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…
Author: Noah Graff
I get fulfillment from being a yenta. Aka a matchmaker. Or “a dot connector as I like to say” in my serendipity speak.😀 I’m the guy who throws parties and looks forward to his “worlds colliding.” I love introducing one friend from one circle to another friend from another circle who I know will hit it off. Which is one reason why having a booth at Precision Machining Technology Show (PMTS 2025) was so fulfilling and potentially profitable for our company Graff-Pinkert. A booth gives me a home base to throw my party and personally introduce people I know to…
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…
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…
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…
As a kid, one of my first memories flying Southwest Airlines was the flight attendant telling jokes throughout the flight over the PA and then serenading the plane when we landed. That kind of thing was phased out in the early 2000s as the airline became focused on business travel. But because the company hired people for positive personality traits and treated the employees well, the high standard for warmth and customer service still survived. I really don’t care for Southwest’s open seating policy and the planes have hardly any legroom. But I’ve always considered them the good guys airline…
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…
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 metal needles and pins on ancient equipment until the company purchased its first CNC Swiss machine in 2005. Since then, the company has modernized and acquired three other manufacturing companies, including its newest addition, a wooden baseball bat company, Walter Bats. Those topics make this…
Today we’re running a podcast that I guested on in September of 2024 called “Networking and Marketing Made Simple.” The show focuses on how LinkedIn can be used to grow your business. It’s hosted by Scott Aaron, who for the last seven months was my LinkedIn coach, an experience that is already paying dividends in our businesses. On his show I focused on one of my favorite topics, harnessing the power of serendipity to be successful in business and life. It often takes a bit of luck to accomplish extraordinary things, and that luck almost never happens on its own.…
“This is your last chance, Superman. Why don’t you do yourself a favor, and take a chill pill.” –Lex Luthor in Superman. “I would hope you would support who we are. Not, who we are not.”–Hoosiers Can you think of a bad Gene Hackman movie? I don’t think I can. To be honest I haven’t seen many of the old ones that he is famous for like The French Connection or Mississippi Burning–my father in-law keeps telling me to see that one. I love his flicks like Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, The Firm, Hoosiers, and even The Bird…