Chris Armstrong has saved me more times than I can count—helping us at Graff-Pinkert through tough machinery deals, especially when it comes to Swiss machines. Citizens? He’s our guy.

But today’s podcast isn’t just about technical know-how. After years of driving coast to coast fixing machines and solving problems most people wouldn’t touch, Chris is shifting gears—rebuilding how he works, the kinds of parts he makes, and how he makes a living.

This is a story about the machining world. It’s about burnout, comebacks, and the deep, rare purpose you find when you fix things for a living.

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Interview Highlights

Chris has been one of Graff-Pinkert’s go-to guys for Citizen Swiss questions for years. We’ve leaned on his expertise countless times. He knows machines inside and out—but just as important, he understands people, process, and philosophy in the machining trade.

During COVID, many shops shut down. Machines sat idle. Maintenance was skipped. Skilled workers moved on. Chris saw it firsthand—not just across the country, but even in his own production shop. It wasn’t an overnight collapse, but a slow decay. And when things spun back up, they broke—ball screws failed, hoses cracked, wires frayed.

Chris became a kind of traveling emergency mechanic—reviving machines all over the U.S. (aways traveling by car). He joked that he goes “coast to coast, like butter and toast.” But even as he fixes other people’s shops, he has been laying the groundwork for something new of his own.

And I’m proud to say: our we played a small part in it.

A few months back, Graff-Pinkert sold Chris three beautiful Swiss machines we had imported from Japan—a Citizen L20, an A20, and a DMG MORI Sprint 32/5. Here’s the full-circle part: Chris was actually the one who got those machines running when they arrived at our shop. He tuned them up, brought them back to life—and eventually, brought them home.

Now, he’s using them to make high-pressure water components, intricate fittings for chip-making infrastructure, and parts out of notoriously nasty materials like Hastelloy. Not high-volume widgets. These are the kinds of jobs that require experience, intuition, and relentless attention to detail.

In our conversation, Chris talks about the profound satisfaction of transforming a beat-up machine into something shiny and singing again. We discuss “good cop/bad cop” dynamics in management, the importance of clear communication on the shop floor, and why sloppy math still drives him nuts.

We also talk about what it means to take pride in your craft—not just to produce parts, but to teach, to serve, and to show up. For Chris, that’s not just a business model. It’s a calling.

If you’re into Swiss machining, small business grit, or stories of rebuilding from the inside out, this episode is for you.

Question: Share a story about a machine you brought back from the dead. This blog was assisted by ai.

It seems like every other day as a machinery dealer, I talk to someone who says they would purchase a machine from me, if only they could find a person to run it. 

Today’s podcast guest, Ann Wyatt, founder of Ann Wyatt Recruiting, makes her living by finding manufacturing professionals for companies.

Ann’s journey to becoming a recruiter started in 2010 when she was an unemployed recent graduate of Western Kentucky University without the means for a home Internet connection. Her mom suggested she go to the career center at the local unemployment office where she could access the Internet to look for a job. She started going there every day and instead focusing solely on her own job search, she got into the habit of helping other people at the center use the Internet to look for new jobs.

When the receptionist at the career center was leaving, she suggested Ann take over her position because she knew the place so well. That was the beginning of Ann’s work helping people looking for jobs. At the unemployment agency, Ann worked her way through many positions, and when she met unemployed engineers and other manufacturing professionals she was amazed by the wages they had been making. This inspired her to become a recruiter for manufacturers.

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Main Points

Tips for Manufacturing Companies Searching for Good Employees

Ann’s customers are manufacturing companies who contract her to find job candidates using her vast network in the manufacturing industry. In the interview, she discussed some powerful strategies for companies to find good people without using her services. She says that companies need to sell themselves to prospective employees in the same manner they would sell their products to customers. She suggests companies create videos with testimonials from satisfied employees currently at their company. She encourages companies to show off their technology and state of the art facilities, using videos on platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn.

She also advises companies to provide employees perks for work/life balance, in addition to attractive salaries, such as flexible hours or services like daycare, to set themselves apart from more traditional manufacturing companies. Again, it is important to talk about doing these things in online communities.

Networking on LinkedIn for Employers and Job Seekers

I met Ann on LinkedIn, where she is a prolific participant. The key to Ann’s business is networking and LinkedIn is where she meets many clients and potential job candidates. In addition to creating posts five or more days per week, she has a live streaming video show called workforce 4.0 on LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter in which she gives tips for companies looking for employees and people looking for jobs.

Ann gave me several great strategies for successful networking on LinkedIn. She says it’s important to be generous with your knowledge and participation. Send connection requests specifically to people in your industry and add a personal messages to the connection requests. Engaging in group discussions creates new relationships, and LinkedIn’s algorithm likes users who participate. If a user participates in conversations often it likely will help their posts get seen by more eyeballs.

Ann advises that if you plan to send someone a direct message to tell them you are looking for a job, first try to build some report by interacting in discussions or messaging them about industry topics other than your employment ambitions.

For people trying to get the attention of prospective employers or make important professional connections, she advises making videos showing things they do related to their work. For instance, if a person is a machinist or programmer they could show parts being produced that they helped create. 

Whether you’re a job seeker, an employee seeker, or a connection seeker like Ann, the way you find what you are looking for is by engaging your industry peers and using the right tools to sell yourself. Now is a great time to be a professional in the manufacturing business. If you have talent and you put yourself out there correctly, you will find connections with people who can help you.

Questions: 

Where do you find your best employees?

How did you find your current job?

 

Lately, I’ve been kind of on an AI bender using chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude daily. Whether I like it or not, AI is transforming the way I write, the way I search the Internet, maybe even the way I think.

My guest on today’s show, Riley Hutchinson, is bringing that transformation into CNC machine shops.

He is co-founder of Swarf AI, an AI copilot built specifically to fill the tribal knowledge gap that retiring skilled workers are leaving.

You might not be using it much right now, but after hearing this interview you’ll understand why AI will likely be embraced in your shop soon.

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Interview Highlights

I first connected with Riley after I posted a poll on LinkedIn, asking people how they were using AI in their machine shops. (I used ChatGPT to assist me in coming up with the poll, by the way). Riley replied almost immediately, and I soon realized he wasn’t just using AI. He was building something truly groundbreaking—something specifically created for the machining world. Swarf isn’t just a chatbot for machinists; it’s a purpose-built assistant that understands the machines, tools, and workflows of a specific shop. It helps programmers and machinists get expert answers fast—on everything from feeds and speeds to tool recommendations and order of operations.

Riley spent much of his career as a CNC programmer at Boeing, where he witnessed how much of the industry’s critical knowledge is passed down informally—and how quickly it can disappear when experienced workers retire. Swarf AI is his attempt to capture that tribal knowledge, preserve it, and make it accessible to everyone in the shop. It’s trained not only on public technical documents like Heidenhain manuals, but also on the internal habits and preferences of a specific shop. The result is a tool that feels less like a generic assistant and more like your best shop floor mentor, available 24/7.

We talked about the deeper implications of this kind of technology. Will it replace people? Riley doesn’t think so. He believes it will empower shops to take on more work, reduce wasted time, and make younger or less experienced programmers more effective, faster.

This conversation hit home for me. I’ve been using AI daily to write, brainstorm, and solve problems. But I’ve also had a lingering skepticism—am I relying on it too much? Is it making my brain sharper, or weaker? Talking with Riley helped clarify that what matters most isn’t whether you use AI, but how you use it. Are you using it to cut corners, or to deepen your understanding and expand your capabilities?

Whether you’re deep in the world of CNC machining or just curious about how AI is going to change the way we work, this episode offers a fascinating and grounded look at the future. And honestly, it made me even more excited about where this is all heading.

Question:  What’s one piece of shop knowledge you wish you could bottle up before someone retires?

This blog was assisted using ai.

 

When you’re shopping for machines do you find yourself wondering if the more expensive option for a machine is the better one?

Does a taiwanese brand perform worse than a German brand?

Will one machine last longer than another?

Are some machines pretty similar between certain brands?

The truth is, paying more money for a machine tool does not always translate to better user experience or greater productivity.

Machining and life are more interesting than that!

Our guest on today’s podcast is Justin Tauber, co-owner and Vice President of Integrated Machinery Systems (IMS), a machine tool distributor in Itasca, Illinois. 

Justin’s company sells a wide variety of machine tools, ranging from turning machines, machining centers, grinders, 3D printers and automation equipment. In our interview, Justin discussed the merits of high-end expensive European machine tools as well as the advantages of lower cost brands built in Taiwan. If you’re currently thinking about purchasing a new CNC machine, I think you will find this interview useful.

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Interview Highlights

IMS’s Machine Tool Offerings

Integrated Machine Tool Services distributes a long list of popular machine tool brands. It sells United Grinding group, which includes some of the most well known German grinder brands such as Walter, Ewag, and Studer.

IMS sells CNC turning and milling machines from Index/Traub, Yama Seiki, Hermle, and Takamaz. It also sells Markforged composite and metal 3D Printers, and Universal Robotics collaborative robots.

Yama Seiki CNC Swiss 

I first met Justin when we contacted him to learn about a used Yama Seiki Swiss machine that Graff-Pinkert had been offered. Justin says the brand has been selling well lately. Currently, the most established and more expensive Swiss CNC brands such as Citizen, Tsugami and Star often have long lead times on their most popular models. This has caused some of their customers to try Yama Seiki rather than lose available work. The design of Yama Seiki Swiss machines has a lot in common with that of Star. The two brands have the same Fanuc Control, and Justin says he has seen Yama Seiki users utilize programs from Star machines with very little editing. Certain models from the two brands have the same tool layout, and the tooling of both brands is similar.

The most popular Yama Seiki Swiss models that IMS sells are 5-axis SW-20 (20mm) and SW-32 (32mm). I thought this was interesting because Graff-Pinkert has had much better success selling Swiss machines with six axes rather than five axes. But Justin says most of his customers haven’t had a need for a Y-axis on the back working or a B-axis, though Yama Seiki does offer those options. 

Justin says an end-user can purchase a 5-axis SW-20 with a generous tooling package, 12-ft Fedek LNS bar feeder, C-axis on main and sub-spindle, and a chucker kit (to run with no guide bushing) for $164,000. The 32mm model costs about $17,000 more. He says he has had good feedback on the machines. They are capable of holding tight tolerances. Maybe they aren’t quite as accurate as their competitors, but for a great deal of jobs they work very well. He also says the machines have proven themselves to be durable. He has customers who have been running the machines for 10 years and still are satisfied with their production.

INDEX CNC Multi-Spindles

Justin is also a believer in expensive European CNC equipment if the job is right. IMS is the INDEX/Traub distributor for Illinois. If a turned part’s tolerances are extremely tight and volumes are huge he steers customers to INDEX CNC Multi-Spindle screw machines. He says for the right part, an INDEX Multi-Spindle might be able to do the work of nine CNC Swiss lathes. If an INDEX runs double feedout it could produce a complex part in less than 10 seconds. He says an INDEX MS40C 6-spindle runs around $2 Million before turnkey and options. As for lead time, INDEXs are not built exclusively on requests from customers, which could make them available more quickly than machines of competitors. He says an MS40-6 could be available in March of 2023.

3D Printing

Justin sees lot of growth happening in 3D Printing, with many new products coming out. Unfortunately, the rate of adoption of the technology is not as fast as producers had hoped. They thought it would be easier to get shops to try the machines.IMS sells sells Markforged 3D printers for under $5,000 for a desktop type. They sell a metal system for around $250,000 that comes with a printer, wash station and sintering oven. The printers can make parts fixtures, end arm tooling, end use parts, and custom tool holders with materials such as tool steel, stainless, and copper. 

A huge advantage of 3D printers is that they take little skill to use. He showed me a part during the interview made of 80% nylon and 20% carbon fiber that a few of IMS’s sales people, who had never used a 3D printer before, produced overnight. Machining the part would have required a 5-axis CNC machining center or several operations on simpler machines operated by a skilled machinist. 3D printing still lacks the ability to get the tolerances achieved with machining, but one day they likely will.

Justin says no matter what type of machine tool you are thinking about buying, the technical support and access to spare parts in your area is one of the first factors to consider. After that is taken into consideration, you can evaluate the technology and prices.

Questions: What new machine tool do you wish you could have in your shop? Do you usually buy the most expensive models or bargain hunt?

I met today’s guest, Mike Pelham, completely by chance — over breakfast at the hotel bar during PMTS in Cleveland.

He knew who I was from the podcast. But I didn’t know him. Kind of strange when that happens — but it’s really cool. After we talked for five minutes, I started thinking he could be a good interview.

Mike owns a fourth-generation family business, International Chemical Company, selling chemicals to machine shops — a true commodity product. But when he talks about manufacturing, family, and customer relationships, none of it feels boring.

In our conversation, we talked about selling with heart, the beauty of generational businesses in manufacturing, and finding purpose every day.

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Interview Highlights

Mike Pelham gave me perspective on how you sell something as unsexy as industrial chemicals. He’s not just out there winging it — he uses instrumentation and metrics to prove that his products work. Torque testing, competitive benchmarking — he brings lab results into conversations most people would try to sell on “trust me.” He explained to me how that kind of honesty and data-driven mindset builds confidence, especially in an industry where buyers are naturally skeptical.

We also touched on the reality of selling in a shrinking, increasingly commoditized industry. Many of his competitors are private equity-backed. But Mike is in it for the long haul. He knows his customers personally and takes it seriously when something doesn’t go right. “I take that home with me,” he said.

There’s a great story in the episode about his teenage son rebuilding an engine on his own, watching YouTube videos to learn how the parts go together. It was clear that Mike is not just proud as a dad, but as someone who sees the future of American manufacturing in moments like that.

He also shared a recent milestone — getting approved by the U.S. Navy to supply lubricants for submarines and destroyers. He told me that only two other companies in the world have met the Navy’s specs.

Mike spent much of the interview expressing how excited he was about presenting at PMTS. He loves getting to meet people from his manufacturing tribe in person. It reinforces his mindfulness that what we do in our industry matters.

He talked about interacting with students at the show — kids who had no idea a machinist could make $85,000 a year. He said that unlike past shows where the booth hid the swag on student day, this show he was generous with it to attract students to the booth. He jumped at the chance to talk to them — both to share his wisdom and understand their perspective.

As he said at the end of our conversation: he told me, “If you give, you begin to live.”
As someone who is into personal development, I hear that kind of thing often — and I believe in it. But I still need to keep hearing it and saying it myself to remember to do it.

Question: What do your loved ones think you do all day?

Working in the machining industry I hear the term “lean manufacturing” mentioned a lot. But what does the word “lean” really mean in this context? And how do you implement it in your company? 

To help me clarify these questions, I interviewed Matthew Rassi, founder of Twenty Helping Hands. He’s a lean manufacturing consultant who has been working in the manufacturing industry for over two decades.

Matthew says that the first step for a company to adopt lean manufacturing is to bring all of its people together to exchange ideas, from the CEO to the person sweeping floors. 

In his experience, the people on the shop floor often have valuable insight for solving problems that upper management hasn’t even considered. The collaboration process also motivates employees because they feel heard.

Matthew and I talked about supply chains and limiting waste, but the most important concept I learned in our conversation was the lean principle of running directly at problems instead of dodging them. How on earth do you do that? It helps to have someone like Matthew to guide you on that path.

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Interview Highlights

Noah Graff: How do you define lean manufacturing?

Matthew Rassi: It’s a framework and a structure that helps you find the waste (in an organization) and remove it.

But it’s not just tools and it’s not just a framework. It’s also the mindset, the way that we think about things, concepts such as running towards problems instead of hiding them or hoping nobody finds them.

Actually admitting to each other, I made a mistake. I want you all to know about it, so you don’t make the same mistake. It’s a very tough culture to change.

Noah: Do you think humans are naturally inclined to try to avoid problems rather than to solve them proactively?

Matthew: I would agree with that. We don’t like pain. And we’re very proud individuals. It takes a humility. It takes a recognition that there’s something that’s bigger than me here. As you step into that role, it’s very freeing. You no longer have to be perfect.

Noah: What makes manufacturing companies reach out to you for your services?

Matthew: Their manufacturing is faltering. They have very long lead times. Their costs are going up. They’re fearful that they’re going to continue losing people or they cannot get enough people. 

My moniker is accelerating your output without hiring more people, without buying new machines. And that acceleration can be both in increased output or it can be in reduced lead time. And both of those can lead to increased sales.

Noah: What’s the first step when you’re brought in to consult companies?

Matthew: I come in and do a discovery visit. I need to spend three to four hours with the owner and with those on the floor walking through their process to understand what they are doing.

We’ll look at areas that we think are going to need improvement. And, what we want to do is start getting engagement from employees. The more information you share with your team, the better decisions you are going to make. 

Noah: What type of information do you share with your team?

Matthew: For example, “Our revenues are about here. Our profit level is about here.

We’ve been continually declining or we’re growing. Our lead time is too long or not long enough. These are our biggest customers. These are our three biggest quality issues.

Whatever the situation is, they need to know where you’re at in the market.

Noah: Do you encourage employees to share ideas?

Matthew: We want to start sharing. Sharing information,  opportunities, responsibilities, ideas. Ideas is a big one. You need an influx of ideas. Not every idea is a great idea, but every idea is good and should be recorded, and ideas build on each other. 

You start getting engagement. And your people are not just going to go down the street for a dollar an hour or more. They will feel listened to. They’re seeing improvements. This is how we start to make progress.

Noah: It must be hard to get everyone on board with the new way of running things.

Matthew: Typically in an organization, you’ll have about 25% of folks who will be on board and excited because finally there’s change and they’ve been begging for it.

And then about half the folks will kind of go along either way. If it works out, great. If it doesn’t, they weren’t too committed. 

And then you have the bottom 25% who are just resistant to change no matter what. As long as they are not poisoning the rest, those people can be brought along as well. But if they start poisoning, then you have to make changes. (Think of) people as the sensors of an organization’s (progress).

For more information about Matthew Rassi’s services and a free Starter Handbook about Lean manufacturing, go to his website, https://www.twentyhelpinghands.com/.

 

Listen or watch the podcast to get the real impact of this interview!

 

Born with no intention of becoming a machinist, Greg Knight says he was drafted into “indentured servitude” at age 16 when his father started a Brown & Sharpe machine shop in their garage. Despite his initial distaste for manual labor, fate had other plans for the psychology, philosophy, religion, and sociology major. I ran into Greg at PMTS 2025 in Cleveland last week, working in the Absolute Machine Tools booth despite being retired for several years after being diagnosed with ALS. I’ve always found Greg fascinating and fun to talk to since we met 20 years ago at my first PMPA event in San Antonio. As you can tell from this episode title, we’re going to unpack a lot of intriguing topics in this interview.

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Interview Highlights

When Gregs father’s health declined, Greg’s mother pleaded with her only child to help run the family business. What began as temporary assistance evolved into a 20-year career. His father’s shop, which remarkably turned a profit from its first year, eventually expanded from primarily Brown & Sharp machines to include CNC lathes and mills while maintaining its identity as a screw machine house.

Greg’s expertise with Brown & Sharpe machines caught the attention of American Adaptive Machine Technology (AMT), who sought his insights while developing ServoCam technology—a modernization that brought CNC capabilities to traditional Brown and Sharpe machines. Greg eventually joined AMT to lead this innovation, selling his shop at his mother’s behest. The ServoCam technology, which initially cost about $15,000 per upgrade in 1998, eventually evolved to complete machine rebuilds priced at $150,000.

Greg later formed connections with Taiwanese manufacturer Lico, bringing their full CNC screw machines to the American market. His industry journey concluded at Absolute Machine Tools, where he ran their production turning division for eight years.

In 2019, Greg was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Initially told he had 3-5 years to live, he now believes he has a slower-progressing variant that might give him 10-12 years. The disease has affected his right arm’s functionality and is beginning to impact his back and legs, requiring adaptations in daily activities.

Greg has practiced Tai Chi for over 40 years, approaching it as both a martial art and philosophical practice. Fortunately he has always embraced the finesse-oriented approach rather than relying on his natural size and strength, explaining that he thought, “Someday I’m going to be old and infirm and that strength is going to fail me. This stuff will work forever.”

Greg continues to practice Tai Chi despite his condition, using it to stay active and mobile. His pragmatic approach to life’s challenges emerges clearly, telling me: “It is what it is. So now what are you going to do with it?” Rather than dwelling on limitations, Greg adapts and continues moving forward. He is still the fun, and fascinating guy I met at the PMPA management update when I was 25.

Question: What events transpired to lead you to your career?

This summary was assisted by claude.ai.

Josh Hacko is a fourth generation watchmaker. He says he was born into his vocation, but in reality his work is truly his own. 

Josh is Technical Director of two sister companies, NH Micro and Nicholas Hacko Watchmaker, which manufactures high-end wrist watches in Sydney, Australia, that can cost tens of thousands of dollars. 

The company can manufacture up to 85% of a wristwatch’s components in-house, including the watch’s movement, a feat that only a handful of independent watchmakers around the world have accomplished.

With his team, Josh engineers and machines his watches’ components, and he and his dad come up with the watches’ designs.

If you love a story about business, technology, design, and serendipity, this episode is for you!

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The Origin of Nicholas Hacko Watchmaker

Josh’s grandfather and great grandfather were watch repairmen in former Yugoslavia. In 1994, Josh’s father, Nicholas, also a trained watch repairman, emigrated to Australia, fleeing the war in his home country. In Australia, Nicholas did watch repair and became a dealer of secondhand high grade Swiss mechanical watches, which the company still sells today.

In 2011, the world’s Swiss watch market was turned upside down. All of the Swiss watch companies, such as Richemont Group, Swatch, and Rolex formed a cartel, restricting the supply of spare parts to independent watchmakers around the world. Overnight, spare parts became unavailable to any independent watch repair person.

Josh says this was the equivalent of a Ford dealership mechanic being unable to source spark plugs, windshield wipers, or tires. 

Nicholas asked the Swiss watch companies if he could send Josh to Switzerland to be trained as a watch repairman in order to then gain the right to buy watch parts, but the companies all rejected the idea, saying that “no Australian could be capable of properly repairing Swiss watches.”

This event inspired a crazy dream for Nicholas—building a watch from scratch in Australia. It was something that had never been done before.

At first, Nicholas believed a super machine existed that was capable of making all the components for a wristwatch, but he soon realized that was a fantasy.

Nicholas Hacko Watchmaker started its new wristwatch business, selling wristwatches that were designed, assembled, and adjusted in Australia, but made from parts produced overseas. 

NHW MKII “Curl Curl” from Nicholas Hacko Watchmaker

In 2016, Nicholas and Josh embarked on a quest to manufacture the first watch from scratch in Australia, which they accomplished in 2019 with their NH1 series. Josh says the reason that the company produces only 85% of the watch rather than 100%, is that the rest of the necessary components are commodity parts that are better quality and cheaper to purchase off the shelf, such as springs and jewels. He says that nobody else in Australia is producing the movement of the watch (the back end mechanisms) like his company and probably only five independent watchmakers in North America have similar capability. 

The interview has a lot of great moments. Josh talks about buying a Citizen r04 off the floor of a trade show in Stuttgart. Neither he nor his father had ever operated a Swiss machine before, and they didn’t realize at the time there was no substantial support for the machine in Australia. They had to teach themselves.

Josh talks about his passion for designing the watches, a task which the company has never outsourced. He came up with the design of the company’s Mark II model by observing the mosaic on a table at a restaurant on a beach front while at dinner with his wife. 

He says he has grown over time to imagine design more freely, rather than approaching it solely in a “functional way” that revolves only around engineering. 

Josh’s passion for his work, both the technical machining processes and designing are contagious in his presence. He says he has “never worked a day in his life” and he is grateful to be “born into this world of watchmaking.” He says he fell into his professional life, but I disagree. I say he created it.

Question: If you wear a wristwatch, why do you wear it?

On today’s show I’m bringing back  one of my favorite past guests on the podcast—Damon Pistulka.

The first time Damon was on the show he talked about his company Exit Your Way, which helps businesses level up for successful acquisitions.

Today he is going to talk about his other venture, B2BTail, which advises small manufacturing companies to improve their online visibility to potential buyers.

Damon says that a significant portion of today’s manufacturing buyers belong to Gen Z.

And the most effective way to connect with them is through YouTube and social media videos that showcase your company’s work and humanize your business.

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Link to Graff-Pinkert’s Acquisitions and Sales promotion!

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Interview Highlights

From Thomas Register to Digital Marketing

With nearly 40 years of manufacturing sales experience, Damon offers a unique perspective on how the industry has transformed. In the early 1990s, sales professionals, like himself, in the manufacturing field relied heavily on the Thomas Register directory to find potential clients. The process involved cold calling from phone books, setting appointments, and extensive in-person networking.

By the early 2000s, rudimentary websites appeared, serving primarily as digital billboards. Email began changing communication patterns, but sales still depended heavily on trade shows, industry associations, and face-to-face meetings.

By 2010, digital transformation was in full swing, dramatically altering buyer expectations and behavior.

Today’s Manufacturing Buyers

Today’s purchasing agents often come from a generation raised on Amazon and instant digital gratification. Many are under 30 and prefer conducting research online rather than through phone calls or meetings. They’re frequently generalists responsible for buying everything from hydraulic hoses to CNC parts without specialized manufacturing knowledge.

“They want to be able to do a lot more research,” Damon explains. “When they’re figuring out what TV to buy at home, they can look at 17 different options on Amazon. They want to do that at work too.”

Digital Foundation for Manufacturers

Damon recommends manufacturing companies establish a focused digital presence:

1. Define your specialty: “Don’t try to talk to everyone or make it look like you can build anything for anyone,” Damon advises. Specialization helps buyers quickly determine if you’re the right fit.
2. Build a functional website: It doesn’t need to be fancy, but should clearly explain what you do, why you’re the solution to their problems, and make contact easy.
3. Create authentic video content: “Get on YouTube and talk about what you do and why you got into business,” Damon suggests. Production value matters less than authenticity—smartphone footage with a decent microphone is sufficient.
4. Leverage LinkedIn: Unlike other social platforms, LinkedIn is designed for professional networking and can connect you directly with decision-makers.

The Human Connection in a Digital Age

Despite technological changes, the human element remains crucial. Damon notes that potential clients might watch hours of your videos before deciding you’re the right partner—something they’d never do in a face-to-face meeting.

“The weirdest thing that happened,” Damon shares, “is people would call me up and act like they knew me” after watching his videos. This digital familiarity creates trust before the first conversation even happens.

By embracing these new communication channels, small manufacturers can position themselves effectively in today’s digital marketplace while maintaining the personal connections that drive business relationships.

For more information on Damon’s services or podcast, Faces Of Business, look him up on LinkedIn or go to his website.

Questions:

Has your company invested in video content? If so, what kinds of videos have generated the most engagement with potential customers?

Do you think the human element in sales is being lost, or just transformed? Does that bug you?

 

This summary was aided by claude.ai

My guest on today’s show, Thadd Mellott, called us at Graff-Pinkert because he needed a Star SB20 CNC Swiss machine. His company, Circle M Spring, in Warsaw, Indiana, produces medical parts, including implantable orthopedic components. Circle M Spring is currently merging with a medical component design company that specializes in sports medicine. Thadd is incredibly excited about the merger because he now will have the rare ability to supply medical components directly to hospitals—a privilege that most machining companies can only dream about.

Listen on your favorite podcast app using pod.link.

    .

 

View the podcast on our YouTube Channel.

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Link to Graff-Pinkert’s Acquisitions and Sales promotion!

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Interview Highlights

Currently, Circle M Spring operates as a Tier 1 supplier to major orthopedic manufacturers like Zimmer Biomet, DePuy Synthes, Medtronic and others, producing components like reamers, slap hammers, implants, screws and instrumentation. The company also makes firearm components for AR-15 rifles, which Thadd says is unique for machining companies in Warsaw, Indiana.

Circle M was founded in 1998 by Thadd Mellott and his father after his father took early retirement from a 37-year career at another spring company. Thadd was a junior in college doing pre-med but decided to quit school and go into business making springs with his father when he was given the opportunity.

I asked him if it was a difficult decision to pivot from a career path of becoming a doctor to starting a machining company. He said that growing up around Warsaw, Indiana, he had already worked a lot in machine shops. The idea of going into manufacturing seemed like a great opportunity, so he didn’t think twice.

Over the years, Circle M Spring diversified, producing medical parts, including implantables as well as firearms after landing a government contract for gun components. The orthopedic work came about due to Circle M’s location in Warsaw, which many people consider the “medical device capital of the world.”

Now, Circle M is merging with two other companies to create a new parent entity that Mellott will be president of with 51% ownership.

One company is Rebellion Medical Solutions – Founded by Brandon Miller, a former high-level executive at Biomet who started a medical device design firm after the Biomet/Zimmer merger.

The other company in the merger is a medical device OEM owned by a former NFL player. The company is minority owned, which gives it the privilege of selling products directly to hospitals.

The merger allows for a vertically integrated operation – Rebellion handles product design and securing FDA 510k clearances, Circle M is the manufacturing arm, and the former NFL player’s company can distribute devices straight to hospitals without going through larger orthopedic companies as middlemen.

The merger structure provides several key advantages according to Mellott:

It can rapidly fulfill requests from surgeons for customized instruments and implants without the delays and bureaucracy of bigger companies. It also can offer competitive pricing without markups that major orthopedic companies apply.

The newly formed company will have the ability to expand into other medical fields beyond orthopedics by leveraging its integrated capabilities. Special status as a minority-owned business will allow access to lucrative government and diversity supplier contracts that major players cannot pursue.

While Circle M Spring will still also supply larger orthopedic firms, the long-term goal is to grow the hospital sales channel for its own product line and become a more disruptive player in the medical device space.

Another benefit of the merger is that it allows Thadd to realize his passion for positively impacting healthcare that dates back to his pre-med days when he had ambitions of becoming a neurosurgeon after his brother’s death from an aneurysm.

At the end of the interview, he told me he wanted to be a doctor because it would be great just to help people. He has a daughter currently going to school to work in the medical field, and he sees that trait in her as well.

Question: Who is your company’s dream customer?

 

On today’s podcast episode, you’re going to hear the story of a thriving fifth-generation family manufacturing business that is constantly reinventing itself.  I interviewed Adria and Aaron Bagshaw, owners of W.H. Bagshaw, a machining company in Nashua, New Hampshire, that started over 150 years ago! For 135 years, W.H. Bagshaw produced the same type of [...]