll put up lights.
I like to be involved.
I’m probably the most involved, really.
But then I, you know, I like to get people involved.
I got one of my best friends working with me.
He is one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met.
Was he a farmer, too?
No, actually he was… he’s kind of just been all
over the place done all kinds of different things.
(19:19):
Somebody told me once, if you ever hire anyone that has experience
on a farm, they’ll be the hardest working person you’ve ever met.
We actually have one of our customer success engineers grew up
on a farm, and the dude’s a hard worker, I’ll tell you what.
98% of the time, you know?
There’s a 2% there that—
That’s better than a lot of other populations [laugh]
(19:40):
. But you know, the good thing about somebody that come from a farm or
something like that, I can tell them to do anything and they will do it.
If there’s hard work that needs to be done, they’re going to do it.
They ain’t going to ask questions.
How hard is it?
Why do we got to do this?
That ain’t my job.
They’re like, “Let’s do it.
Let’s get it done,” you know?
And that’s what I want to hear from young people.
That’s what I want to hear from anybody is, I
(20:02):
don’t want you to ask me how hard the job is.
I don’t know how hard the job is.
I just want to get it done.
I’ve beat on a tapered pin the wrong way for two days, and then drill it
out and then find out that I was beating on it the wrong way the whole time.
I’ve done dumb things like that, and I’ve learned
from it, and I didn’t hit the other seven that way.
I’m a learn on the job type of person.
I’ll do anything.
(20:23):
Just let me do it and watch me go because I’m going to be all in on it.
I’m going to learn everything I can.
I’m young, I’m eager to learn.
The future for me, not the past, not the present.
My presence now, by we—you know, that’s for people
that want to, they want to put out fires every day.
I’m not somebody that wants to put out fires every day.
(20:44):
I want to prevent the fire before it gets here.
I want to prevent the problem before it gets here.
Here’s my wife talking again.
Everything has a process; everything has a place.
If you’re doing the process right, then your life is that much easier.
We change our processes all the time because
there’s always a better way to do it.
If you’re listening to the people that’s doing the job, then you’re
(21:05):
changing your process all the time because it’s easier for some people to
do some things a certain way, and you know, you got to be open to that.
I know I got my way of doing things and it’s probably the fastest way, but
some people rather do it their way because they’re comfortable with it.
So, you got to be open to that sometimes.
So, it’s a lot of fun.
For sure.
I mean so, Daniel, one of the things I’ve heard loud and clear in different
(21:29):
parts of the story as well is you give a ton of credit to Hibshman, and
specifically to Chad, the president of Hibshman, for really giving you
those opportunities to grow and advance, starting out in maintenance
and now you’re manufacturing manager overseeing operations, effectively.
(21:52):
What are some of the things about Hibshman and the culture that have allowed
you to go through that experience, and as you said, rise from the bottom.
Now, that I’ve gotten to the coaching aspect of things, that’s helped
a lot about, like, how I talk to people or I’m all about, I’m trying
(22:15):
to uplift people or get people involved in, like, our—we have a meeting
every Monday, you know, and right now we’re going over core values.
So, we got ten core values.
They’re a little high, but hey, we’re aiming high.
But each week we have a different core value
that we got to live, so people can learn it.
And it’s real funny because like today, our quality lady was like—Kim helped
(22:39):
me figure this thing out on this computer, so she had a lot of coachability.
That’s one of our core values, and I was like,
once they say it seven times, it’s stuck.
So like, hearing them say it, that’s right.
There.
See?
It’s working.
This week we’re on craftsmanship.
So, find that problem before it becomes a problem.
I think it’s exciting to watch them.
(23:00):
You’re watching this whole group grow.
Everybody’s getting a little more outspoken every week.
I’m just waiting for the one person to say, “I want to
talk first.” That’d be great. We ain’t there yet, but
yeah, you know, give it a few weeks, we will get there.
Sooner or later, somebody will start speaking a little bit more.
And that’s what I look for in new leadership skills, you know?
Like, I’m waiting for that next leader to step up and see them take charge.
(23:24):
You know, that’s what excites me is I like,
“Ah. Yes, I don’t have to do one more thing.
This person’s going to do it because, you know, they done
spoke up and they’re ready to go.” That’s what I look
for in a leader because I want somebody to take my job.
I don’t want to be doing my job my whole life.
I want somebody to take that job.
If you’re going to do a great job at it, you can have it.
That’s awesome.
I’ll move somewhere else.
(23:45):
Ain’t no big deal to me, you know?
I’m real humble and change, I’ll take responsibility for whatever I have to.
When my team messes up, I messed up.
There was somewhere in my process that broke down (23:55):
the communication, maybe
there was a better way to do it, but at the end of the day, we’re a team,
and if you’re going to take the blunt of it, I’m taking the blunt of it.
So, I try to build that on people all the time
because, you know, I’m not here to point fingers.
I’m just here to—I want to get the job done.
(24:15):
That’s what Chad put me in place for is because, when it
comes down to it, it’s getting done, one way or another.
You might have to remind me a couple of times, but I will do it.
That’s why I like Chad because he coaches me.
He’d be phenomenal for one of these—well, he does speak.
He’s a spea—he speaks at a lot of things.
He’d be real good at coaching and life values.
(24:38):
We’ll definitely have Chad on.
That would be a fantastic episode.
Yeah.
Because it’s great watching his kids and stuff grow and
everything because my kids the same age, and I’ve watched them
for, oh, I think I’m going nine years at Hibshman’s in April.
So, watching all of his kids grow up has been great.
The thing that I hear loud and clear, Daniel, is
(25:00):
cultural investment is the number one priority.
And that starts with Chad, works it’s all the way
through, clearly something that you’ve embraced.
I mean, EOS, weekly core values, Emerging Leaders, you’ve gone through
multiple rounds, just so much investment in people, people, people.
(25:24):
And, you know, how do you get an ownership mentality?
How do you get buy in?
How do you manufacture collaboration?
And when you do all those things, the parts follow, right?
There’s a point where I was like—this wasn’t even
that long ago—I was coming in late, leaving early.
That’s a good sign of being burnt out a little bit, but it
(25:44):
took me realizing that, you know, I am a manager, I got to be
there for my team, they’re watching me, so I need to do better.
You know, I live by example.
I’d rather, you know, somebody live the way I’m living, so I’d
better live good, and I’d better bring it because if I don’t, then
I don’t want to make people disappointed in me for failing them.
(26:05):
Which if I do fail them, I’ll take the blame right now that
I failed you, but I don’t want to give a chance for that.
There’s no way I’m going to fail anyone because I don’t try; I do.
That’s a fun thing too, is trying to get people to say, not
try, but getting people to say, I don’t want them to say try.
I hear them all the time, “I’ll try to do that. I’ll try to do—” no, I
(26:26):
don’t want to hear you say that. I want to hear, “I’m going to do that.
I’m going to do that.”
Like, I don’t smoke cigarettes.
Never have, never will.
I have buddies that say, “I’m going to try to quit smoking.”
You know, try, “Saying I’m going to quit smoking,” or, “I don’t
smoke.” You know, when somebody asks you for that cigarette.
Say, “I don’t smoke.” Don’t say, “I’m trying not to.” Because you
(26:47):
know, that leads into people peer-pressuring and stuff like that.
I mean, effort is fantastic; results are even better, right?
It takes—
I like that.
Effort to get results, but—
That’s a good one.
—the effort’s got to be directed, otherwise
who knows what you’re going to end up with?
So, in addition to, I mean, a tremendous amount of
cultural investment, Daniel, what are some of the other
(27:10):
investments that you guys have been making at Hibshman?
ProShop ERP.
One of the best investments we ever made.
I couldn’t even—where do I start with that?
I love it.
Being able to just see, schedule, write notes.
You used to write a note on a piece of paper and leave it at a machine.
(27:32):
And then you’d walk in and somebody else has already
been there before you and now they’re complaining.
I don’t have to deal with that no more.
When I wake up first thing in the morning, I look at the
machines that were running, I look at the notes of people left.
It keeps me from walking into a fire and I
already have a solution when I get there.
There ain’t no, this person did this, this person did that.
(27:55):
There’s a lot more accountability.
Just being able to see the schedule.
We went from a 76% on time delivery to, we average around 93 to 95% now.
And it’s been two years since we signed up
for ProShop and it’s been a game changer.
Did you have an ERP before ProShop?
(28:17):
Oh no, we were all paper, all old-school.
Okay, so that was the first.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We got our first CNC in 2019, a CNC mill, and that was to help our secondary,
in which we’ve cut secondary down so much with our CNCs and our Swiss
machines now, just because we don’t have to do that second operation anymore.
(28:39):
So, investing in the CNCs has cut down on that a ton.
I wish we could invest in a few more just to keep up with the workload now.
Because now we’re jam-packing these machines with all this work.
It gets stressful.
I can tell that it stresses Matt out sometimes because, you
know, just trying to keep up and keep things running smooth.
(29:00):
But a lot of new jobs, you know?
When you’re dealing with that type of growth and dealing with new jobs
coming in all the time, you don’t know how that job runs, so like,
you’ve got to try to plan for that, and it’s rough when it’s a new job.
The chemistry and the collaboration is so important.
And like you say, that investment in the Emerging Leaders side of
(29:25):
things also hugely important to get everybody to broaden and open
up a little bit more and start to figure out what really matters.
You look up the organization, down the organization, across the organization,
what’s really going on in people’s heads and how do you create buy-in and
have the right conversations and sometimes the difficult conversations.
(29:47):
So definitely, I mean, I’ve heard loud and clear through the episode
that Emerging Leaders and that whole process has just left a serious
impression on you, and really uncorked perpetual, cultural evolution
and investment and desire to grow, and I think that’s so incredible.
(30:10):
And like I said earlier, I mean, your honesty, your transparency,
your candor, it comes through so amazingly, Daniel, that this is
what I love about being on the side of the microphone and getting
to talk to so many Manufacturing Mavericks is the stories are
all so unique in what drives somebody to get into manufacturing.
(30:32):
And there’s no beating around the bush on the speed bumps, the
U-turns, the circles, and different things that you’ve gone through.
So, so appreciative of your willingness to
take us through that, share all those details.
So, great to hear the influence Chad has had on you, your wife
(30:52):
has had on you, NTMA has had on you, your grandfather, right?
All the generational contributions to your manufacturing
DNA, and the rough experiences that you’ve been through, too.
I mean, you shared a lot about who you are and where you come from
almost in a, you know—if I can embrace the cage fighting—in a no-holds
(31:13):
barred kind of way, right [laugh] ? You just, you laid it all out for us.
And, you know, not a lot of people would do that, and I think
that’s really a testament to exactly who you are and how you
value learning who others are so that you can best understand
how to help them grow, how to grow yourself, and how to lead.
(31:35):
So, I really, really appreciate everything that
you laid out for us and taking us through that.
And I have to ask, with that capstone and all of those things that
we just wove together, if you went back in time and you talked to the
hog farmer who was filling out his application for ten bucks an hour
on second shift, and you were going to give him one piece of advice
(32:00):
that would help the Daniel that exists today, what would you tell him?
Ah, I should have found my wife sooner.
That’s a good one.
We haven’t had that one before.
She drives me to be better, you know?
It’s a teamwork thing, somebody that’s going to hold
you responsible or accountable for your actions.
And it’s all about your actions.
(32:21):
I’m always a happy person.
It’s just the way I am.
I’ve seen a lot of heartache, but you know, that will never hold me down.
I don’t want to be left in the past, and that’s why I’ve signed with Datanomix.
It’s coming around.
We got a few bugs to work out with our Acme Gridleys
and stuff like that, but man, that’s a game changer.
(32:41):
It’s going to be neat to see where it is in two years.
That’s what I give everything, you know?
Like, we’ve seen what Pro Shop was in a year.
Now, we see where it’s at in two years, and it’s just
so much easier to work with just to see how things
work, so I’m super excited to see where Datanomix goes.
I just want things to be easier for everybody, so we can all, you know, we all
(33:03):
want to make money, we all want to live a great life, and the faster we get
on track with everything and get some good coffee reports—I love those things.
That’s pretty neat—
[laugh]
. —how you guys did that.
Seeing that is probably one of the things that sold
me on Datanomix is just seeing your guys’ dashboards,
and you got your espresso report and stuff like that.
(33:25):
I was like, “This is neat.
Okay.
I like this.” And then once we hooked it up, it was like,
“Okay, I see the big picture here.” It’s exciting. I’m excited.
Thrilled to hear that.
And I know, man, where we’ll be together two years
from now will be a different planet for sure.
Oh yeah.
And just seeing the evolution even weekly and monthly as
(33:47):
the team gets more involved in reviewing the data, and
you get involved in your Gemba Walks and your job reviews.
And it will be awesome to learn with you guys and your unique culture
and how you approach things and to grow with you and to continue
to help you guys grow, as Hipschmidt keeps going to the next level.
(34:07):
Those Gemba Walks, we tried that in the past
with our whiteboards and stuff like that.
Even bought a whiteboard to walk around and stuff.
My wife’s real big on the Gemba Walk and stuff.
Like I said, I’ve learned so [laugh] much from her, it’s unreal.
But I can’t wait to do a Gemba Walk with Datanomix and discuss it.
Which I don’t know if—we’ll probably have a TV in each
(34:28):
area because I don’t need to walk around with a TV, but—
It’d be kind of—one those backpacks [laugh]
. Yeah, yeah.
I love the tablets.
I wish everybody in the shop had a tablet
because, you know, everybody has a laptop.
I never used it, but everybody’s got a laptop, you know,
carrying that big old lunky thing around as a pain.
But that tablet, that’s a game changer.
(34:50):
Yeah, it’s really fantastic.
Anything you need to know?
One press, there you go.
Yeah, it’s great.
I really appreciate all of that, Daniel.
And again, your willingness to share, your openness.
Fantastic to have you on the show.
I know this is going to be a popular episode for sure, with
all kinds of good twists and turns and really proof of how
(35:15):
manufacturing—and the right woman—can transform your life.
So, that was so awesome to hear.
So, thank you so much, Daniel, for being on
the show, and wish you continued success.
I appreciate it a ton.
I’ve enjoyed it.
I’ve enjoyed talking to you.
It’s another blessing in my life.
Awesome.
Thanks so much, Daniel.
(35:36):
Thank you, Greg.
Thank you for listening to Manufacturing Mavericks.
If you’d like to learn more, listen to past episodes, or nominate
a future Maverick to be on our show, visit mfgmavericks.com,
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iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, or your favorite podcast app.
Welcome to Manufacturing Mavericks, a podcast where we showcase and celebrate
exceptional people from across precision manufacturing who are boldly
embracing new ways to improve their processes, grow their bottom lines,
and ensure American manufacturing will thrive for generations to come.
(00:26):
Welcome to this episode of Manufacturing Mavericks.
I’m your host, Greg McHale, and I am joined today by a very special
guest, someone who I have bumped into in the past at various NTMA
events and someone that I know is very focused on modernization,
investments in culture, and investments in technology, and
(00:46):
that is Daniel Anglemeyer from Hibshman Screw Machine Products.
How are you doing today, Daniel?
I’m doing pretty good.
Nice day out.
That’s good.
That’s great to hear.
We’re overdue for nice days this time of year, so
we’ll take them when we can get them, that’s for sure.
Daniel, I know that you’ve been very involved in various events with the NTMA.
(01:07):
I think we’ve bumped into each other at Emerging
Leaders, Engage, some of the other field events.
I know Hibshman always has a very strong presence
at the NTMA, so definitely love to see that.
I think NTMA is a fantastic organization that does very well by
its members, and for its members, and for manufacturers overall.
(01:28):
So, Daniel, I would love to hear the origin story for you.
How’d you get into manufacturing in the first place, and then we can
leave that journey up to how things are going currently at Hibshman?
All right.
Yeah, that sounds good to me.
Let’s go with what was it that caused you
(01:48):
to first want to get into manufacturing?
How did the spark fire for you?
I was working at a farm.
I’ve done that all my life, and my dad was a
farmer, but my grandfather was a manufacturer.
He worked with Acme Gridleys since ’62.
His father-in-law got him into manufacturing and machining,
(02:11):
and then my uncle’s in there too, so I’m pretty sure I’m
a fourth generation machinist for Acme Gridleys, you know?
That’s my bread and butter.
I can tear them down, put them back together, you know?
But, it all comes from farming.
You got to be able to fix your tractors and stuff like that,
so having that attitude to fix things is real important.
In school, I did a little bit of—high school—I did a little manufacturing
(02:36):
and stuff, did a little college credits and stuff here and there for it.
Had a real knack for math and reading [micrometers] and calipers and stuff.
All my buddies would copy off my work, so I’m happy I got them through.
Hopefully you got rewarded for that somehow.
I got a buddy that fixes boats and stuff.
He sucked at math, but man, he can fix anything, so,
(02:57):
like, when my boat breaks down, he’s there for me.
So, I get friendships, everything, so yeah—
Do you help them do the math on the bill?
Do you get to turn the numbers down or what?
If I have to, I will.
It’s just funny how some people, you know, they just can’t,
you know, they can’t put the decimal on the right side.
It’s always fun.
But after high school, I went back to farming
(03:19):
and I was preparing to go to the Marines.
That’s what I wanted to do.
I wanted to go to the military.
I was big into MMA, cage fighting and stuff like that, and I
thought, you know, the Marines is where I could pursue that a
little bit more, so I can get into cage fighting a little bit more.
Because before I was an amateur and then I was doing my testing and stuff.
(03:40):
And my grandpa, he was working down at Jessen
Manufacturing in Elkhart, Indiana at the time.
And he was like, “Hey, come down here and fill out an application, and
we’ll see if you like it.” At that time, I was like, “Okay,” you know, and
he’s like, “Well, you’re going to get paid ten bucks an hour, but that’s
for the first 60 days, then your pay will go up.” It was a union shop.
(04:02):
But he’s like, it’s only a part-time gig for now, on second shift.
So, I was like, “Okay.” So, I was farming and working at this machine
shop. So, I was working—I’d go in the farming at seven in the morning, and,
you know, I was in a pig barn, so I was helping give birth to baby pigs.
So, I like to think I saved lives or bacon either way.
(04:24):
[laugh] . Bacon’s good.
You know, bacon’s always good.
But I started, you know, and started working both
jobs, and then they said, here’s a full-time gig.
So, I got out of the farming and went straight into manufacturing.
And I started as a chip spinner.
You know, I’d go in there and spin chips all day.
That was my job, in tumble parts.
(04:45):
And then I worked in the steel room for a little while, putting
away stock and just making sure everything’s flowing really good.
Down there at Jessen’s, they had a real good process about how they did things.
Real good teaching skills, and classes, and stuff.
You had all these old guys that, you know, are far
retired now, but it was fun learning from them all.
(05:06):
And then a union shop, they put up a bid for Acme
Gridleys, and that’s where I signed the piece of paper.
And they’re like, “Here you go.
You’re getting stuck with your grandpa.” So, I got to work with him
for about a year, learning how to operate and run an Acme Gridley.
And then they—I did that for a year.
You know, he’s the hardest critic that I’ll ever know.
(05:29):
Working with him and my uncle, I’ve gotten so much from them.
I learned so much.
My grandpa, he’s one of them old timers that’s always hard.
He does not like new technology.
Does not like new technology.
Don’t like computers.
He just retired—he’s retired five times now, but he came
and worked with me last summer, and he was 81 years old.
(05:49):
He’s the youngest 81-year-old you’ll ever see in your life.
Guarantee it.
So, I’m like, thank God for those genes.
Because I’m a pretty healthy 36-year-old,
so I like to think I got that from him.
But I worked there for four-and-a-half years and it was great.
Get involved with the wrong girl, and then that started
went in south a little bit with the whole job thing.
(06:11):
You know, young and dumb—early 20s—and I ended up losing
that job because, you know, I just couldn’t show up to work.
But I’m one of those people that, you know, I show up,
I’m going to do my ten hours of work in five hours.
I’m there to get the job done.
But in a union, you point out and, you know, you’re doing dumb things.
So, I ended up losing that job.
(06:31):
And it was funny because I went right back to farming.
I did that for another two years.
And then I met my wife within those two years.
And she has been the driving point for me
for continuous improvement, CI management.
My whole shop is probably built around my wife, I would say
(06:52):
because all of her ideas have drove me to the point where
I’m at now with my success and what’s bigger and better out
there, and what technologies can help my operators, you know?
It’s all about the people you work with, and teamwork.
So, that’s what I’m trying to improve every day is just the teamwork.
It ain’t even about improving the machines
(07:13):
or anything; it’s about improving my culture.
I want people to go out and say, “I love my job. I love going to work
every day. You should try to get work here,” is what I want to hear.
When I got into Hibshman’s, it was… the plant manager wasn’t the greatest.
My wife drove me into the filling out that
application because we didn’t make any money.
(07:36):
No money.
Like she ended up going to working with my mom in assembly
work, and we’re driving one vehicle, so a lot of times
I’d ride my bike though the farm when I worked there.
But when I got into Hibshman’s, my whole life changed.
I was a supervisor in a year there because when I got in there, it was
just, like—it was ran like it was in the ’80s, where people just run parts.
(08:00):
They wouldn’t—quality wasn’t on the mind.
It was just, run parts.
We need as many parts out as we can.
Chad is a—him taking over about that time, about the
time I started, it was a complete shift when I started.
So, we’ve seen a lot of change in a short amount of time, in about 2016.
Chad took over, I think, in 2014, we got a new sales guy in 2015, and
(08:24):
then I got hired and I took over the maintenance of the Acme Gridleys, and
everything, and helped over in the [unintelligible] where I could and stuff.
I have a real knack for tearing stuff apart
and putting it back together right, I guess.
I’m lucky, I guess.
I’m not a programmer.
I’m learning.
You know, I go in, I understand Swiss machines,
(08:46):
or at least I understand how they work.
I can go in and be like, okay, it’s doing this.
We should be able to do this.
So, Matt there—we’ve gotten a lot closer now than when we first started.
Because he started in
2022, I want to say.
So, at first, you know, we butted heads a little bit, but he’s a programmer.
(09:06):
You know, he’s a CNC guy.
He ain’t in old school working on these machines, like I was brought up.
So, there’s a different shift in that.
But Chad’s really been—been me and Cha—it was me and Chad for a long time.
And the sales guy, I guess you say he was involved.
He ain’t there no more, so things have changed.
But in 2019, I went back to Jessen’s for, like, three months.
(09:31):
I call it my vacation time, my learning time.
I was learning processes and stuff, but I went back to Jessen’s.
That’s funny because they called me back and they took me
out to dinner, wined and dined me and they were like, “Oh,
we’re going to bring you back. We want you to be a manager.”
Well, I can tell you right now, being a manager in a union shop
sucks because as much as you think you’re in control, you are not.
(09:53):
So like, get me out of this, man.
Hibshman’s was so much better because you had more free will.
I get to hunt in the backyard, but I guess that’s another thing [laugh]
. But you know, just working with Chad is, you know, I’m grateful for him.
I’m blessed.
I grew up in a poor family.
My dad was in and out of jail for, you know, drugs and stuff like
(10:13):
that, so like, I grew up around a lot of that stuff that drove
me to not want to be like that because I’ve seen a lot of it.
You know, I understand a lot of street things that go on around drugs and stuff.
But I’m a hillbilly.
I’m a hillbilly, so I’m in the country, you know?
Like, I’m the biggest redneck.
I hunt, I fish.
(10:34):
That’s what I live for, and if my job provides me the
chance to be able to do that, that’s what I want to do.
And being with Chad, he really lets me do my thing.
And he doesn’t—he’ll question it, but it’s always good questions.
It’s the way a company should be ran, you know?
Like, we should be about the people that work
(10:54):
there, not so much the parts that are ran there.
If you have good people, you get good parts, you get good results.
So, much to unpack so far.
I mean, I don’t know if I start at hog farming, cage
fighting, [laugh] grandpa, or your wife and the impact there.
I think I’m going to jump in all of it.
The most curious point first (11:16):
talk to me about the cage fighting.
How did you get into cage fighting?
Well, I was always into it since I was about 14.
So, I always did some backyard brawling.
I never did wrestling, but I should have.
I was good at jiu-jitsu, so choking somebody, putting somebody in an arm bar.
My, uh, my fight name was Daniel ‘Anglebar’ Anglemyer.
Any angle I
(11:37):
was in, I was getting you in an armbar and you know, you watch some of my fights
on YouTube and stuff, you see them all, and I’m always tapping somebody out.
I got to make sure I’m really on your good side.
Wow.
I am not an aggressive person at all.
[laugh]
. I’m the most chill, fun—I love life.
You know, I just want to laugh and have a good time.
I’m just there to live it because you only live once.
(11:57):
Well, you live every day, but I guess you only die once.
It’s true, especially if you’re on the other side of a chokehold for too long.
But that’s where, like, when I got hired in where my
grandpa worked, I had to train the next chip spinner guy.
And the next chip spinner guy was somebody
that did a little MMA, a little cage fighting.
I was about 23 when I took my first fight.
(12:18):
It was right after my son was born.
I got a 12-year-old son.
He’s about 13.
The kid’s almost taller than me.
I can’t believe it.
I was, like, half his size at his age.
But he was born, and my buddy was like, “Hey, these cage fights are down
here in this hotel. You want to come and do it?” And I was like, “Yeah.
Why wouldn’t I want to do it?” My brother is going to do it too.
(12:41):
Because of my twin brother, we just beat the hell out
of each other every day because that’s what we do.
What’s my best block?
My face.
But he was like, “Come in and try these cage fights.” And ever since
then, it was a little tiny cage in this little conference room.
You could reach up and touch the ceiling
because it was off the floor a little bit.
And went in there and I grappled with a guy for three rounds.
(13:04):
I ended up losing, but I stuck with it.
I ended up becoming 12 and 6 as an amateur, and then I went pro.
I should have trained harder.
I should have trained more.
I had some good connections.
Probably could have been in the UFC at one point.
I wasn’t fighting enough.
I would take a fight, like, once a year, so when I
(13:25):
went pro, it was like once a year, I’d take a fight.
So, I ended up taking three fights, went two and one as a pro.
I’d say my last fight was a controversy because I busted that dude up so good.
That was a great time.
It was awesome.
But that was my fighting career.
You know, I met a lot of great people in that.
What’s big with me is coaching.
I coached boxing, and I coached MMA.
(13:48):
I’ve coached jiu-jitsu.
Now, I’m coaching manufacturers in culture
for people, trying to build on that more.
Because from the NTMA, Coach Em—Emma Doyle—she is awesome, phenomenal.
She was a tennis coach in Australia, and
she’s just an awesome person to learn from.
She brings excitement to manufacturing
(14:11):
and to teaching people that is phenomenal.
If you ain’t taking Emerging Leaders with her,
you probably should have been or should be.
I’ve done Emerging Leaders 1 and Emerging Leaders 2.
Sorry, Dave and Mike, but Emma Doyle is where it’s at.
She interacts with people, and she makes you interact with people.
(14:33):
It isn’t a, they’re teaching you, talking to
you, explaining things to you all the time.
She’s making you do it.
You know, like here, we’re going to break you out in these rooms
and stuff, talk to each other and stuff, learn from each other,
and it really brings excitement to the game of manufacturing.
It’s turned my life around—well, not around—but I did a 180 or
(14:56):
something like that, and I was like, okay, I want to coach people.
You know, I want to be here to support people and help people through anything.
I’ve lived a lot, I’ve learned a lot, I’ve done a lot of dumb things.
I’m not the smartest person in the book, but I love
life and I think everybody should love their life.
It’s your choice to love it.
(15:17):
So, nobody else has that choice.
Nobody’s making you do anything.
It’s always your choice.
My wife, she coaches me through every day.
So, that’s what she’s there for.
[crosstalk]
. Daniel, I got to tell you, I mean, your candor,
your honesty, your transparency is amazing.
I mean, I can tell there is a lot of wisdom and experience and reflection
(15:42):
in the different pieces of the story here as they’re coming together.
And the one that I really want to dig into, I mean, first of all, I
don’t know how many people come on the show and say, “Hey, I got with
the wrong girl, I was missing work, I got fired, I was screwed up.
I had to go back to farming.
And then I met my wife and she straightened me out.” And you
(16:05):
were just connecting that with the she’s been coaching you.
Take us down that path, Daniel.
What exactly was it in meeting your wife and in that relationship and in
that dynamic that kind of unlocked the Daniel that we’re hearing today?
Well, my wife, she’s wound a little tight.
It gives me that stability that I need in
life to know what my responsibilities are.
(16:27):
She drives me to be better in life, in financial.
I’m onto my second house because of Hibshman’s, and my wife.
I’ve done bought my second house.
So, bought one, sold one, bought a new one.
And now I’m living over here in between a bunch of
lakes, and just, it’s a dream come true, really.
It just keeps getting better.
(16:47):
Just because I’ve come from the bottom,
and now I rose up and I hit bottom again.
Now, I’m just a straight rise the whole time.
She keeps learning.
She’s working on—she wants to get her green belt in Lean, which she
should because she’s one of the smartest people I know [crosstalk]
— So, she’s in manufacturing too?
(17:07):
Yeah, she works at Lippert.
She’s a cop—she was a cop in Topeka, Indiana, for a little bit.
Coming from the outlaws that my family is, you know, and then I’m with a cop.
It’s always fun to bring that up.
But she wants to follow the laws and stuff, and then she
gets with me and I’m like, well, let’s go do this, you know?
And she’s like, “That’s against the law.” “Only if you get caught.”
(17:30):
But I mean, you know, I’ve never really
done anything that’s super wrong, I guess.
Depends who’s looking in the window [laugh] . But watching
her learn everything, I was never a person to read books.
She started telling me about continuous improvement books, and here I am.
I’ve read 10x is Better Than 2x.
I’ve read the was the—what is it—Seven Habits of Effectively People—
(17:54):
Yeah, Highly Effective People.
I, you know, I love Dan Sullivan.
That dude is a phenomenal person, book-writer.
We’re getting ready to start the EOS Life thing.
So we, you know, starting Datanomics and EOS all at the same time.
Which there was a point where we’re, with [unintelligible] , they push
you so far, and then it’s like, you know, you feel like you’re stuck.
Like, I’m doing the same things every day.
(18:17):
I’m looking at the same things every day.
I’m not a person that wants to look at the same things every day.
I want something new, fresh.
That’s where the EOS comes in, you know?
Every 90 days, you should be doing something
new, something fresh, or striving to do better.
Not just we’re going to look at some numbers.
Your ROI should be here.
You know, I’m not here just look at numbers;
(18:38):
I’m here to improve every day, you know?
Give me those ideas.
I want to know how to improve.
But when it comes down to it, you’re the one that’s got to improve.
Nobody’s going to tell you how to improve unless you have the will to improve,
so here I am improving my life every day, improving the shop every day.
I’m one of those managers that goes around, I’ll paint
(18:59):
lines, I’ll work on machines, I’ll put up lights.
I like to be involved.
I’m probably the most involved, really.
But then I, you know, I like to get people involved.
I got one of my best friends working with me.
He is one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met.
Was he a farmer, too?
No, actually he was… he’s kind of just been all
over the place done all kinds of different things.
(19:19):
Somebody told me once, if you ever hire anyone that has experience
on a farm, they’ll be the hardest working person you’ve ever met.
We actually have one of our customer success engineers grew up
on a farm, and the dude’s a hard worker, I’ll tell you what.
98% of the time, you know?
There’s a 2% there that—
That’s better than a lot of other populations [laugh]
(19:40):
. But you know, the good thing about somebody that come from a farm or
something like that, I can tell them to do anything and they will do it.
If there’s hard work that needs to be done, they’re going to do it.
They ain’t going to ask questions.
How hard is it?
Why do we got to do this?
That ain’t my job.
They’re like, “Let’s do it.
Let’s get it done,” you know?
And that’s what I want to hear from young people.
That’s what I want to hear from anybody is, I
(20:02):
don’t want you to ask me how hard the job is.
I don’t know how hard the job is.
I just want to get it done.
I’ve beat on a tapered pin the wrong way for two days, and then drill it
out and then find out that I was beating on it the wrong way the whole time.
I’ve done dumb things like that, and I’ve learned
from it, and I didn’t hit the other seven that way.
I’m a learn on the job type of person.
I’ll do anything.
(20:23):
Just let me do it and watch me go because I’m going to be all in on it.
I’m going to learn everything I can.
I’m young, I’m eager to learn.
The future for me, not the past, not the present.
My presence now, by we—you know, that’s for people
that want to, they want to put out fires every day.
I’m not somebody that wants to put out fires every day.
(20:44):
I want to prevent the fire before it gets here.
I want to prevent the problem before it gets here.
Here’s my wife talking again.
Everything has a process; everything has a place.
If you’re doing the process right, then your life is that much easier.
We change our processes all the time because
there’s always a better way to do it.
If you’re listening to the people that’s doing the job, then you’re
(21:05):
changing your process all the time because it’s easier for some people to
do some things a certain way, and you know, you got to be open to that.
I know I got my way of doing things and it’s probably the fastest way, but
some people rather do it their way because they’re comfortable with it.
So, you got to be open to that sometimes.
So, it’s a lot of fun.
For sure.
I mean so, Daniel, one of the things I’ve heard loud and clear in different
(21:29):
parts of the story as well is you give a ton of credit to Hibshman, and
specifically to Chad, the president of Hibshman, for really giving you
those opportunities to grow and advance, starting out in maintenance
and now you’re manufacturing manager overseeing operations, effectively.
(21:52):
What are some of the things about Hibshman and the culture that have allowed
you to go through that experience, and as you said, rise from the bottom.
Now, that I’ve gotten to the coaching aspect of things, that’s helped
a lot about, like, how I talk to people or I’m all about, I’m trying
(22:15):
to uplift people or get people involved in, like, our—we have a meeting
every Monday, you know, and right now we’re going over core values.
So, we got ten core values.
They’re a little high, but hey, we’re aiming high.
But each week we have a different core value
that we got to live, so people can learn it.
And it’s real funny because like today, our quality lady was like—Kim helped
(22:39):
me figure this thing out on this computer, so she had a lot of coachability.
That’s one of our core values, and I was like,
once they say it seven times, it’s stuck.
So like, hearing them say it, that’s right.
There.
See?
It’s working.
This week we’re on craftsmanship.
So, find that problem before it becomes a problem.
I think it’s exciting to watch them.
(23:00):
You’re watching this whole group grow.
Everybody’s getting a little more outspoken every week.
I’m just waiting for the one person to say, “I want to
talk first.” That’d be great. We ain’t there yet, but
yeah, you know, give it a few weeks, we will get there.
Sooner or later, somebody will start speaking a little bit more.
And that’s what I look for in new leadership skills, you know?
Like, I’m waiting for that next leader to step up and see them take charge.
(23:24):
You know, that’s what excites me is I like,
“Ah. Yes, I don’t have to do one more thing.
This person’s going to do it because, you know, they done
spoke up and they’re ready to go.” That’s what I look
for in a leader because I want somebody to take my job.
I don’t want to be doing my job my whole life.
I want somebody to take that job.
If you’re going to do a great job at it, you can have it.
That’s awesome.
I’ll move somewhere else.
(23:45):
Ain’t no big deal to me, you know?
I’m real humble and change, I’ll take responsibility for whatever I have to.
When my team messes up, I messed up.
There was somewhere in my process that broke down (23:55):
the communication, maybe
there was a better way to do it, but at the end of the day, we’re a team,
and if you’re going to take the blunt of it, I’m taking the blunt of it.
So, I try to build that on people all the time
because, you know, I’m not here to point fingers.
I’m just here to—I want to get the job done.
(24:15):
That’s what Chad put me in place for is because, when it
comes down to it, it’s getting done, one way or another.
You might have to remind me a couple of times, but I will do it.
That’s why I like Chad because he coaches me.
He’d be phenomenal for one of these—well, he does speak.
He’s a spea—he speaks at a lot of things.
He’d be real good at coaching and life values.
(24:38):
We’ll definitely have Chad on.
That would be a fantastic episode.
Yeah.
Because it’s great watching his kids and stuff grow and
everything because my kids the same age, and I’ve watched them
for, oh, I think I’m going nine years at Hibshman’s in April.
So, watching all of his kids grow up has been great.
The thing that I hear loud and clear, Daniel, is
(25:00):
cultural investment is the number one priority.
And that starts with Chad, works it’s all the way
through, clearly something that you’ve embraced.
I mean, EOS, weekly core values, Emerging Leaders, you’ve gone through
multiple rounds, just so much investment in people, people, people.
(25:24):
And, you know, how do you get an ownership mentality?
How do you get buy in?
How do you manufacture collaboration?
And when you do all those things, the parts follow, right?
There’s a point where I was like—this wasn’t even
that long ago—I was coming in late, leaving early.
That’s a good sign of being burnt out a little bit, but it
(25:44):
took me realizing that, you know, I am a manager, I got to be
there for my team, they’re watching me, so I need to do better.
You know, I live by example.
I’d rather, you know, somebody live the way I’m living, so I’d
better live good, and I’d better bring it because if I don’t, then
I don’t want to make people disappointed in me for failing them.
(26:05):
Which if I do fail them, I’ll take the blame right now that
I failed you, but I don’t want to give a chance for that.
There’s no way I’m going to fail anyone because I don’t try; I do.
That’s a fun thing too, is trying to get people to say, not
try, but getting people to say, I don’t want them to say try.
I hear them all the time, “I’ll try to do that. I’ll try to do—” no, I
(26:26):
don’t want to hear you say that. I want to hear, “I’m going to do that.
I’m going to do that.”
Like, I don’t smoke cigarettes.
Never have, never will.
I have buddies that say, “I’m going to try to quit smoking.”
You know, try, “Saying I’m going to quit smoking,” or, “I don’t
smoke.” You know, when somebody asks you for that cigarette.
Say, “I don’t smoke.” Don’t say, “I’m trying not to.” Because you
(26:47):
know, that leads into people peer-pressuring and stuff like that.
I mean, effort is fantastic; results are even better, right?
It takes—
I like that.
Effort to get results, but—
That’s a good one.
—the effort’s got to be directed, otherwise
who knows what you’re going to end up with?
So, in addition to, I mean, a tremendous amount of
cultural investment, Daniel, what are some of the other
(27:10):
investments that you guys have been making at Hibshman?
ProShop ERP.
One of the best investments we ever made.
I couldn’t even—where do I start with that?
I love it.
Being able to just see, schedule, write notes.
You used to write a note on a piece of paper and leave it at a machine.
(27:32):
And then you’d walk in and somebody else has already
been there before you and now they’re complaining.
I don’t have to deal with that no more.
When I wake up first thing in the morning, I look at the
machines that were running, I look at the notes of people left.
It keeps me from walking into a fire and I
already have a solution when I get there.
There ain’t no, this person did this, this person did that.
(27:55):
There’s a lot more accountability.
Just being able to see the schedule.
We went from a 76% on time delivery to, we average around 93 to 95% now.
And it’s been two years since we signed up
for ProShop and it’s been a game changer.
Did you have an ERP before ProShop?
(28:17):
Oh no, we were all paper, all old-school.
Okay, so that was the first.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We got our first CNC in 2019, a CNC mill, and that was to help our secondary,
in which we’ve cut secondary down so much with our CNCs and our Swiss
machines now, just because we don’t have to do that second operation anymore.
(28:39):
So, investing in the CNCs has cut down on that a ton.
I wish we could invest in a few more just to keep up with the workload now.
Because now we’re jam-packing these machines with all this work.
It gets stressful.
I can tell that it stresses Matt out sometimes because, you
know, just trying to keep up and keep things running smooth.
(29:00):
But a lot of new jobs, you know?
When you’re dealing with that type of growth and dealing with new jobs
coming in all the time, you don’t know how that job runs, so like,
you’ve got to try to plan for that, and it’s rough when it’s a new job.
The chemistry and the collaboration is so important.
And like you say, that investment in the Emerging Leaders side of
(29:25):
things also hugely important to get everybody to broaden and open
up a little bit more and start to figure out what really matters.
You look up the organization, down the organization, across the organization,
what’s really going on in people’s heads and how do you create buy-in and
have the right conversations and sometimes the difficult conversations.
(29:47):
So definitely, I mean, I’ve heard loud and clear through the episode
that Emerging Leaders and that whole process has just left a serious
impression on you, and really uncorked perpetual, cultural evolution
and investment and desire to grow, and I think that’s so incredible.
(30:10):
And like I said earlier, I mean, your honesty, your transparency,
your candor, it comes through so amazingly, Daniel, that this is
what I love about being on the side of the microphone and getting
to talk to so many Manufacturing Mavericks is the stories are
all so unique in what drives somebody to get into manufacturing.
(30:32):
And there’s no beating around the bush on the speed bumps, the
U-turns, the circles, and different things that you’ve gone through.
So, so appreciative of your willingness to
take us through that, share all those details.
So, great to hear the influence Chad has had on you, your wife
(30:52):
has had on you, NTMA has had on you, your grandfather, right?
All the generational contributions to your manufacturing
DNA, and the rough experiences that you’ve been through, too.
I mean, you shared a lot about who you are and where you come from
almost in a, you know—if I can embrace the cage fighting—in a no-holds
(31:13):
barred kind of way, right [laugh] ? You just, you laid it all out for us.
And, you know, not a lot of people would do that, and I think
that’s really a testament to exactly who you are and how you
value learning who others are so that you can best understand
how to help them grow, how to grow yourself, and how to lead.
(31:35):
So, I really, really appreciate everything that
you laid out for us and taking us through that.
And I have to ask, with that capstone and all of those things that
we just wove together, if you went back in time and you talked to the
hog farmer who was filling out his application for ten bucks an hour
on second shift, and you were going to give him one piece of advice
(32:00):
that would help the Daniel that exists today, what would you tell him?
Ah, I should have found my wife sooner.
That’s a good one.
We haven’t had that one before.
She drives me to be better, you know?
It’s a teamwork thing, somebody that’s going to hold
you responsible or accountable for your actions.
And it’s all about your actions.
(32:21):
I’m always a happy person.
It’s just the way I am.
I’ve seen a lot of heartache, but you know, that will never hold me down.
I don’t want to be left in the past, and that’s why I’ve signed with Datanomix.
It’s coming around.
We got a few bugs to work out with our Acme Gridleys
and stuff like that, but man, that’s a game changer.
(32:41):
It’s going to be neat to see where it is in two years.
That’s what I give everything, you know?
Like, we’ve seen what Pro Shop was in a year.
Now, we see where it’s at in two years, and it’s just
so much easier to work with just to see how things
work, so I’m super excited to see where Datanomix goes.
I just want things to be easier for everybody, so we can all, you know, we all
(33:03):
want to make money, we all want to live a great life, and the faster we get
on track with everything and get some good coffee reports—I love those things.
That’s pretty neat—
[laugh]
. —how you guys did that.
Seeing that is probably one of the things that sold
me on Datanomix is just seeing your guys’ dashboards,
and you got your espresso report and stuff like that.
(33:25):
I was like, “This is neat.
Okay.
I like this.” And then once we hooked it up, it was like,
“Okay, I see the big picture here.” It’s exciting. I’m excited.
Thrilled to hear that.
And I know, man, where we’ll be together two years
from now will be a different planet for sure.
Oh yeah.
And just seeing the evolution even weekly and monthly as
(33:47):
the team gets more involved in reviewing the data, and
you get involved in your Gemba Walks and your job reviews.
And it will be awesome to learn with you guys and your unique culture
and how you approach things and to grow with you and to continue
to help you guys grow, as Hipschmidt keeps going to the next level.
(34:07):
Those Gemba Walks, we tried that in the past
with our whiteboards and stuff like that.
Even bought a whiteboard to walk around and stuff.
My wife’s real big on the Gemba Walk and stuff.
Like I said, I’ve learned so [laugh] much from her, it’s unreal.
But I can’t wait to do a Gemba Walk with Datanomix and discuss it.
Which I don’t know if—we’ll probably have a TV in each
(34:28):
area because I don’t need to walk around with a TV, but—
It’d be kind of—one those backpacks [laugh]
. Yeah, yeah.
I love the tablets.
I wish everybody in the shop had a tablet
because, you know, everybody has a laptop.
I never used it, but everybody’s got a laptop, you know,
carrying that big old lunky thing around as a pain.
But that tablet, that’s a game changer.
(34:50):
Yeah, it’s really fantastic.
Anything you need to know?
One press, there you go.
Yeah, it’s great.
I really appreciate all of that, Daniel.
And again, your willingness to share, your openness.
Fantastic to have you on the show.
I know this is going to be a popular episode for sure, with
all kinds of good twists and turns and really proof of how
(35:15):
manufacturing—and the right woman—can transform your life.
So, that was so awesome to hear.
So, thank you so much, Daniel, for being on
the show, and wish you continued success.
I appreciate it a ton.
I’ve enjoyed it.
I’ve enjoyed talking to you.
It’s another blessing in my life.
Awesome.
Thanks so much, Daniel.
(35:36):
Thank you, Greg.
Thank you for listening to Manufacturing Mavericks.
If you’d like to learn more, listen to past episodes, or nominate
a future Maverick to be on our show, visit mfgmavericks.com,
and don’t forget to subscribe to and rate this podcast on
iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, or your favorite podcast app.
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