00:00:00:00 – 00:00:07:23
Unknown
I saw what pro shop was, and I saw the picks and clicks because I almost don’t listen to what people are saying at first.
00:00:07:23 – 00:00:16:25
Unknown
I look at the picks and clicks and does it do what it needs to and does it do it effectively? And that immediately stood out to me with Pro Shop.
00:00:16:25 – 00:00:43:02
Unknown
Welcome to the Manufacturing Transformed podcast, where we dive deep into the world of manufacturing and uncover the transformational journeys of companies that are powered by Pro Shop by Pro Shop. Get ready to explore the stories behind the machines, the people, and the innovations shaping the future of this industry. Welcome to manufacturing transform real shops. Real stories.
00:00:43:02 – 00:01:09:09
Unknown
Hey there, my friends. Welcome to another episode of Manufacturing Transformed. Today, I had such an incredibly delightful conversation. I know I say that every time, but I just love these conversations so much. With C.J. Abraham from PPD Precision Product Development, Inc., or LLC. Excuse me? Down in, Orange County, California. And I think C.J. is an absolute genius.
00:01:09:09 – 00:01:41:02
Unknown
He is well known in the industry. He used to work at Autodesk, made a lot of videos, and did some very public facing things. But he has now had PPD since 2017. In total, but really since 2020, in the state that it is today doing very high volume, relatively speaking, for a job shop, precision machining, a very small components, less than, you know, a couple inches squared, typically, less than an inch squared in many cases.
00:01:41:04 – 00:02:06:07
Unknown
The systems that he has built with his Wilman, machines and other another small, very fast, 30 tape or tape machine, is absolutely next level. You know, he shared on the show that he, he just ran an order of I think 8500 parts. The machine ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week for six weeks straight.
00:02:06:07 – 00:02:43:06
Unknown
Not a single minute of downtime in six weeks. That is efficiency. And that requires a huge level of documentation and discipline and process to make sure you can run for six weeks without, having to stop things. Truly impressive. And it’s it’s amazing that he uses pro shop to a very great degree. You know, I’d say probably higher than average for, for, if I’m being honest about, you know, a lot of our sort of typical cross-section of clients, he is deep into pretty much every aspect of the system.
00:02:43:08 – 00:03:01:28
Unknown
And just recently passed his ass 90, 100. So he’s all excited about that. I’m excited to see where he grows next. But it was a really fun conversation. There’s a lot of, I think, interesting takeaways. And, I’ll call it some unconventional thinking that C.J. has, but it clearly works. And I know there’s some takeaways that you will find useful.
00:03:01:28 – 00:03:07:06
Unknown
So, without further ado, let’s go. Have this really fun conversation with C.J..
00:03:07:06 – 00:03:14:25
Unknown
C.J., I am so excited to talk to you today. Welcome to the show and thank you for being here.
00:03:14:27 – 00:03:43:19
Unknown
Yeah. So, you and I have known each other for a few years now. I know you have quite the quite the following. Starting with your in your days, at, at Autodesk. And but at the same time, you’ve been fairly secretive about exactly how you, what you’re doing in your business, and you just recently had a very cool new milestone, and said, I’m ready to be a little bit more public, about what I’m doing over here.
00:03:43:20 – 00:04:18:23
Unknown
So first of all, let’s, for those that don’t know. Yeah. Introduce yourself. Tell us about PPD. What you specialize in. And then we’ll dig into more after that.
00:04:18:25 – 00:04:40:04
Unknown
Yeah. And Barford. Highly automated. Yeah. So, how how did you decide to create, create PPD? Can I just call it PPD? Is that easy? For sure. That’s what’s on your shirt. So it’s on your shirt. So you also. Oh, nice.
00:04:40:06 – 00:04:47:16
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. Very good.
00:05:45:10 – 00:06:15:03
Unknown
Yeah. Yep.
00:06:23:06 – 00:06:29:05
Unknown
Right.
00:06:29:07 – 00:06:37:02
Unknown
And you can imagine.
00:06:52:02 – 00:07:01:10
Unknown
Okay.
00:07:25:10 – 00:07:35:26
Unknown
No. It’s perfect.
00:07:48:08 – 00:08:04:13
Unknown
Yeah.
00:08:14:19 – 00:08:21:00
Unknown
Yeah. You’re,
00:08:21:03 – 00:08:58:28
Unknown
Well you know, having, having, you know, been into hundreds of shops and known many shop leaders and owners. I can, I can say that, you know, and I know you have to. So you’re, you know, obviously super duper humble, but what you’re doing is, is absolutely next level. It’s, it’s it’s absolutely just amazing. And so if it takes that if it took that third party validation of an auditor saying, yep, you are approved, to give you that confidence that you are totally legit and are actually, you know, a real, a real life business.
00:08:59:00 – 00:09:25:21
Unknown
Then and so be it. But, yeah, congratulations on that. That’s, that’s a very cool milestone. We will we will get into that. Yeah. And, you know, Kelly and and the pro shop Flying start package and all those things have been instrumental in helping you do that. Let’s back up again. And, talk about 2020.
00:09:25:23 – 00:09:42:27
Unknown
And why a one person shop is in the is in the market for an ERP that’s not coming.
00:09:43:00 – 00:09:46:16
Unknown
Yep.
00:09:59:04 – 00:10:19:23
Unknown
Right.
00:10:40:28 – 00:10:51:10
Unknown
I love that term.
00:11:22:24 – 00:11:51:23
Unknown
Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well I think the, the the insight that since you were serving this industry you’d want it to be compliant because there’s plenty of companies that try to be compliant with spreadsheets and Airtable and whatever else, little databases they create. So you know I think they’re probably tripping over dollars to pick up dimes, quite honestly, trying to reverse engineer and create their own systems.
00:11:51:25 – 00:12:14:04
Unknown
Obviously that’s what our shop did. So I can’t, I can’t say that’s not, a good option sometimes. But, but, yeah, like, kudos on deciding that you don’t want to be in the software business and just focus on delivering quality parts on time. You know, at a fair price. And, and, buy the tools to do that.
00:12:14:07 – 00:12:42:25
Unknown
Let’s talk about the elements for a minute. A lot of people probably don’t even know exactly how they work or what they do. Can you describe for us imagine people didn’t they know what they know machining, but they don’t know what elements specifically.
00:13:27:20 – 00:13:44:25
Unknown
Got it. Right. Yeah. Because they can’t typically part take the do that sort of parts capture parts. You know hand off and then finish machine it without taking it out of the machine and refactoring it. Typically. Typical.
00:14:04:22 – 00:14:35:16
Unknown
Right. And so there’s a lot of concepts I think with traditional lean manufacturing that come into play here. Right. You don’t have 300 pieces of web that are half finished and something goes wrong, and now you have to scrap 300 pieces of material, or half or half finished parts. And is it the case that the will in is because some people would say, well, you know, even just your tool changes and your rapids are going to add enough cycle time.
00:14:35:18 – 00:15:06:17
Unknown
Compared to a big pallet, you know, where you just jump in right between parts next to each other? As I know the element is incredibly fast. Is that one of the ways that mitigates that? And just you can have, you know, really high spindle up time, or putting in, in. Yeah. In the cut. Yeah.
00:15:06:19 – 00:15:14:24
Unknown
Yeah.
00:15:29:13 – 00:15:39:26
Unknown
Right.
00:15:39:29 – 00:16:03:28
Unknown
Besides the one I mentioned where you might have a problem partway through your entire pallet. What are the other arguments for doing it your way.
00:16:27:16 – 00:16:34:28
Unknown
Got it.
00:16:35:00 – 00:16:42:07
Unknown
Right. Right.
00:16:42:09 – 00:16:54:12
Unknown
Sure.
00:16:59:28 – 00:17:09:14
Unknown
Got it.
00:17:09:16 – 00:17:19:09
Unknown
And proven programs are already still there. Or do you swap those in and out as well.
00:17:19:11 – 00:17:25:11
Unknown
Got it.
00:17:37:12 – 00:18:09:21
Unknown
Yep. Yep. Very good. Yeah. No I can see I can easily you know, see just having been a student of, of lean and sort of waste reduction and the different types of waste, how you know, even if someone could argue that if they had 300 pallets that they could save a quarter of a second jumping between two parts at the end of the week, you have far higher spindle up time than that other system, even if they’re sprinting in between each part really, really quick.
00:18:09:23 – 00:18:50:28
Unknown
You know, and, yeah, when I heard you talk about how much spindle up time you actually were achieving, it’s pretty mind blowing. Can you kind of summarize that for folks?
00:18:51:00 – 00:18:58:27
Unknown
Yep.
00:18:58:29 – 00:19:05:26
Unknown
Never. Never stopped. Never stopped.
00:19:17:10 – 00:19:37:09
Unknown
Wow.
00:19:37:11 – 00:19:55:01
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah, it for sure is, That is remarkable. Six weeks straight of continuous production. Most aluminum or to to a life. How do you manage to a life? You swap out tools on a after so much cut time or.
00:19:55:03 – 00:20:06:19
Unknown
Titanium. Wow.
00:20:06:22 – 00:20:14:13
Unknown
Wow.
00:20:28:09 – 00:20:56:05
Unknown
Two years.
00:20:56:07 – 00:21:06:14
Unknown
Yep. Yep.
00:21:06:16 – 00:21:13:25
Unknown
Right.
00:21:13:27 – 00:21:24:24
Unknown
Right.
00:21:24:26 – 00:21:27:26
Unknown
Right.
00:21:27:28 – 00:21:46:25
Unknown
Right. So did are you seeing extraordinary to a life on your titanium parts as well. Or did you, does it just have a number of cycles or minutes of cutting. And then it’ll just swap out to an alternate tool or what’s it doing there.
00:21:46:28 – 00:22:01:22
Unknown
Right. Okay. Yeah.
00:22:01:25 – 00:22:07:24
Unknown
Okay.
00:22:07:26 – 00:22:18:02
Unknown
Well.
00:22:26:29 – 00:22:35:25
Unknown
No kidding.
00:22:35:27 – 00:22:40:06
Unknown
Sure.
00:22:40:08 – 00:23:08:04
Unknown
Right. Sure, sure. Wow. Well, that is, Yeah, that that is super impressive. Tell me about how you use pro shop. You know, again, it’s it’s, sort of an, I think an untraditional, approach to have a one person company have an ERP. You know, you did talk about sort of why with all the aerospace requirements.
00:23:08:04 – 00:24:00:05
Unknown
So that makes a ton of sense. But you’re you’re doing more than just the bare minimum to, you know, serve the the as standard, right. I mean, you’re into tool management. You’re into. So many things. You probably more than I even know. Can you elaborate on why those are important to you and why you do them?
00:24:42:25 – 00:25:10:16
Unknown
Right. Yep. So can you, for those that, may not understand the tooling in RTA modules and the transferring. Can you just describe me in a little bit of how you actually use that and what that looks like?
00:25:23:23 – 00:25:30:02
Unknown
Yeah.
00:25:57:15 – 00:26:23:04
Unknown
Yep.
00:26:35:08 – 00:26:57:04
Unknown
Right. Yeah.
00:27:04:21 – 00:27:09:13
Unknown
Right.
00:27:09:15 – 00:27:35:01
Unknown
Right. Yeah. Sure. So you’re you’re using that G code parsing tool because you quickly went over that. But some people might not even know what that means for pro shop. But so you’re, you’re outputting the proper tool notes and descriptions and, and and in your cam system, you have the same tool ID numbers. That is your pro shop tool lady number.
00:27:35:03 – 00:27:59:08
Unknown
So therefore it all links together. And and parsing that, that G code ultimately gives you a tool list for each machining sequence we call it. Right. Now, in your system, just with the elements is, is what you do on the first star. Is that like your first machining operation? And then and you grab it with the hand off base.
00:27:59:08 – 00:28:04:18
Unknown
Is that your second or is it all one?
00:28:04:20 – 00:28:18:05
Unknown
Okay. Yeah. Yep.
00:28:18:07 – 00:28:26:28
Unknown
Right.
00:28:27:01 – 00:28:44:08
Unknown
Right. Got it. Okay. So you have one set of tools and Tas and then you use the extension length arch aspect of the Tas.
00:28:44:10 – 00:28:57:21
Unknown
Okay.
00:28:57:24 – 00:29:03:08
Unknown
Yeah.
00:29:27:07 – 00:29:57:18
Unknown
Oh, nice. Sure. Nice. So when you load up a tool into a holder, or you just using a scale or a caliper just to make sure you’re, you know, within ten fou of what you’re supposed to be or, at least that minimum scale. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Yeah, yeah. Sure. Yeah. For sure.
00:30:02:18 – 00:30:09:21
Unknown
Right.
00:30:09:23 – 00:30:21:02
Unknown
Right. Sure.
00:30:21:04 – 00:30:35:28
Unknown
Right.
00:30:41:00 – 00:31:25:09
Unknown
Right. Sure. Sure. So you mentioned, when you work on volumes of this, this level, and you try to go unattended, you tease out all the gremlins, all the things that are going to happen. Right. And you mentioned chips getting packed up weird and coolant and obviously, you know, tool lengths being proper. What other things have you learned, that you really have to be cognizant of and build a system for, to get that maximum unattended running?
00:31:56:07 – 00:32:02:22
Unknown
Right.
00:32:37:15 – 00:32:55:15
Unknown
Right.
00:33:00:18 – 00:33:31:16
Unknown
Yeah. That’s pretty slick. That’s very cool. At amt yes I did swing by and talk with the guys at 168 manufacturing. And their new total shop system is mind blowing for I think for, you know, a bigger company with, with many, many machines with a really simple system for, you know, maintaining, all of it, you know, concentration and volume and, and all those things, super slick, but sounds like you haven’t dialed in.
00:33:31:18 – 00:33:54:07
Unknown
One thing that I thought was really fascinating with their, the pressure sensor that that they drop into each sump to, you know, to check level is so sensitive that it can basically pick up, when the pump is running. So because you can see, just like slight variations of the coolant, you know, filling and draining and filling and whatever.
00:33:54:13 – 00:34:14:16
Unknown
So when you look at that over time on a graph, you can basically tell exactly when the machines are running or not running based on coolant level. So it’s almost like a machine. It’s almost like machine monitoring by coolant, not by anything out of the control. Anyway, I just.
00:34:14:18 – 00:34:21:19
Unknown
Oh, sure. Sure. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
00:34:21:22 – 00:34:29:25
Unknown
Sure. Yeah.
00:34:29:27 – 00:34:33:09
Unknown
Yeah.
00:34:33:12 – 00:35:42:10
Unknown
Oh, I think it’s it’s brilliant. Yeah, it’s brilliant and savvy. And, I love the fact that it came from your background with, with, aquariums and stuff. That’s super cool. Tell me, let’s let’s talk about getting a certified. What? Yeah. What was was what was involved with that? How long did it take? How did we help you versus doing it on your own?
00:35:55:20 – 00:36:15:15
Unknown
Got it.
00:36:15:17 – 00:36:26:03
Unknown
In.
00:36:26:06 – 00:36:30:23
Unknown
Sure. Yeah.
00:36:52:17 – 00:37:11:01
Unknown
Yeah.
00:37:11:04 – 00:37:19:07
Unknown
Okay. Okay.
00:37:19:10 – 00:37:47:25
Unknown
That is awesome. Now obviously you had been running your company using all of these you know features, functions, your quality, your checking your, you know, calibration of your instruments and gauges. So you had a lot of work order records and equipment records to fall back on. You didn’t have to build this, build a bunch of those. So is it really just making sure that you were checking every box, sort of, gap audit internal sort of audit that she may have done with you?
00:37:47:27 – 00:38:10:18
Unknown
And then going and making sure everything was checked and then scheduling the stage one. Was it really as simple as that?
00:38:27:23 – 00:38:42:16
Unknown
Right.
00:38:42:19 – 00:38:54:22
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So were you doing things like management review meetings where you just sit down with yourself and kind of. Okay.
00:38:54:24 – 00:39:08:26
Unknown
Got it.
00:39:08:28 – 00:39:24:29
Unknown
Okay.
00:39:25:01 – 00:39:37:13
Unknown
Sure. Right.
00:39:37:15 – 00:39:43:23
Unknown
And had.
00:39:43:26 – 00:39:59:15
Unknown
Right. Right. So I imagine your quality is exceedingly high, but did you do you occasionally have encores and would you do them? Yeah. So? So do you.
00:39:59:17 – 00:40:28:03
Unknown
It’s. Thankfully, the materials only sense. Not, you know, not, not big dollars, but, interesting. Okay, so you are making encores and and do you even, like, issue a corrective action to yourself if you find a big problem?
00:40:52:02 – 00:40:57:26
Unknown
That’s funny. And it’s funny.
00:40:57:29 – 00:41:11:08
Unknown
Right. Sure, sure.
00:41:11:10 – 00:41:19:14
Unknown
Right.
00:41:19:17 – 00:41:26:14
Unknown
Sure.
00:41:26:16 – 00:41:34:12
Unknown
Sure.
00:41:34:14 – 00:42:06:13
Unknown
Well, I don’t think, you know, in and of itself, a corrective action is something to be embarrassed about. It’s, it’s, it’s using a good tool to improve your processes. Which, you know, no company in the history of companies has ever had perfect processes that resulted in 100% perfect quality. So it’s going to happen. Now, if you have dozens and dozens of cars and they’re all outstanding and, you know, you’re clearly not making progress, on improving things, that’s maybe something to be, embarrassed about.
00:42:06:13 – 00:42:18:29
Unknown
But, but yeah, not when used as an effective tool for sure.
00:42:19:01 – 00:42:24:13
Unknown
Sure. Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:24:15 – 00:42:51:21
Unknown
Right. Yeah. Yeah. And I can just tell, knowing you that. Yeah, you are, You care a lot about about everything related to your business and your customer’s experience and the quality of your parts and delivery and paperwork and everything. So, so that’s, that’s all good. I want to ask about your, you know, your move to, to grow and add more customers.
00:42:51:21 – 00:43:32:29
Unknown
So obviously you have a, a deep and long and sounds very solid relationship with, with your customer, but having, you know, whatever very large percentage of your business be with one company is just, you know, a risky spot from a statistical point of view. So this move to get as, and sort of, as you were saying before to sort of sort of grow to the next level, is partly that just a strategic diversification move.
00:43:51:09 – 00:43:56:10
Unknown
Right.
00:44:00:11 – 00:44:06:06
Unknown
Oh, congrats.
00:44:06:08 – 00:44:15:07
Unknown
Oh very cool. Very cool.
00:44:15:09 – 00:44:41:20
Unknown
Yeah. All over the place. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. Yeah. It’s you know we, we did that show back in the processing days a few times up. Been near Seattle and, you know, bringing your bringing your parts to show them, watch what you make. And setting them on your table is, you know, a common thing. It’s just funny to think that you could bring, you know, hundreds of parts to show in something that’s like, this big.
00:44:41:24 – 00:45:06:26
Unknown
You know, it’s not like, you know, like you need, a pallet or, or a, you know, anything. Right. Like that. That’s actually a great idea. Cool. And, Yeah. So I was just going to ask you already. You already mentioned it. So you’re really going to be looking for work that fits within this 100 millimeter cube?
00:45:06:29 – 00:45:30:12
Unknown
You know, higher volume. Part, you know, features from enough sides that you can really make a benefit of, those, those elements. Yeah. Do you see more willing ones in your future, or are you going to lean into that other pallet changing type of idea that you tried out?
00:45:30:14 – 00:45:43:00
Unknown
Got it. Yeah.
00:45:48:19 – 00:45:52:24
Unknown
Right.
00:45:52:27 – 00:45:57:22
Unknown
I.
00:45:57:24 – 00:46:17:23
Unknown
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah I was going to say they’re not, they’re not inexpensive at all. Was it a big leap to get that first one. When your customer was saying it was saying we want you to make these parts.
00:46:17:25 – 00:46:35:14
Unknown
Got it. Okay. And they partnered with you on that. So there was really that level of trust. Yeah. That’s cool. That’s very cool.
00:46:35:16 – 00:46:49:22
Unknown
Right now, I don’t think I know this. Were you running your business for any number of months or years before you got pro shop?
00:46:49:25 – 00:46:58:26
Unknown
Kind of. Okay. Okay.
00:46:58:28 – 00:47:05:06
Unknown
Okay.
00:47:05:08 – 00:47:15:01
Unknown
Yeah. Sure. Sure.
00:47:15:04 – 00:47:35:26
Unknown
So back in the prototype days, did you, did you have some more manual systems that you adhered to? Religiously. Like you would make a, make a job traveler and you would print it out and you had like, you seem like a guy that really is, you know, love building and building robust systems and really adhering to them.
00:47:36:00 – 00:47:44:19
Unknown
So did you have that prior to Pro Shop? Just different in whatever you were doing?
00:47:44:22 – 00:47:48:25
Unknown
Okay.
00:47:48:27 – 00:48:00:01
Unknown
Okay.
00:48:05:16 – 00:48:16:21
Unknown
Okay.
00:48:16:23 – 00:48:32:13
Unknown
Right. Yeah.
00:48:32:16 – 00:48:48:26
Unknown
Got it. Yeah. Sure.
00:48:48:29 – 00:48:59:00
Unknown
So.
00:48:59:02 – 00:49:14:14
Unknown
I like that sentiment. Yeah. Kind of like the assert gives you some legitimacy. Like having a full fledged ERP that you use. Well. Does it feel the same way in some ways.
00:49:14:16 – 00:49:36:04
Unknown
Well because you passed with you pass the audit with flying colors, you were already on to something. But again, the third party validation that that other companies around the world acknowledge is, is a wonderful thing. You mentioned that you showed up to your customer and they were really pleased with, what it offered for your operations.
00:49:36:04 – 00:50:11:00
Unknown
And maybe that it was even better than what they used. But I’d love to chat with them, by the way. But, Why do you think? Do you think I I’m. This is a leading question, but, you know, I’ve had this this belief for a long, long time. After having talked with a a senior aerospace buyer years ago about risk and about systems and about, you know, their trust as a buyer, you know, their trust level with the supplier.
00:50:11:02 – 00:50:48:02
Unknown
What was it do you think about them seeing your system that gave them that level of comfort that you were good and you didn’t? They didn’t need to push that as certification on you too early.
00:50:48:04 – 00:50:55:20
Unknown
Sure.
00:50:55:22 – 00:51:03:16
Unknown
So many. Don’t.
00:51:09:17 – 00:51:14:28
Unknown
Right.
00:51:30:13 – 00:51:35:11
Unknown
Okay.
00:51:35:14 – 00:51:47:05
Unknown
Wow. That’s a lot of parts for a one man. Yeah. You are a machining army. That is cool.
00:51:47:07 – 00:52:07:19
Unknown
Sure.
00:52:07:21 – 00:52:15:27
Unknown
Yeah. Right.
00:52:16:00 – 00:52:22:13
Unknown
Yeah. No that’s good. That’s that’s really important.
00:52:22:16 – 00:52:42:16
Unknown
Boy let me see. Just looking at my questions here. I want to ask a little bit about cyber security. So is this some of these parts go in the defense industry to defense applications. So are you going to need to be Cmmc certified?
00:52:42:18 – 00:52:59:10
Unknown
Okay. Yep. Yep. Sure. Yeah.
00:53:06:12 – 00:53:10:19
Unknown
Oh well. Okay.
00:53:10:21 – 00:53:20:02
Unknown
Okay.
00:53:20:05 – 00:53:46:08
Unknown
Right. Yeah. Okay. Awesome. But but but you know, we see a lot of variables out there of, you know, companies, you know, our customers where their customers are in seemingly identical types of businesses. Some of, some are all over them, doing like weekly calls about cmmc and others are like, here, fill out this form.
00:53:46:10 – 00:54:16:27
Unknown
And you’ll be fine. Like, they’re taking such different approaches. So it sounds like it hasn’t gotten quite a, in your face yet from your customer, but, undoubtedly it will, with the, with the rule going into effect probably in November or so. But, Good. That’s good. I usually ask, you know, what are some of the best strategic moves you’ve made as a business, that have made, you know.
00:54:16:29 – 00:55:02:10
Unknown
Appreciate that. Well, it’s an approach that maybe, Okay.
00:55:02:12 – 00:55:25:16
Unknown
Well, that’s a nice setting. Thank you. Yes. I will not tell that to, to our sales and accounting team. Yes. And it’s kind of like your bill. No, that’s you know, it’s it’s funny because as we have conversations with people, and I even see and, you know, in forums and chat rooms and stuff like that as well, people are like, you know, I’m, eight person shop.
00:55:25:16 – 00:56:14:00
Unknown
I can’t possibly afford an ERP. Right? It’s like way too much money. And I’m like.
00:56:14:02 – 00:56:19:27
Unknown
All right.
00:56:19:29 – 00:56:43:25
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. And it’s. I think the onus comes back on us to convey to people that the value truly can be there if they really buy into it and, you know, and sort of, use it to its full potential because, you know, I’ll be the first one to say, you know, we have we have shops that, you know, use pro shop quite extensively.
00:56:43:28 – 00:57:08:05
Unknown
Absolutely love it. And still have not decided to use the tooling module. Right. They’re like, oh, that’s just too much effort for that. For the return I’m going to get. And you’re like, it’s it’s absolutely essential. I couldn’t do my job without it. And so.
00:57:21:05 – 00:57:30:06
Unknown
Yeah.
00:57:30:08 – 00:57:51:02
Unknown
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure to use that purchasing tool does require some, some customization of your post. And we did that back using Master cam back in our, in our shop days. And that’s why we built that tool because it was so useful for, for building out that tool without having to manually type it in.
00:58:03:03 – 00:58:25:28
Unknown
Oh, that’s really nice of you. That’s very cool. Where do you post that or share that? Or how do you. Okay. Okay. Got it. Got it.
00:58:26:00 – 00:58:58:22
Unknown
Was super cool. Very nice offer. Well. C.J. This has been, really interesting. Fun, enlightening. Obviously, it’s it’s wonderful to hear how much Pro Shop has made an impact on your business. And, and I appreciate some of the insights into maybe untraditional ways of thinking about, running a business and using software that that you, you hold.
00:58:58:24 – 01:00:25:10
Unknown
For, for companies out there that are, maybe earlier on, even earlier than you on in their growth, of their business. Not pro shops specifically, but just in general. What are things that you would suggest they really make sure they focus on to ensure the that growth and long term viability of their shops?
01:00:46:16 – 01:01:12:10
Unknown
No. It’s good. Those are two. Those are two really solid ones. And I think ones that that are not always intuitive for people. In fact I just recorded another podcast this morning. And one of the it was really interesting. He said, when he was, it was a family business. Him and he was a senior, in college doing as an independent study.
01:01:12:11 – 01:01:44:02
Unknown
He decided to survey, the shop’s customers just to find out what they thought of the business. And he learned that they one of the most common pieces of feedback was we can never get anyone on the phone. And just that focus on customer communication, solving their problems, making sure you’re accessible and you know that is. And once he then joined the business full time and started working on that, their growth just started taking off more.
01:01:44:03 – 01:02:03:23
Unknown
Right. It wasn’t just a couple of, you know, his dad and his uncle, a couple of, you know, machinists in the back, you know, just doing their magic with machines. It was a real concerted focus on customer communication. Customer problem solving. You know, being really proactive. And so I think it dovetails perfectly with what you just said.
01:02:03:25 – 01:02:10:28
Unknown
And. Okay.
01:02:11:00 – 01:02:23:29
Unknown
Yeah.
01:02:29:05 – 01:02:49:26
Unknown
Yeah. Okay. That’s awesome. Yeah, I concur. Being responsive, being someone they can count on in a in a in a tough spot, even if they put themselves in that tough spot. Right. Forgetting to order something or having a rep change last minute or who knows what, right? Yeah. That responsiveness is, that was a cornerstone of of what we did.
01:02:49:28 – 01:03:16:24
Unknown
I think right at Pro CNC was just being Uber responsive. And yeah, people want to work with companies that are like that. So cool. We’ll slowly we’ll see. J. Congratulations on all the success, of PPD over the years. Clearly, you have a formula that is working really well. I hope it continues. I know it’ll continue to work well for years to come.
01:03:16:27 – 01:03:34:07
Unknown
It’ll be cool to see what you do with your twice as big a footprint. And, and just what you do over the next few years. But thanks for being on the show. So if people want to learn more, let’s say someone’s listening and they have lots of very small 100 by 100 cubed parts. They want to reach out.
01:03:34:08 – 01:03:55:21
Unknown
How would you suggest they reach out and find more about your company?
01:03:55:23 – 01:04:17:24
Unknow
Okay. Okay. Perfect. We will make sure all those links are in our show notes. But again, thank you for sharing your journey. Thanks for sharing the transformation. I think that clearly Pro Shop has had on your business, and, it’s. Yeah. Genuinely appreciate your, support, of what we’re doing here. So thank you. You bet. You bet.
01:04:17:25 – 01:04:21:02
Unknown
All right. Cheers. Have a great day.
