08. Tying Process & Culture Upgrades Together with Matthew Sawhill from IME
Manufacturing Transformed: Real Shops, Real Stories
Release Date: 07/10/2024
32: Designing and Growing an Ideal Machine Shop with Tim Rousseau
Manufacturing Transformed: Real Shops, Real Stories
Most shop owners don’t realize how much the structure and feel of their shop impact everything, including employee morale, customer trust, and long-term growth. Caught up in production chaos, they overlook the deeper issues holding them back: clunky systems, reactive decision-making, and a culture built on fear rather than trust. Tim Rousseau changed all that. He built Above All CNC to be clean, safe, and forward-thinking intentionally. His big shift? Ditching paper and guesswork for ProShop ERP. It gave his growing shop the structure it needed to handle complexity without the stress. Now,...
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31: Life Changing Transformation with Perry Kuehn of K Tooling
Manufacturing Transformed: Real Shops, Real Stories
Most shop owners don’t realize it, but the way they lead their team and the systems they use may be quietly holding them back. In this episode, we hear from Perry Kuehn of K Tooling, a shop owner with decades of experience who thought his business was running fine… until it nearly ran off the rails. What followed was a transformation that reshaped his culture, workflow, and client relationships. And it started with one bold decision. At first, Perry was focused on growth: new machines, new buildings, new customers. But under the surface, delivery dates were slipping, team members were...
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30: Pride, Passion, and Purpose in Machining
Manufacturing Transformed: Real Shops, Real Stories
Some machine shop owners come into the industry late. Adam Verdon was born into it. From shredding paper in the office as a toddler to operating machines as a teenager, Adam grew up at G.V. Industries, the precision machining company his father founded in 1978 after returning from Vietnam. Today, he’s not just leading the company, he’s reshaping it. With a deep respect for GV’s history and a clear vision for its future, Adam set out to modernize the shop from the inside out. That meant more than swapping paper travelers for terminals or spreadsheets for software. It meant earning trust,...
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29. Mold Making, Skilled Trades & ProShop
Manufacturing Transformed: Real Shops, Real Stories
Plenty of people still picture manufacturing as dark, dirty, and dangerous. That image sticks, even though the real day-to-day inside many shops couldn’t look more different. But when perception lags behind reality, it’s no wonder few young people see themselves in roles like toolmaker or machinist. Darryl Gratrix didn’t grow up knowing he’d land in the trades. He went the university route first. Nearly three decades into his career today, he's running production at Molded Precision Components and doing everything he can to ensure the next generation sees what’s possible. That...
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28. Why "Good Enough" Systems Are Quietly Killing Your Shop’s Growth
Manufacturing Transformed: Real Shops, Real Stories
Shop owners are so deep in the daily grind that they don’t see how outdated systems are quietly setting limits on their business. When processes feel "good enough," it’s easy to miss how much time, money, and opportunity are leaking out of a business every day. Ben Dunn didn’t come from machining, he came from hospital administration. And that fresh perspective made it impossible for him to ignore the old habits inside the shop he acquired. Walking into a company still running on a DOS-based computer and stacks of paper, he saw what longtime owners sometimes can’t: without a clear...
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27. Dedicated to Improvement - Andy Reinwald at Ripley Machine
Manufacturing Transformed: Real Shops, Real Stories
Running a shop often means wearing every hat and holding every answer. For Andy Reinwald at Ripley Machine, that translated to years of nonstop work, nearly no time off, and the weight of every open order living in his head. It was sustainable until it wasn’t. Things came to a head after a rough year in 2016. Revenue was slipping, customer service was lagging, and the company was running on outdated systems. Andy knew he couldn’t keep leading the shop this way and expect different results. That realization kicked off a steady climb. Andy pursued ISO certification, leaned into lean...
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26. Proud to Own a World Class Shop - Phil Gurecki of Accurate Machine
Manufacturing Transformed: Real Shops, Real Stories
Most shop owners don’t realize how much stress is baked into their day-to-day. They’re running jobs, juggling people, chasing parts—and slowly getting used to the constant pressure. For Phil Gurecki, it was normal to be the only one who knew where everything was, how it worked, and what came next. Until it wasn’t. As Accurate Machine grew, so did the complexity. Assemblies got tougher. Tooling got chaotic. Binders multiplied. And the cost of relying on Phil’s memory—or a key employee’s tribal knowledge—became impossible to ignore. He tried two ERPs. Neither stuck. It wasn’t...
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25. Perfecting Processes & Systems to Success - Marvin Rodriguez with True Precision Machining
Manufacturing Transformed: Real Shops, Real Stories
Most machine shops are filled with skilled workers, powerful machines, and a relentless drive to get parts out the door. But behind the scenes, inefficiencies can quietly eat away at profitability, morale, and even long-term survival. Many shops rely on outdated systems, fragmented information, and tribal knowledge that vanishes when key employees leave. The result? Missed deadlines, costly mistakes, and constant firefighting. Marvin Rodriguez of True Precision Machining shares how his company faced these challenges and found a way to transform operations through a strategic shift in processes...
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24. From Pirate Ship to Proven Process - Matt Gawlik of 3D Graphite Machining
Manufacturing Transformed: Real Shops, Real Stories
Most job shops turn to ERP systems expecting more efficiency but end up with more headaches, more spreadsheets, and more frustration. Most ERPs weren’t built for job shops—high-mix, low-volume work, constant scheduling changes, and the need for real-time visibility. Instead of fixing the chaos, they add layers of complexity, leaving shops struggling to keep up. Traditional ERP systems were designed for large-scale manufacturing, where jobs are predictable and repeatable. A job shop doesn’t operate that way. Custom parts, shifting lead times, and last-minute jobs require flexibility. The...
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23. Technology as a Force Multiplier
Manufacturing Transformed: Real Shops, Real Stories
Most manufacturers don’t realize just how much inefficiency is baked into their daily operations—until they start pulling back the layers. That was the case for Johnny Goode, President of MSP Manufacturing, who stepped into the family business in 2020 and immediately saw opportunities for change. Paper-based processes, siloed systems, and hidden inefficiencies were costing the shop time, money, and agility. But change wasn’t easy—especially for a team that had been doing things the same way for years. Johnny shares how MSP systematically broke free from outdated habits,...
info_outline08. Tying Process & Culture Upgrades Together with Matthew Sawhill from IME
Manufacturing & Engineering was a precision machine shop specializing in quick turn, low volume job shop work, doing lots of repair work and reverse engineering for local customers. While that business model worked, they often found themselves with their valuable machines and resources sitting idle. They decided to focus on automation and unattended machining processes and capture higher-volume production machining work to maximize their revenue and machine throughput. As they started making that change, they realized that the old E2 ERP system they had been using was not up for the challenge. From the waste of the paper-based processes to a schedule that didn’t work, they decided they really needed a change to their business operating system. After finding and deciding on ProShop ERP, they were up and running in 3-4 months and haven’t looked back since. They’ve seen dramatic improvements in on-time delivery, scrap reduction, throughput increases, setup-time reduction, and much more. Importantly, they’ve focused on the cultural shifts necessary to get real buy-in and alignment with their production team to focus on process improvements, and eliminating variables so they can successfully optimize their unattended time and get maximum throughput on their equipment. Matt shares very candidly, the important things they’ve focused on to transform the business in this way, and how ProShop has been foundational in that effort.
About IME:
Innovative Manufacturing and Engineering is your ideal partner for CNC milling and CNC machining. Our advanced machining processes let us tackle projects of all scopes and sizes. IME specializes in high-volume production, fabricating large quantities of precision parts with exceptional quality and speed. Our team handles projects ranging from early prototypes and up to 1,000,000 pieces or more. Often times we work with our clients 12 months in advance to plan according and solidify that you have what you need exactly when you need it.
Follow Matthew and IME on Social Media:
Personal LI: /matthewsawhill
Website: www.innovative-me.com
Facebook: @IME
Instagram: @innovative_mfg_eng
YouTube: @InnovativeManufacturing