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…
Author: Noah Graff
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…
Have you ever dreamed about combining your expertise and passions to become an entrepreneur? My guess on today’s podcast did just that. Erez Speiser is the creator of machiningdoctor.com, a site for professionals in the machining industry to get technical information to simplify their work. The site offers resources such as a sophisticated feeds and speeds calculator for six types of machining processes. It even contains a machining encyclopedia. Before creating Machining Doctor, Erez worked for cutting tools giant ISCAR for over 20 years and managed a Swiss machine shop. But serendipitous elements, namely a love of hiking in his…
When Trump was elected President for a second term, I expected there would be a lot of talk about tariffs, but I didn’t anticipate all the attention on the Panama Canal and Greenland. So, it seemed like the perfect time for Lloyd and I to talk to one of our favorite geopolitics experts, Dr. Andrew R. Thomas, best selling author and Professor of Business at the University of Akron. It also just so happens that Thomas is a part-time resident of Panama and he recently wrote a book about the Panama Canal. It was a fun interview. We explored how…
Dave Polito is my Star CNC guru. He’s always been there when I’ve had questions, whether I was asking about a 1999 Star SA12, or a sweet SV38R located in Asia, or the ever flummoxing Siemens control on an ECAS-20. Dave is the owner of Quality Machine Tool Services, the Star distributor for Illinois and southern Wisconsin. He has been servicing and selling Star Swiss screw machines for over 35 years. For much of his career he did technical service and applications. Quality Machine Tool Services started as strictly a service center and then in 2009 began selling Star machines. *************…
My guest on today’s podcast, Anthony Davis, told me that since age 10 he and his brother knew they wanted to join their family business, Global CNC, a tooling manufacturer for CNC lathes and mills. Today at age 23, Anthony runs the company alongside his 25-year-old brother, Alexander, and their 84-year-old grandfather who founded the company 40 years ago. What I love about Anthony is how ALL-IN he is in his work. He values carrying on his grandfather’s legacy, but he is also driven to innovate into new products and marketing techniques. He glows as he talks about how he…
Once I flew to Germany for an INDEX multi-spindle deal that was stolen out from under us the morning after I arrived. I laid in my hotel bed swearing at the ceiling for a few minutes and then called a friend who happened to be our best European INDEX customer. Hours later, I was on a plane to Spain to inspect two different INDEX machines that we ended up making more money on than if we had sold the one I had come to Germany for. One thing I usually like about my work as a used machinery dealer (or…
Spinner is a German CNC machine tool brand that’s been around for 73 years. The company sold 1,200 CNC mills turning centers, and automation systems in Europe last year, yet in the United States, a large amount of people in the machining industry have never even heard of them. At the 2023 Precision Machining Technology Show, I stumbled upon Spinner’s booth, stopping there to ask if I could borrow a box cutter. Then I met Salim Awad, President and CEO of Spinner North America, who graciously agreed on the spot to be interviewed. Salim has a fascinating personal story. He’s…
It takes tremendous balls to start a machining company from scratch. And, maybe a little extra chutzpa to start a shop that primarily runs cam screw machines making millions of parts for automotive. After 23 years working in job shops and running a small farm, Karl Drasgow cashed out his 401K to found Drasgow Inc., a Wickman job shop in Gainesville, New York, in 2003. In the interview we talk about how he made this happen–from running his first screw machines in a barn, to taking local entrepreneurship classes, to fixing up cam machines built in the ‘70s, and waking…