Noah Graff, used machine tool dealer and editor of Today’s Machining World, interviews machining company owners, equipment gurus, and experts with insight to help and entertain people working in the machining field. We discuss topics such as how to find quality employees, customer acquisition, negotiation, and the best CNC equipment options for specific jobs.
Last week, I heard a story about an old customer of Graff-Pinkert who lost three key machinists because a shop down the street was paying more. It led me to make a post on Linkedin, asking if machinists and setup people were paid enough to attract young people to the machining field. On the whole, commenters vented that they were not compensated what they felt they deserved working in the machining industry. The post has 53 commen...
Today I’m talking to a guy who believes every company needs to be built to last—not just to flip.
Neil Lansing is a turnaround specialist who left private equity to bet his own money on small, underperforming businesses. He’s taken companies from 18 employees to over 400. From $2 million to $40-50 million in revenue. And when everyone else was laying people off in 2008, he told his refrigerat...
Our guest on today’s podcast is Joe Bennett, Vice President of Sales at Seaway Bolt and Specials, a privately held cold heading company in Columbia Station, Ohio, founded in 1957.
In the cold heading process, coiled steel is cut into slugs, which are then hit multiple times, ultimately pounding them into a desired shape. The cold heading process is capable of producing several hundred pieces per minute. Some cold-headed products ar...
The last six months I’ve been using AI to help me with everything from business negotiations to dealing with my kid’s pneumonia. It’s become a daily part of how I operate—at work and at home. The big difference between it and just googling is that you have a conversation with it.
Check out the video I made for my YouTube Channel, I Learned It on a Podcast!
We’re seeing an uptick in the Swiss market on the Graff-Pinkert side of the business, particularly Citizen machines. In response, we thought now was a great time to share an interview Noah conducted in 2021 about Swiss-Type CNC machining. He talks to Marc Klecka, founder and president of Concentric Corporation, a prominent distributor of Citizen-Cincom CNC Swiss lathes in Cleveland, Ohio.
Read more below or tune in!
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“Rare earths aren’t actually rare, nor are they earths,” Julie Klinger told me. Julie is an associate professor at UW Madison and literally wrote the book on rare earth elements—Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes.
I interviewed her last week, the day after Trump signed a rare earths deal with China, which had been threatening export restrictions. I knew from a...
In part 1 of my interview with Bill Cox, owner of Cox Manufacturing in San Antonio, Texas, Bill talked about the power of his company’s robust apprenticeship program.
But how does Cox Manufacturing get so many employee candidates, while most machining companies are dying to get any job applicants? Answer—the company has built a strategic recruiting program...
Unlike the majority of machining companies right now, struggling to find enough skilled people to fulfill demand, Cox Manufacturing in San Antonio, Texas, boasts a continuous pipeline of new talent. In fact, Bill Cox, the company’s owner, says right now the company has a stack of applications for shop apprenticeships, of which he will pick an average of one for every 50 candidates.
Last week another machinery dealer mentioned that being a family business was part of why she wanted to work with us at Graff-Pinkert. I don’t know if that was the deciding factor, but it reminded me that persuasion often happens before you say a word.
This concept of convincing someone before you even start making your pitch was coined “pre-suasion,” by bestselling author Robert Cialdini, one of t...
On today’s podcast, we interviewed Aneesa Muthana, owner of Pioneer Service Inc., a CNC machine shop that features 26 Star CNC Swiss lathes. Aneesa shared her fond memories of being raised on the floor of a centerless grinding shop, M&M Quality Grinding, founded by her Yemeni immigrant parents. While other girls were playing with Barbie dolls, Aneesa relished learning to use micrometers and cleaning out oil tanks from Cincinnat...
Today I’m going to tell you how to get lucky.
It seems like some people are always in the right place at the right time getting all the lucky breaks, while the rest of us watch from the sidelines. I often feel like I’m in that sideline category too. But as used machinery dealers, our business is fueled by luck, or as I like to call it, ser...
My guest on today’s show is Kris Fugate, President of Revolution Machine Works, a prominent rotary transfer machine rebuilder, specializing in Hydromats. Hydromats can seem strange and overwhelming to those unfamiliar with them. Some say they their circular shape with 12 or 16 work stations reminds them of a UFO, and the machines can crank out complex turned parts like nothing else out there.
...What if I told you there’s a tool that can look at a photo of your weld and tell you exactly what you screwed up. The tool could also help you figure out that your machining problem isn’t your end mill, it’s actually your coolant, and it costs less than hiring one person?
On today’s show, I’m talking with Adam Marsh, president of Ledge Inc, who calls his company an “AI...
Are you vaccinated against the Virus?
Is your computer system prepared for the inevitable attack?
Today’s podcast discusses the scary reality that manufacturers are the number one target of cyber attacks around the globe. Manufacturing companies are at risk for ransomware and intellectual property theft. It’s even po...
I highly recommend you watch the video version of this podcast.
Click on the link to go to the video.
I won a few big matches on my high school Tennis team, but I was never awesome. I never won the big tournaments. What killed me was that I always had more fun and played better in practice than in big matches when pressure made my muscles tight.
“This is how it’s always been done.”
Businesses sometimes can do OK with a philosophy like that. Maybe even make good money.
But it sucks being just ok, because you know you could be so much better.
Today on the podcast we are joined by Jim Mayer, founder of the Manufacturing Connector and h...
During my career as a used machinery dealer, I’ve met many successful companies in the machining business who have no social media presence and don’t even have a website. Surprisingly they use some of the most advanced equipment and have more customers than they need.
Today we’re pulling out a favorite podcast episode about a company just like that.
Sometimes great conversations just happen. But what I’ve learned after 14 years selling used machines, and almost 250 podcast interviews, is that most conversations, even great ones, could be guided to be even better. Recently, I heard a podcast with journalist Polina Pompliano that reinforced techniques I’ve ...
I don’t know about you, but when the tariffs hit on Liberation Day, April 2nd, we were like “Oh @#$%, is this really happening?” We watched our portfolios crash in real time. Our company lost half our profit from one deal overnight, and honestly, we had no clue what was coming next.
On today’s show, Lloyd and I are discussing how tariffs blindsided the machining industry and how m...
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