Episode 31: From Machine Operator to Shop Leader: Manufacturing Career Advice for Young Machinists

Episode 31: From Machine Operator to Shop Leader: Manufacturing Career Advice for Young Machinists

From Machine Operator to Shop Leader: Manufacturing Career Advice for Young Machinists | MSG Episode 31 Most machinists start in the same place: Standing at a machine. Pushing a green button. Doing exactly what they're told. But what separates the people who stay there from the people who become programmers, supervisors, leaders, and shop owners? In this episode, Kirk Phelps shares the lessons that transformed his own career—from sweeping floors and running manual machines to leading manufacturing operations and helping companies grow. You'll learn: ✅ Why initiative is the fastest way to earn opportunity ✅ The difference between confidence and arrogance ✅ How fear silently limits career growth ✅ Why humility makes you more valuable than technical skills alone ✅ The mindset that helped Kirk progress from operator to leader Most people spend their careers waiting for opportunities. The people who grow create them. If you're a young machinist wondering what's next—or a shop owner trying to develop future leaders—this episode is for you. Subscribe to our weekly format: 📈 Sales & Marketing (1st & 3rd Tuesdays) ⚙️ Operations & Engineering (2nd & 4th Tuesdays) 🎙️ Bonus episodes when opportunity strikes If this episode helps, please leave a review and share it with someone starting their manufacturing journey.

Episode #30: How to Start a Shop from Scratch

You don’t start a machine shop by buying a machine. You start it by solving a problem. In this episode, Mike Fritz and Kirk Phelps unpack the reality behind building a machine shop from scratch—and it’s probably different than what most people expect. Everyone talks about machines. Very few talk about: • Cash flow pressure • Customer concentration risk • Investors and financing mistakes • The hidden costs nobody budgets for • Why your first customer matters more than your first machine And one statement from this episode flips conventional thinking upside down: "Don't buy the machine and then go find customers." If you're dreaming of launching your own shop—or wondering if now is the right time—this episode walks through the real-world decisions that determine whether you grow... or struggle before you ever get started. PLUS A MAJOR announcement about the future of Machine Shop Growth and the launch of Manufacturing M&A 🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms.

Episode #29: Tool Holders, Setup Time, and the 80/20 Rule for Machine Shop Growth

Setup time is stealing more money from your shop than you think. In this episode of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast, Kirk Phelps digs deeper into standardization—specifically, tool holders, tooling storage, inventory systems, and the 80/20 rule that every machine shop should be using. Most shops don’t lose efficiency because people aren’t working hard. They lose efficiency because too many variables are left up to chance. Different tool holders. Unclear standards. Tools scattered across drawers and toolboxes. Operators searching for what should already be ready. Setups taking longer than they need to. Kirk breaks down why standardizing your tooling and tool holders is not about making your shop rigid. It is about removing unnecessary decisions, reducing mistakes, improving repeatability, and giving your team a better system to work from. In this episode, you’ll learn how to: * Build a master tool list around standard holders * Reduce setup time by eliminating unnecessary variables * Choose tool holders based on application, not habit * Use tooling inventory systems to save time and money * Track tooling usage by job, part, machine, and operator * Apply the 80/20 rule to process improvement * Turn spindle downtime into more production time Kirk also shares real examples of tool holder decisions that doubled tool life, reduced downtime, and helped shops make better decisions based on data—not guesswork. If your team spends too much time looking for tools, reworking setups, chasing holders, or saying “this is just how we’ve always done it,” this episode is a practical wake-up call. Because the fastest ROI in your shop may not come from buying another machine. It may come from standardizing what you already do every single day.

Episode #28: The 5 KPI’s to Track for Shop Growth

Your shop may be busy… But is it actually growing? In this episode, Mike Fritz breaks down the 5 KPI’s every machine shop should track if they want more control over sales, production, profitability, and long-term growth. Most shops judge success by whether there’s money in the bank, parts are shipping, and customers seem happy. But that only tells part of the story. Without tracking the right numbers, a shop can miss warning signs like low margins, weak RFQ flow, poor follow-up, or dangerous customer concentration. Mike walks through the five growth KPIs that reveal what is really happening inside your shop: You’ll learn how to track: * RFQ volume from new, current, and dormant customers * Win rate and why you are winning or losing work * PO volume and customer concentration risk * Shipping volume and how it connects sales to the floor * Margin and how to improve profit without always raising prices This episode also covers why dormant customers need intentional outreach, why OEMs change vendors, how to use KPIs to drive decisions, and why growth should be measured before it becomes a crisis. If you want your shop to stop living and dying by the next PO from your biggest customer, this episode will help you start tracking the numbers that actually drive growth. Subscribe to our 2026 weekly format: Sales & Marketing — 1st & 3rd Tuesdays Operations & Engineering — 2nd & 4th Tuesdays Bonus joint episodes on 5th Tuesdays If this episode helps, please leave a review. It helps more shop owners find the show and grow their business.

Episode #27: Before You Buy a Robot, Standardize Your Process

Before you buy the robot… Fix the process. In this episode of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast: Operations Edition, Kirk Phelps breaks down what shops need to standardize before they ever think about automation, second shift, or lights-out machining. Because automation sounds exciting. But if your tooling changes every job, your workholding is inconsistent, your programmers are reinventing the wheel, and your shop floor depends on tribal knowledge… That robot may just become an expensive decoration. Kirk covers: 1. How to stop treating every part like a brand-new process 2. Why standardized tooling reduces errors from programming to the floor 3. How workholding can make or break unattended machining 4. Why high-mix, low-volume shops still need repeatable systems 5. The role of CAM standardization and verification software 6. Why lights-out machining comes before full automation If your shop wants to grow capacity without creating more chaos, this episode gives you the foundation. Start with standardization. Then scale. Subscribe to our weekly format:  1st & 3rd Tuesdays: Sales & Marketing  2nd & 4th Tuesdays: Operations & Engineering  Joint episodes: Special industry deep-dives with Mike and Kirk If this episode helps, leave a review. It helps more shop owners find the show.