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About This Podcast
The Machine Shop Growth Podcast gives a fresh perspective to help you grow your shop by focusing on 3 key factors - Sales, Marketing and Efficiency. For decades the machine shop industry was build on a “good-ol-boys” mentality and was full of great machinists and engineers that made great parts. What has been discovered is many of those amazing shops have plateaued or are starting to decline - because they didn’t put enough emphasis on getting more work and making more money with the work they had.
On this podcast you will hear first hand advice from machine owners and mangers how they are getting more work and how they are making more money. Now let’s Grow Your Shop!
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Recent Episodes
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 31Most machinists start in the same place:Standing at a machine.Pushing a green button.Doing…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
Episode #26: Should You Start a Second Shift for Growth
A second shift sounds like growth.More hours. More output. More revenue.But what if adding a second shift is actually the fastest way to multiply your problems?In this joint episode, Mike Fritz and…
Episode #25: Your Price Is KILLING You
Your shop isn’t struggling because you’re too expensive.It might be struggling because you’re still pricing like you’re afraid.In this episode of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast, Mike Fritz breaks…
Episode #24: The Skilled Machinist Shortage… And Why It’s Our Fault
The skilled labor shortage didn’t happen by accident.We built it.In this episode of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast, Kirk Phelps sits down with Andrew Skoog of Machinist X to unpack one of the…
Episode #23: How to Get Aerospace Work for Your Machine Shop (Certification, Margins & Strategy)
The Truth About Aerospace Work for Machine ShopsAerospace manufacturing is often seen as the ultimate growth opportunity for machine shops. Higher margins, better customers, and long-term…
Episode #22: Why Young People Aren’t Choosing Manufacturing — And How to Change That
Young people aren’t avoiding manufacturing because they hate it.Most of them simply don’t know it exists as a career path.In this episode of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast, Kirk Phelps sits down…
Episode #21: One of The Most Important Decisions for Your Machine Shop
You don’t need more leads.You need the right customers.In this episode, Mike Fritz breaks down one of the most important strategic decisions you’ll ever make for your machine shop: defining your…
Episode #20: Machine Shop Profit | How to Handle the 20% of Jobs You Lose Money On
Are you losing money on jobs in your machine shop without realizing it?In this episode of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast, Mike Fritz and Kirk Phelps break down how to identify and fix the 20% of…
Episode #19: OEE & the Cost of Perfection: Are You Making Enough Scrap?
You don’t have an OEE problem.You have a perfection problem.In this episode, Kirk Phelps breaks down Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and challenges one of the most ingrained beliefs in…
Episode 18: How to Make More Sales for Your Machine Shop (Without Hiring a Sales Team)
You don’t need more RFQs.You need a better sales system.In this episode, Mike Fritz sits down with Nick Goellner to break down what sales actually look like in manufacturing—and why most machine…
Episode #17: You Don’t Need More Machines —Your OEE Is Telling You the Truth
You don’t need more machines.You need to stop wasting capacity.In this episode, Kirk Phelps breaks down why most shops misdiagnose growth problems and how operations—not sales—ultimately decide…
Episode #16: How to Make Sure Your Machine Shop WINS in 2026
2026 isn’t about staying busy—it’s about winning on purpose.In this episode, Mike Fritz breaks down a simple, proven framework to grow your shop using Top Line, Bottom Line, and People. Learn how to…
Episode #15: The #1 Thing that can help ALL Areas of Shop Growth
💡 “It’s not automation. It’s not another machine. It’s one thing that can touch EVERY part of your business.”This week, Mike sits down with Paul Van Metre of ProShop ERP to reveal the #1 system that…
Episode #14: How To Grow Your Shop Through Acquisition
What if your next big customer came with a whole shop attached?In this episode, Mike Fritz sits down with Mike Payne—shop owner, dealmaker, and host of By the Numbers- to pull back the curtain on how…
Episode #13: How To Hire Good People
Need a new operator yesterday? Or wondering if a recruiter’s worth the 20% fee?In today’s episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on the messy, costly, and sometimes surprising world of hiring in…
Episode #12: How Do You Know When to Hire Someone
Hiring can make or break your shop’s growth, but how do you know when it’s the right move? 👀In this episode, Mike and Kirk share their playbook for spotting the signs that it’s time to hire… and the…
Frequently Asked Questions
Machine Shop Growth has published 32 episodes since January 2025, covering topics in Business, Investing.
Machine Shop Growth is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 49m.
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