Our guest on today’s show is Professor Yossi Sheffi, author of the new book, The New (AB)NORMAL: Reshaping Business and Supply Chain Strategy Beyond Covid-19. In the interview, Sheffi explains how companies and governments around the world have dealt with the supply chain disruption over the past year’s pandemic. He also gives insight on how people [...]
Jan 07, 2021•35 min•Season 6Ep. 107
On today’s show we’re looking back on the year 2020. Obviously, it was a tough year for the majority of people around the world. Loved ones were taken away, and many businesses couldn’t stay afloat. There were a lot of things that sucked. But there were a few pleasant surprises along the way as well. [...]
Dec 17, 2020•29 min•Season 6Ep. 106
Today’s guest on the podcast is Jim Regenor, founder of Veritx, a company which helps clients dramatically reduce lead times and increases readiness for military and airline customers with blockchain technology. Scroll down to listen to the podcast. With today’s 3-D printing technology parts can be produced on site so clients don’t need to wait [...]
Dec 03, 2020•29 min•Season 3Ep. 75
Today’s podcast is the final segment of our season about companies who produce their own products. Our guest is Ian Schon, founder of Schon DSGN, a company that makes high quality metallic pens machined on Citizen CNC Swiss lathes. One of Ian’s core philosophies for the production and marketing of his pens is to tell [...]
Nov 19, 2020•36 min•Season 5Ep. 104
On today’s podcast we continue our season talking to successful companies who produce their own products. Today’s guest is Joel Trusty, co-owner and President of Trusty-Cook, a company that manufactures a diverse group of industrial polyurethane products such as dead blow hammers and spindle liners for bar loaders. Joel says one of the keys to [...]
Nov 12, 2020•35 min•Season 5Ep. 103
On today’s podcast we’re continuing our 5th season, discussing companies that machine their own products. Our guest is Zach Dunham, Director of Marketing at Bantam Tools, a company which builds an 80-pound desktop CNC milling machine that costs under $4,000. This machine is designed for both novice and experienced machinists who want to quickly prototype [...]
Oct 30, 2020•38 min•Season 5Ep. 101
Today is a special occasion. It is the 100th episode of Swarfcast A lot has happened in our lives since the podcast began two and half years ago, and today we are going to look back at how the show reflected the world as it evolved. Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Or listen [...]
Oct 22, 2020•30 min•Season 5Ep. 100
Today’s Show is part one of a new season in which we’re talking about companies that produce their own products. Our guest is Howard Smith, owner and CEO of Wilson Bohannan, a 160-year-old padlock manufacturer. Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Or listen on your phone with Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts or your favorite app. [...]
Oct 08, 2020•38 min•Season 5Ep. 99
On today’s show we’re talking about how to set up machine tools efficiently. Our guest is Paul Van Metre, co-founder of ProShop ERP. ProShop produces a comprehensive web-based and totally paperless shop management system for small to medium manufacturing companies. Paul says that using a few best practices, guided by ProShop’s management system, can reduce [...]
Sep 25, 2020•37 min•Season 5Ep. 97
Today, we’re going to do a quick Throwback Thursday to March of this year, to a discussion about going digital with machine data. This week’s podcast is an interview we did with Eric Fogg, co-founder and head of machine connectivity at MachineMetrics. MachineMetrics produces an IOT device that connects directly with machine tool PLCs and [...]
Sep 17, 2020•41 min
On today’s episode we are discussing the machining industry in Spain. Our guest is Patrick Bosch, Managing Director of Nagamohr, a 150 employee Tier 2 automotive company headquartered in Madrid, Spain. According to Patrick, despite Spain’s reputation as having a relaxed culture, its people are quite serious about manufacturing. Scroll down to listen to the [...]
Sep 10, 2020•30 min•Season 4Ep. 96
Our podcast team is taking a short break to enjoy Labor Day weekend with our families. In the meantime, in keeping with the international theme of Season 4, we hope you will listen again to the podcast we did with Graeme Sinclair, owner of Parish Engineering, a machine shop in Melbourne, Australia. Scroll down to [...]
Sep 03, 2020•35 min•Season 2Ep. 35
This week we head to Canada, as we continue our season exploring the diverse world of machining around the globe. Our guest is Sander Boelen, founder of Allegiant 3D in Montreal, Canada. Allegiant 3D engineers and produces prototypes for OEMs in the photonics industry around the world; companies making products like lasers, medical instruments and [...]
Aug 27, 2020•30 min•Season 4Ep. 95
On today’s show we’re discussing the machining business in South Africa. Our guest is Peter Frow. Peter has been immersed in the machining business and has also been a participant in the social change of South Africa over the last 50 years. While so many of his countrymen emigrated, Peter stayed and has recently started [...]
Aug 20, 2020•37 min•Season 4Ep. 94
On today’s show we are heading back to Brazil as we continue our season exploring the machining industry around the world. Our guest is Ali Jamil Jomaa, executive director at Samot, one of the most significant automotive parts suppliers in Brazil. Jamil has been at Samot for 32 years and is an authority on the [...]
Aug 13, 2020•30 min•Season 4Ep. 93
On Season 4 of Swarfcast, we’re talking to people involved in the machining industry around the globe. On this week’s show, we visit India. Today’s guest is Mayank Patel, director of Mayank BrassFit in Jamnagar, India. In the interview Mayank tells Noah his company produces Brass fittings primarily for Tribal Manufacturing and Parker Hannifin, both [...]
Aug 06, 2020•39 min•Season 4Ep. 92
On this week’s episode we’re continuing our tour of the machining world outside the United States. Today’s stop is Brazil, where I’m speaking with Rogerio Salvatico, Industrial Manager at Engemet, a major precision parts supplier for Tier 1 and Tier 2 Automotive in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Or listen [...]
Jul 31, 2020•32 min•Season 4Ep. 91
Today’s podcast is the second episode of a season in which we’re talking to folks in the machining world outside of the United States. We’re making a second stop in the UK to talk to Tom Pearce, founder of CIRC Manufacturing in Westbury, England, a small CNC shop specializing in producing flow control products using [...]
Jul 23, 2020•28 min
Today’s podcast is the first episode in a multi-part series in which we’re interviewing people in the machining world outside the United States. Our first stop was England, where we interviewed Joe Reynolds. Joe is Director of MTD, a company with several popular websites based in the UK that market prominent machine tool builders and [...]
Jul 16, 2020•33 min•Season 4Ep. 89
Today’s guest on the show is Timo Lunceford, general manager of Swiss Productions, a 25,000-square-foot Swiss CNC shop in Ventura, California, that specializes in fluidic medical components. Recently Swiss Productions introduced two 7-axis collaborative robots to work in tandem with two Haas CNC mills. Timo says the robots increase the production on each machine by [...]
Jul 10, 2020•25 min•Season 3Ep. 88
Today’s guest on the show is Zac Bogart, founder of Productive Robotics. Productive Robotics manufactures a 7-axis collaborative robot called the OB7. Zac says that the OB7 is different from other robots because it can’t be programmed with code, it only works by the operator showing it what to do. Also, by featuring 7 axes [...]
Jun 25, 2020•32 min•Season 3Ep. 87
On today’s show, we’re talking about manufacturing returning to the United States from overseas. Our guest is Mike Micklewright, Director of the Kaizen Institute. Mike says we may have finally reached a tipping point when manufacturers accept that it makes sense to produce goods again in North America. Scroll down to listen to the podcast. [...]
Jun 19, 2020•32 min•Season 3Ep. 86
Today’s guest on the podcast is Darrell Sutherland, founder and owner of Dylan Aerospace in Auburn, Washington, a Tier 1 supplier for Boeing. Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Or listen on your phone on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Darrell is also a professional mentor. He believes in using the Kaizen manufacturing principles [...]
Jun 11, 2020•30 min•Season 3Ep. 85
Our guest on today’s podcast is Tom Scanlan, publisher of Surplus Record, an online and printed marketplace for buying and selling used industrial equipment, founded in 1924 by Tom’s Grandfather. Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Or listen here on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. I use Surplus Record along with several other online [...]
Jun 04, 2020•19 min•Season 3Ep. 84
Today’s guest on the show is Gordon Erickson, founder of KWALYTI Tool in Batavia, Illinois. KWALYTI specializes in tooling up packaging machines, often for food products such as meat and cheese. Since the COVID-19 crisis began, KWALYTI has played an essential role in combating the epidemic. The company has tooled machines to package cotton swabs [...]
May 28, 2020•29 min•Season 3Ep. 83
Our podcast team is taking a short break this weekend to enjoy time with our families (virtually in some cases). In the meantime, this is one of our favorite episodes from earlier this year. Scroll down to listen to the podcast. In January, we interviewed Rick Miller, owner and co-founder of Elijah Tooling, a company [...]
May 22, 2020•44 min
Today’s guest on the podcast is Marco Schiavoni, owner of Pizza Metro, one of my favorite pizza places in Chicago. Marco has been in the restaurant business for 20 years, and like most business owners he’s seen his share of ups and downs over time. Scroll down to listen to the podcast. I spoke to [...]
May 15, 2020•37 min•Season 3Ep. 82
Today’s podcast is the second half of a two part interview with Chris and Brandon Voss, coauthors of the best selling book on business negotiation, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It. Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Chris Voss used to be an FBI hostage negotiator. When he [...]
May 08, 2020•30 min•Season 3Ep. 81
Today’s podcast is part 1 of a two part interview with Chris and Brandon Voss, co-authors of the best selling book on business negotiation, Never Split the Difference, and executives at Black Swan Group, a company offering business negotiation training. Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Never Split the Difference teaches how to approach [...]
May 01, 2020•28 min•Season 3Ep. 80
Today’s guest on the podcast is Taber West, founder of Gravity Worx, the manufacturer of a high performance suspension electric bike, called the E160FS. Scroll down to listen to the podcast When Taber was younger he raced bikes professionally, but as he aged and gained weight he no longer could do the type of cycling [...]
Apr 24, 2020•29 min•Season 3Ep. 79