Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders

Six jobs waiting on a first article means six spindles sitting still. That is the math Mike lives with at Hill, running around 58 jobs a day where nearly every one needs an internal or external first article before parts can ship. When inspection becomes the constraint, good parts pile up behind paperwork, and paperwork does not make chips.
This week we sat down with Mehul Shah, co-founder of Ground Control, a company building what he calls mission critical software for highly regulated manufacturing. His thesis is simple. Aerospace, defense, medical, and semiconductor shops are drowning in Excel and pen-and-paper workflows, not because the people are behind the times, but because software was never really built for the shop floor or for the weight of ITAR, DFARS, and CMMC.
Ground Control started with one hairy, everyday problem: first article inspection reports. We get into how their software reads decades-old, hand-drawn prints that trip up ordinary OCR, balloons the drawing, fills out the AS9102, and pushes clean data straight into ProShop with a single click. It is the kind of automation that turns a shop's worst bottleneck into a task almost anyone on the team can run.
We also talk about why now is the moment for this, from reshoring and record defense budgets to the labor math that says we cannot hire our way through the coming surge. Mehul shares how a 15-person team just earned FedRAMP certification, why AI lets them do the work of a company twice their size, and what their new contract review product does to catch a buyer's price change buried in a six-figure PO before it becomes a costly mistake.
If your inspectors are your constraint and your smartest people are stuck on manual data entry, this one is for you.
What's Covered in this Episode
(1:02) Meet Mehul Shah, co-founder of Ground Control: Why Mehul chose manufacturing
(5:20) Why manufacturing runs on Excel, and the real reason software never fit the shop floor
(6:04) ITAR, DFARS, CMMC, CUI, and the infrastructure tax on regulated software
(9:07) Mission critical software and the three tests Ground Control uses to pick a workflow
(10:43) Invest in yourself first with ProShop ERP
(12:19) Finding the wedge, and why first article inspection was the obvious first product
(13:49) How first article really works at Hill, and why it becomes the daily bottleneck
(15:53) Why the FAI is critical, process verification before you can ship and collect
(16:35) Why now, defense budgets, the SpaceX IPO, the space race, and reshoring
(18:29) LLMs let manufacturers build in-house, and when it still makes sense to buy
(19:30) Build on standards and a solid data heartbeat, then augment with AI
(21:07) A rocket ship, 200-plus customers in two years, including five public companies
(22:18) Growing into demand and the hard part of turning down the wrong work
(23:39) The seven habits of highly effective work holding with SMW Autoblok
(24:22) Avoiding the solution looking for a problem, and how the idea took shape
(25:53) Building GroundControl from the ground up and becoming compliant
(28:07) The importance of trade shows and building in-person relationships
(31:55) The story behind the name Ground Control (and a nod to Major Tom)
(35:20) Turn AI buzzwords into outcomes at the IMTS Industrial AI Conference
(36:06) Developing out the GroundControl software and finding their MVP
(39:32) The ProShop integration: One click from ballooning to master process control
(42:39) AI will not replace you, but the person using AI might
(46:30) Introducing contract review and catching PO errors
(49:37) The visitor check-in system (ITAR sign-in without the 20-year-old paper pad)
(52:16) What Mehul is most excited about, FedRAMP, and the road to IMTS
Resources Mentioned
Ground Control
ProShop ERP
SMW Autoblok
IMTS Industrial AI Conference
Connect with Mehul Shah
Connect with Mehul on LinkedIn
GroundControl
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Most shops treat lean like a poster on the break room wall. Andrew Henry runs it like a competitive weapon. He built Henry Holsters into a company that ships around 55,000 orders a year, most of them the same day they come in, without stacks of work in process piling up on every bench.
We caught up with Andrew at the Summit on the Summit, and the conversation kept circling back to one idea: The waste hiding in your shop usually is not the machine, but everything happening around the machine. He walks us through the custom vacuum former he eventually scrapped for parts, the moment "Two Second Lean" flipped a switch in his head, and the shift to one-piece flow that changed how his team works.
We also dig into how he is putting AI to work right now, not someday. Re-pricing a newly acquired customer's parts in an afternoon instead of weeks. Scanning thousands of lines of inventory to surface dead stock and ERP errors. Using it as a sparring partner to keep high-stakes customer emails firm but professional. And yes, spending an afternoon fighting with a coding tool just to understand what it can actually do.
There is a bigger theme running underneath all of it. Ten years after a lot of us met at our first IMTS, the shops that keep showing up, keep learning, and keep trying things are the ones still standing. The ones who decided they were too busy to leave the shop are a different story.
If you have ever told yourself you do not have time for a morning meeting, a trade show, or an afternoon with a new tool, this episode is a friendly shove in the other direction.
What's Covered in this Episode
(1:26) Meet Andrew Henry of Henry Holsters, a lean guru and Workflow automation fan
(2:40) Why Andrew bought a Matsuura MX-420 PC10 and what sold him on Hennig's Workflow
(3:46) Ten years since our first IMTS: who grew, who is gone, and why
(5:25) The pace of change, when 5-axis, automation, and AI all hit at once
(8:06) A gondola conversation on why he cannot afford to skip summits and trade shows
(9:53) IMTS Industrial AI Conference: reality-based AI for the factory floor
(10:40) "I do not have time…"and why that thinking is backwards
(12:47) Using AI to re-price a newly acquired customer's parts in an afternoon
(16:31) Turning AI loose on inventory data to find dead stock and ERP errors
(18:22) Making people show their work with AI as a required thinking partner
(20:25) AI as a diplomat for high-stakes, antagonistic customer emails
(24:08) Take your shop to the next level with DN Solutions
(25:20) Andrew Henry's accidental path to a CNC shop
(27:37) Buying a Matsuura for injection mold work and foundational problems to tackle
(29:26) The dream of closed-loop, self-correcting machining
(33:03) People should not wait on machines, the chaku-chaku principle
(33:55) Twin Table Brother cells, vacuum fixtures, and the case against batching
(38:58) Find manufacturing leaders who actually fit with Hire MFG Leaders
(39:27) Make-to-stock, make-to-order, and any color as long as it is black
(40:20) What FastCap taught us and going all in on one-piece flow
(44:23) Ownership and pride when one person makes the whole part
(45:47) Triag Swiss Modular and machinists who own their machines
(46:48) Why you cannot get everyone bought in (and why it's okay)
(48:25) How the morning meeting really works, the cobra effect, and why bad incentives break your culture
(52:41) The eight wastes, and why seeing the problem beats memorizing the acronym
(54:05) "I can't" versus "how could we," closing the gap without hearing no
(55:53) Andrew's Lean Built Podcast and the LinkedIn AI slop problem
Resources Mentioned
Henry Holsters
Lean Built Podcast
IMTS Industrial AI Conference
DN Solutions
Hire MFG Leaders
Book: Two Second Lean
Triag Swiss Modular
Connect with Andrew Henry
Henry Holsters
Connect on LinkedIn
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Every shop owner knows the workforce problem by heart. The trades got denigrated, tech ed programs got gutted, and a whole generation of kids never found out that a manufacturing career was even an option. We have all heard that speech a hundred times. What we rarely hear is a practical, repeatable way to actually fix it.
In this GenCNC series episode, we sit down with two people who built one. Dave Hataj is the second-generation owner of Edgerton Gear and the founder of Craftsman with Character, a semester-long program that pairs job shadowing with a character and worldview curriculum. Courtney Silver runs Ketchie in North Carolina, where she and her husband Andy took Dave's curriculum and launched their own version, Opportunity Knocks.
The through line is simple. Kids are starving for two things, purpose and community, and the shop floor is one of the best places on earth to give them both. Dave shares how a 2014 experiment with ten students grew into a Navy-funded program running across multiple states. Courtney shows why it is far less of a lift than you would think, roughly two hours a week for fourteen weeks with a handful of students.
We also get into the payoff owners do not expect. Reverse mentoring from young employees, a culture where machinists suddenly want to be on camera, productivity that climbs year over year, and stories like Miguel, a first-generation immigrant who fell in love with the trade, worked six to ten in the morning before school, and just bought his first home.
If you have ever done a plant tour for a school and wondered whether it actually mattered, this one reframes the whole thing. As Dave puts it, we make gears as a vehicle to invest in people.
What's Covered in this Episode
(2:48) Dave on the origins of Craftsman with Character as a second-generation owner of Edgerton Gear
(7:02) The Navy's two million dollar, three-year contract to take the program national
(8:30) Inside the Craftsman Code, from I'm not the center of the universe to the world needs me
(10:30) Why you need to head to Kennametal's booth at IMTS
(11:37) Courtney on discovering Dave's work during COVID and launching Opportunity Knocks
(15:25) Why it's not a big lift: twenty team members, six students, two hours a week
(17:11) Continuous improvement: field trips, supply chain tours, and a Mastercam capstone part
(23:31) Reverse mentoring and the young energy that re-energizes the team
(24:40) Twelve years of rising productivity from more engaged, purpose-driven employees
(26:17) The DN Solutions install video shot by interns (and a new content culture)
(29:26) Breakfast, gratitude, and the lesson on showing up on time
(30:30) Turn website visitors into buyers with Navu's AI chat
(31:42) Learn more about Miguel, a first-generation immigrant who fell in love with the trade
(34:10) Break room culture and crews that stick around after shift
(37:01) From feeling less than to finding a joyful place to belong
(39:16) The mindset flip: we make gears as a vehicle to invest in people
(40:07) Get in the room: the Job Shops Workshop and reception at IMTS
(40:58) Miguel buying his first home, and the ripple effect on a community
(42:56) How to start, facilitator and mentor training, plus a track for shops without a school partner
(45:00) Manufacturers as an army that can heal society by being the hero for one kid
(48:52) Practical encouragement to start now
Resources Mentioned
Craftsman with Character
Edgerton Gear
Ketchie
The Craftsman Code by Dave Hataj
Machine Shop Mastery, Episode 106 with Dave Hataj
Kennametal
Navu
IMTS
Oscar Mike Foundation
Connect with Dave Hataj & Courtney Silver
Dave Hataj, Edgerton Gear
Craftsman with Character
Courtney Silver, Ketchie
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IMTS is 1.2 million square feet spread across six days, and the average visitor only spends about 2.7 of them on the floor. That math is exactly why walking in without a plan means seeing a fraction of what you came for. In this episode we sit down with Bonnie Gurney and Michelle Edmondson from AMT, the team that builds IMTS, to talk through how to actually get value out of the biggest manufacturing show in the country.
We're about six and a half weeks out and registration is running 29% ahead of 2024, so the energy is real. Bonnie and Michelle break down what's new for the 100th anniversary show: the 10 technology sectors, the Industrial AI arena with 40 first-time exhibitors, a bigger defense presence, and a conference lineup, from Elevate to the job shop and LATAM tracks, that too many people still treat as a hidden gem.
We also make the case for why you should go even if you're not buying this year. As Mike puts it, you don't have time not to go. You go to see the solutions you'll need in two or three years, the way he spotted a machine tending robot in 2018 and finally bought it in 2022. And this year, a plan-my-route feature built into the floor plan app is a genuinely practical use of AI.
There's plenty happening on the floor too, from the main stage schedule and the 100-year history of the show to the machine tool we're giving away with DN Solutions and Kennametal. Mostly, though, this is a conversation about showing up prepared and getting the most out of your days in Chicago.
If you're heading to IMTS 2026, this is the planning conversation to hear first. Come find us in the Hennig booth, and let's make some chips.
What's Covered in this Episode
(0:00) Why every visitor needs a game plan before the doors open
(1:21) Six and a half weeks out, with registration up 29% over 2024
(3:25) The scale of IMTS: 1.2 million square feet and 500-plus semis a day
(7:56) The August 5th pre-IMTS party for Oscar Mike and the Manufacturing Pathways Consortium
(10:04) Elevate: powered by AMT and Women in Manufacturing
(10:56) What's new: the 10 technology sectors that map the show floor
(13:00) Why the conference and education lineup is the show's hidden gem
(17:58) Learn more about Elevate, the Women in manufacturing conference
(20:45) Kennametal's Next Level Shop and a bike giveaway on the show floor
(21:47) 100 years of IMTS, from a 62,000 square foot science fair in 1927
(27:06) The main stage schedule: capital decisions, AI, and the coolest stuff we saw
(28:31) How the machine giveaway works: register, collect chips, earn entries, win Friday
(31:09) Find your next leader with Hire MFG Leaders
(31:38) Why "you don't have time not to go" is the real case for IMTS
(35:47) A practical AI use case: let the floor plan app build your route
(37:48) Poll your team: What should you look for at IMTS?
(39:17) The biggest changes coming to IMTS 2026
Resources Mentioned
IMTS 2026
Register for the IMTS machine giveaway: https://www.makingchips.com
Hire MFG Leaders
Elevate, powered by AMT and Women in Manufacturing
DN Solutions
Oscar Mike Foundation
Manufacturing Pathways Consortium
Connect with Bonnie Gurney & Michelle Edmondson
IMTS
AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology
IMTS on LinkedIn
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Most machine shop owners spend twenty years learning the lesson Stone figured out before he turned 21: get great at one thing, and say no to almost everything else. He bought his first CNC at 15 to make knife handles, started taking billable work at 19, and now runs a precision shop in North Phoenix that goes after the tight-tolerance medical work a lot of shops won't touch.
This one is part of our GenCNC series, and our co-host Nush, who's part of this generation herself, jumps in with the questions the rest of us wish we'd asked at that age.
We get into how he actually built it: growing on cash flow and machine loans instead of outside investors, learning to program after hours with a tool and die mentor, and figuring out how to price work when you're brand new and have no idea what the market will bear. Stone's edge isn't a secret process. It's consistency, a refusal to send anything out of spec, and a willingness to take on parts he doesn't yet know how to make.
He's also refreshingly honest about the parts nobody posts. The crashes, the jobs that go sideways, the days the whole thing feels like it's crumbling. His answer is mentors, a tight network of shop owners who actually pick up the phone, and the discipline to keep the lows from getting too low.
Whether you're thinking about starting a shop or you've run one for thirty years, there's something here. Know where to spend money and where not to. Build a small team of people you can pay well. And find the niche where being excellent actually pays. That's making chips.
What's Covered in this Episode
(0:52) Kicking off another GenCNC episode with co-host Nush
(1:29) Meet Stone: from reselling balisong knives and 3D printing to buying a Tormach 440 at 15
(4:21) Quitting two jobs to go all in at 19 (and quickly building a team)
(6:41) Solve your biggest headache with CLA
(7:50) Funding growth through profit and machine loans, not investors
(11:04) Moving out of the garage and into a commercial space
(12:11) Learning to program after hours with mentor John Schaefer
(13:34) The art and science of quoting and pricing work
(16:25) Focus on what you're good at instead of chasing every job
(18:16) Why consistency and never shipping out-of-spec parts wins customers
(21:45) Why young entrepreneurs need to be on LinkedIn
(23:17) The opportunity gap and getting young people into manufacturing
(25:27) How Stone started building his team (and who does what)
(27:15) Find people who actually fit with Hire MFG Leaders
(27:44) The process of hiring employees (and the paperwork that comes with it)
(30:01) How saying yes to jobs you don't know how to do can pay off
(32:25) It's never too late for a mentor—at any stage of your career
(36:45) Success is perseverance and the mental game, not just great parts
(39:44) Advice for young shop owners: know where to spend money
(42:15) Expanding to a bigger building and going after big work with a VF-9
(43:20) Take your shop to the next level with DN Solutions
(44:33) The five-year vision: five employees, twelve machines, automation
(53:00) Why 100% inspection and a CMM are worth it
Resources Mentioned
ST1 Precision
ProShop ERP
Xometry
Tormach
Haas Automation
Saunders Machine Works
CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen)
Hire MFG Leaders
DN Solutions
Connect with Stone
ST1 Precision
Connect with MakingChips
Website: www.MakingChips.com
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