00:00:00:00 – 00:00:04:18
Unknown
don’t really think we were looking for an ERP. We were kind of just up against the struggle of
00:00:04:18 – 00:00:06:21
Unknown
just paperwork stacks like that,
00:00:06:21 – 00:00:12:04
Unknown
really, nobody used the paperwork. So then I had to try to find a way to file the paperwork in the back.
00:00:12:04 – 00:00:25:13
Unknown
And it was kind of like this process that was like going nowhere, but just to check boxes for, for ISO, pretty much like at the time we were, we’ve been ISO for maybe 2 or 3 years when we sign up for Pro shop.
00:00:25:13 – 00:00:29:16
Unknown
And so we were doing a lot of this stuff to check the box,
00:00:29:16 – 00:00:55:02
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.
00:00:55:02 – 00:00:59:11
Unknown
Hello my friends, and welcome to another episode of the Manufacturing Transform podcast.
00:00:59:11 – 00:01:20:18
Unknown
I’m your host, Paul Van Meter, and today I had a fantastic conversation with Nick Preece from Preece Machine and Assembly. I just love Nick story so much. He was basically an engineering student, ran across, some machining videos on YouTube, fell in love with the idea and bought a CNC machine, put it in his mom’s garage.
00:01:20:20 – 00:01:42:09
Unknown
But realized he had to rent a space to actually fit his, to fit his hobby, and then decided he had to make enough money off that machine to pay the rent. Just so he could keep doing his hobby. And what do you know? It turned into a full on business. And today they have several machines, including multi axis turning and five axis milling.
00:01:42:11 – 00:02:09:01
Unknown
And and they have been a pro shop customer for I think a little over two years now. And to say that pro shop has been transformational is certainly an understatement. He describes Pro Shop as the foundation of their business. They are building their business on pro shop. All their processes, everything. And, but, you know, to be totally candidate wasn’t totally a linear, you know, progression.
00:02:09:01 – 00:02:38:12
Unknown
You know, he said he’s a little bit stubborn. When he first got pro shop, there were some things that he still wanted to keep doing a different way. But really sort of bought in, sort of wholesale shortly after that and is, you know, really just leveraging everything they can in pro shop. So, it’s a cool story, of their business in general, but it’s super, rewarding for me to see how big of an impact it’s had on their business as they grow and build a really mature business there.
00:02:38:12 – 00:02:41:01
Unknown
So, without further ado,
00:02:41:01 – 00:02:45:15
Unknown
let’s hear what Nick has to say about, prison machining, assembly and pro shop.
00:02:45:15 – 00:03:02:06
Unknown
Nick, my friend. Good to see you here again on the Manufacturing Transform podcast. This time. How are you doing?
00:03:02:07 – 00:03:49:21
Unknown
Well, I always learn something talking to you as well. I love the approach you’re taking and growing your business. I love your origin story. I love everything about it. So for those that didn’t hear you on the Machine Shop Mastery podcast, why don’t you tell us a little bit about the origin of, press machine and assembly?
00:03:49:23 – 00:04:11:16
Unknown
Yeah. I love it.
00:04:11:17 – 00:04:22:10
Unknown
I’m.
00:04:22:12 – 00:04:49:10
Unknown
Yep.
00:04:59:19 – 00:05:12:02
Unknown
Yeah. Of course. Yeah. So. Yeah.
00:05:12:04 – 00:05:15:21
Unknown
Sure.
00:05:15:23 – 00:05:20:22
Unknown
Yeah.
00:05:21:00 – 00:05:42:02
Unknown
Right. So give us a rough timeline on this. When you got the first machine, when you decided to really start being a true machine shop, you know, started hiring your brother and other people as well.
00:05:42:04 – 00:05:49:13
Unknown
Okay. Okay.
00:05:49:15 – 00:06:04:07
Unknown
Yep.
00:06:04:09 – 00:06:07:16
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah.
00:06:07:18 – 00:06:21:02
Unknown
Sure. You keep doing your hobby.
00:06:21:04 – 00:06:26:09
Unknown
Yep.
00:06:26:11 – 00:06:34:12
Unknown
A little bit. Yep.
00:06:34:13 – 00:06:40:01
Unknown
Yep.
00:06:40:03 – 00:06:45:07
Unknown
Sure.
00:06:45:09 – 00:07:01:18
Unknown
Yeah. It’s a good pairing. It’s a really good pairing. And tell us a little bit about what your shop looks like today. How many machines, what types. Yeah.
00:07:01:20 – 00:07:05:18
Unknown
Okay.
00:07:05:20 – 00:07:16:04
Unknown
Yeah.
00:07:16:06 – 00:07:22:05
Unknown
Yep.
00:07:22:07 – 00:07:34:23
Unknown
Okay. And is that also a horse or what is that machine?
00:07:35:01 – 00:07:41:23
Unknown
Okay. Nice.
00:07:42:01 – 00:07:47:08
Unknown
Right.
00:07:47:10 – 00:08:05:01
Unknown
Very cool. Nice. Nice upgrade there. That’s very nice. And, And you specialize in, hard, hard stuff that other people don’t want to do.
00:08:14:05 – 00:08:25:05
Unknown
Right.
00:08:25:07 – 00:08:32:05
Unknown
Oh, well.
00:08:32:07 – 00:08:49:17
Unknown
Sure. You’re.
00:08:49:19 – 00:08:53:01
Unknown
Sure.
00:08:53:03 – 00:09:12:13
Unknown
And, Are those. Do you like projects like that? Because you can really invest in building a process, and then it, like, turns into some production or or you just really like digging in and solving hard problems.
00:09:19:05 – 00:09:31:23
Unknown
Sure.
00:09:32:01 – 00:09:59:06
Unknown
Got it. Got it. Okay. So let’s, let’s go back a little bit and paint a picture of what, what problems your shop was having or what things were you trying to solve when you decided you needed to look at an ERP like, pro shop?
00:09:59:08 – 00:10:05:08
Unknown
Okay.
00:10:25:04 – 00:10:32:06
Unknown
Yeah.
00:10:32:08 – 00:10:40:16
Unknown
Got it.
00:10:40:18 – 00:10:48:12
Unknown
Got it. Got it.
00:10:48:14 – 00:10:59:07
Unknown
Right.
00:10:59:09 – 00:11:20:09
Unknown
Sure. And a lot of that was for the compliance aspect of ISO. Right.
00:11:20:11 – 00:11:29:16
Unknown
Got it. Okay.
00:11:29:18 – 00:11:34:05
Unknown
Right.
00:11:34:07 – 00:11:39:00
Unknown
Sure. Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:39:02 – 00:11:49:07
Unknown
And did you look at a bunch of options and how did you ultimately decide on pro shop.
00:11:49:09 – 00:12:02:16
Unknown
Oh that’s right. That’s right.
00:12:13:20 – 00:12:19:03
Unknown
Right.
00:12:19:05 – 00:12:45:21
Unknown
22. Okay. So you have a little over two years ago. Got it. So, I guess suffice it to say, fulcrum just didn’t, didn’t check that box. It wasn’t, didn’t really integrate the QMS in the same way.
00:12:45:23 – 00:12:50:00
Unknown
Got it. Right. Sure.
00:12:50:02 – 00:12:57:01
Unknown
Yeah. Bunch of folders and just a folder structure. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.
00:12:57:03 – 00:13:08:23
Unknown
Sure. So, and then are you still just ISO or did you get your as I believe. Is that right?
00:13:09:01 – 00:13:13:04
Unknown
How did you, how did that go?
00:13:13:05 – 00:13:21:05
Unknown
Okay.
00:13:21:07 – 00:13:31:16
Unknown
Got it. Just kind of a minor type of thing.
00:13:31:18 – 00:13:34:11
Unknown
Oh. Got it.
00:13:34:13 – 00:13:38:21
Unknown
Sure.
00:13:38:23 – 00:14:18:23
Unknown
Sure. Yeah. Sure, sure. Yeah. I know we’re going to talk about Ncr’s a little bit later, so look forward to digging into that. So besides replacing fulcrum, were you still needing to have other spreadsheets, other systems, other just things to kind of manage other aspects of the business? Yeah. Like, I guess, how many things did you replace or got rid of?
00:14:19:01 – 00:14:27:14
Unknown
Yeah.
00:14:27:16 – 00:14:31:18
Unknown
Sure.
00:14:31:20 – 00:14:40:15
Unknown
Yeah. That’s super common. I’m glad you actually brought it up. So.
00:14:40:17 – 00:15:01:18
Unknown
Right. And so tell me a little bit about that journey of maybe opening your mind to, you know, our way of doing things over time. And, because I know sometimes we have clients that just jump right in with both feet on day one. Other times they, you know, dip their toes in, they do the minimum, and then they’re like, no, I’m not going to do cutting tools.
00:15:01:18 – 00:15:19:04
Unknown
I’m not going to do this or that or collaboration or whatever it might be. And then often, you know, months or a year or so later, they don’t really get a light bulb moment or is something just is like, gets too frustrating the straw that broke the camel’s back and they’re like, fine, I’m just going to go all in.
00:15:19:06 – 00:15:43:03
Unknown
Have you did you go on that journey a bit?
00:15:43:05 – 00:15:56:13
Unknown
Yep.
00:15:56:15 – 00:16:26:04
Unknown
Okay. And where did you. And where did you end up on?
00:16:26:06 – 00:16:29:09
Unknown
Okay.
00:16:29:11 – 00:16:34:13
Unknown
Got it.
00:16:34:15 – 00:16:40:12
Unknown
You know.
00:16:40:14 – 00:16:53:08
Unknown
Did. Did that connection finally come of how the modules all work together and.
00:17:10:13 – 00:17:19:14
Unknown
Interesting. Got it.
00:17:19:16 – 00:17:24:12
Unknown
Sure.
00:17:24:14 – 00:17:31:21
Unknown
Yep. Yep. Of course, of course.
00:17:31:23 – 00:17:51:12
Unknown
And what is that translated into? When you. When those jobs.
00:17:51:14 – 00:18:07:04
Unknown
Sure. That makes sense. Yep.
00:18:07:06 – 00:18:32:12
Unknown
And that sounds like that bridges the office as well as the shop floor, and kind of maybe melds them together in a more, more natural way.
00:18:44:00 – 00:18:51:06
Unknown
Yeah.
00:18:51:08 – 00:18:59:11
Unknown
Sure.
00:18:59:13 – 00:19:15:21
Unknown
Sure.
00:19:21:01 – 00:19:26:04
Unknown
Right.
00:19:26:06 – 00:19:39:17
Unknown
Yeah. That is a very different process. And what has been the result? I mean, so are you seeing, you know, less firefighting where you’re like, realize you don’t have something.
00:19:39:18 – 00:19:52:16
Unknown
Okay. It used to be all. You used to be all you like, but.
00:19:52:18 – 00:20:04:00
Unknown
Like.
00:20:04:02 – 00:20:08:10
Unknown
You know.
00:20:18:11 – 00:20:23:01
Unknown
Right. Yep. Yep.
00:20:23:03 – 00:20:27:08
Unknown
Sure.
00:20:27:10 – 00:20:57:05
Unknown
Yeah. I actually just recorded a a segment for, another podcast that, I’m involved with, and it what I was talking about is set up production and this concept that you can, if you do everything right in advance, you plan your job appropriately, you document it well, you do your kidding you before you actually need to do your setup, you should be able to walk up to a machine, set up the whole thing and get your first good part without ever leaving the machine.
00:20:57:10 – 00:21:11:01
Unknown
Right. That’s the, like idealized. So you think you’re getting closer to that, but you’ve not quite gotten there?
00:21:11:03 – 00:21:21:09
Unknown
Yeah.
00:21:21:11 – 00:21:26:22
Unknown
Well, okay. Yep. Sure.
00:21:26:23 – 00:21:31:07
Unknown
Yep.
00:21:31:09 – 00:21:34:15
Unknown
Got it.
00:21:34:17 – 00:21:44:21
Unknown
So you are using the tooling module, and you have all your tools documented or.
00:21:44:23 – 00:21:49:15
Unknown
Okay.
00:21:49:17 – 00:22:00:04
Unknown
Yep. Yep.
00:22:00:06 – 00:22:04:19
Unknown
Got it. Yep.
00:22:04:21 – 00:22:20:08
Unknown
Yep. Sure. That makes sense.
00:22:20:10 – 00:22:29:15
Unknown
Right.
00:22:29:17 – 00:22:47:12
Unknown
So yeah that makes sense. When we at our shop our production guys would absolutely document the tool list in the sequence detail and our Tas and all that. But the prototype guys doing their one offs, they would not do that. They would still go consume tools and retire them as they use them. But they wouldn’t build out their whole tool list because it didn’t make sense.
00:22:47:17 – 00:23:04:09
Unknown
You’re only making 1 or 2 pieces one time. It just didn’t make sense to document at that level. So it’s done since.
00:23:04:11 – 00:23:08:16
Unknown
Sure.
00:23:08:18 – 00:23:16:11
Unknown
Yep.
00:23:25:05 – 00:23:34:21
Unknown
Sure.
00:23:34:23 – 00:23:39:18
Unknown
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.
00:23:39:20 – 00:23:49:10
Unknown
Sure.
00:23:49:12 – 00:24:00:12
Unknown
Yeah.
00:24:00:14 – 00:24:14:08
Unknown
To the vending machine. You mean. Do you have all thousand tools in your vending machine or only high volume ones or. Oh well.
00:24:14:10 – 00:24:19:03
Unknown
Right.
00:24:19:05 – 00:24:24:20
Unknown
Right. Sure.
00:24:24:22 – 00:24:29:12
Unknown
Right.
00:24:29:14 – 00:24:58:10
Unknown
So I want to ask about the, change tack a little bit. Ask about the switch to getting rid of paper. You already talked about how you you know, you had people just generating piles of paper and then having to deal with it when it came. When it comes to the actual shop floor and the job traveler and people, you know, deciding what to work on or looking at what job is coming next on the machine, or even using paper documents to get their tool lists or get, you know, instructions from the programmer.
00:24:58:12 – 00:25:17:09
Unknown
Yeah. What’s the adoption been like of getting rid of paper travelers where you’re hesitant at first? Sometimes people are hesitant to get rid of them.
00:25:17:11 – 00:25:32:10
Unknown
Right.
00:25:39:06 – 00:25:47:22
Unknown
Sure.
00:25:48:00 – 00:26:01:19
Unknown
And was that. Was that a few days or a few weeks where the guys were getting accustomed to it on this? So I like that strategy. So.
00:26:01:21 – 00:26:07:22
Unknown
Right.
00:26:08:00 – 00:26:15:22
Unknown
Right.
00:26:15:23 – 00:26:20:08
Unknown
Got it.
00:26:20:09 – 00:26:24:14
Unknown
Right. Sure.
00:26:24:16 – 00:26:42:10
Unknown
So.
00:26:42:12 – 00:27:27:05
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Especially on those repeat jobs. Are you guys using the process development? Function.
00:27:27:07 – 00:27:33:11
Unknown
Right.
00:27:33:13 – 00:27:44:22
Unknown
Any sort of the gotchas that if you solve it upfront, you’re not going to have the firefighting later. Yeah.
00:27:45:00 – 00:27:57:11
Unknown
And then do you have your machinists later put stuff in that they want to give feedback to the programmers.
00:27:57:12 – 00:28:04:03
Unknown
Oh, okay. Got it.
00:28:04:05 – 00:28:08:01
Unknown
Yeah.
00:28:08:03 – 00:28:22:22
Unknown
Right.
00:28:23:00 – 00:28:41:18
Unknown
It’s not. Sure.
00:28:41:20 – 00:28:49:15
Unknown
Right.
00:28:49:17 – 00:28:52:11
Unknown
Sure.
00:28:52:13 – 00:29:10:14
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. That’s cool that the team is seeing the benefit of that. So, I’ll go ahead. Finish.
00:29:10:16 – 00:29:25:18
Unknown
Sure.
00:29:25:20 – 00:30:10:07
Unknown
Right. Yeah. So, reinventing the wheel. Reinventing the wheel. Yeah. Fighting the same problem over again. Yeah. So, I know you’ve always been a very quality focused shop. Obviously getting ISO as early as you did. Were you doing inspection on paper forms prior or in spreadsheets? And how was switching the pro shops? Quality inspection? Changed your your quality of the company.
00:30:10:09 – 00:30:18:22
Unknown
In. Yeah.
00:30:19:00 – 00:30:33:21
Unknown
Got it. Right.
00:30:33:23 – 00:30:44:04
Unknown
Yep.
00:30:55:19 – 00:31:04:21
Unknown
Got it.
00:31:04:23 – 00:31:15:12
Unknown
Yeah.
00:31:15:14 – 00:31:21:04
Unknown
Sure.
00:31:21:05 – 00:31:34:23
Unknown
Of course.
00:31:35:00 – 00:31:37:14
Unknown
Sure.
00:31:37:16 – 00:31:57:13
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, obviously. Sure. Well, were they were they estimated 100. Now, obviously that’s even more stringent than ISO was. And so having those records is just fairly paramount. And I imagine.
00:31:57:15 – 00:32:15:12
Unknown
It’s great.
00:32:15:13 – 00:32:22:13
Unknown
Yeah. Sure.
00:32:22:15 – 00:33:21:00
Unknown
I love it. So this was further down in the question list, but since we’re on quality and IPC, one of the questions is, you know, how has Pro Shop changed the culture of the company if it has at all? And, I know you had a really great answer for this one. So let’s dig into that right now.
00:33:30:06 – 00:33:41:02
Unknown
Okay.
00:33:41:04 – 00:33:45:07
Unknown
Sure.
00:33:45:09 – 00:33:53:14
Unknown
Sure.
00:33:53:16 – 00:34:08:11
Unknown
Right.
00:34:08:13 – 00:34:19:07
Unknown
In.
00:34:19:09 – 00:34:29:07
Unknown
Right. I.
00:34:29:09 – 00:34:52:20
Unknown
That’s very cool. Yeah. That is definitely a mindset shift. Do you try to look for people when you’re when you’re in your hiring process, do you look for people that have that mindset of continuous improvement?
00:34:52:22 – 00:35:27:02
Unknown
Because. Yeah.
00:35:27:04 – 00:36:04:08
Unknown
There’s a. Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. Now, I think there’s a ton of wisdom in that. And just. Yeah the filtering the, the, the coming up with individualized improvement, you know, suggestions based on program or set up person or whatever is that’s a powerful and nuanced, place to get to. And it just shows, I think, the sophistication of where you’ve gotten to,
00:36:04:10 – 00:36:11:04
Unknown
Sure. Yeah.
00:36:11:06 – 00:36:14:12
Unknown
Sure.
00:36:14:13 – 00:36:37:09
Unknown
Right. Yeah, yeah. So, some of what you’re speaking about would certainly be interesting to an auditor, or a customer that, you know, cares about quality, which I’m sure all your customers do. Obviously, you just went through your surveillance, you said. And, but have you shown pro shop to customers as well, or customer auditors?
00:36:37:09 – 00:37:02:06
Unknown
And what is their feedback then? And,
00:37:02:08 – 00:37:10:13
Unknown
Oh, yeah.
00:37:10:15 – 00:37:18:09
Unknown
Sure.
00:37:18:11 – 00:37:24:11
Unknown
Got it. Got it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That’s good.
00:37:24:12 – 00:37:52:19
Unknown
Do you feel like it’s helped you win more business with customers that feel confident in your abilities?
00:37:52:21 – 00:38:15:21
Unknown
Right. That’s awesome. So, when we, we have many clients that use the term backbone as a way to describe how pro shop interacts with their business. Is that something that you would, use as a, as a term?
00:38:22:03 – 00:38:49:00
Unknown
I love that foundation. Yeah. I talk about how machine shops, I believe are like the foundation of the economy. And like everything in the world starts with machining one way or another. And so to have you describe pro shop is your foundation. That, that just that feels good to me. So I appreciate that.
00:38:49:02 – 00:38:54:04
Unknown
Right. Yeah. Yeah.
00:38:54:05 – 00:39:01:02
Unknown
Yeah.
00:39:01:04 – 00:39:21:17
Unknown
Yeah. So I want to come back to something you said a little earlier. How you used to do all the planning, and you don’t anymore. You have your office guy who’s super awesome and, In what ways has adopting Pro Shop changed the way that you work in your business or what you do? Or. I know you still work crazy number of hours, I’m sure, but, yeah.
00:39:21:17 – 00:39:40:19
Unknown
How has it affected you personally?
00:39:40:21 – 00:40:06:19
Unknown
Okay.
00:40:06:21 – 00:40:18:00
Unknown
Right.
00:40:22:03 – 00:40:43:21
Unknown
And is that is. Can you describe why you’d. You wanted to work on PC. Is that something just a particular passion of yours or just is a strategic area.
00:40:58:21 – 00:41:06:00
Unknown
Right.
00:41:24:14 – 00:41:33:19
Unknown
Got it.
00:41:33:21 – 00:41:38:21
Unknown
But.
00:41:38:23 – 00:42:08:10
Unknown
Yeah. And is your goal then to build the systems and processes to the point where you can hand it off and then go work on some even bigger.
00:42:19:12 – 00:42:29:00
Unknown
Sure. But something you don’t understand.
00:42:29:02 – 00:43:03:16
Unknown
Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, I like that. That idea of, you know, a business owner wearing multiple hats, and you already describes how you’ve you’ve taken off the purchasing and the planning hats, and now you’ve put on chassis to the point where you can build the processes and the systems and have enough knowledge of it that you can confidently hand it off to the next person and know that it’s going to be super well integrated into the the workflow of your company, and it’s going to be just rock solid.
00:43:03:16 – 00:43:29:09
Unknown
And but that’s a hat you’ll eventually take off and put on something even more strategic or more big picture or something like that. But yeah, because ultimately the the business owner should be responsible for, you know, providing the vision of the company, making sure the funding is there and the team is built to, you know, drive the business forward.
00:43:29:11 – 00:43:49:07
Unknown
And, and ultimately, you’ll probably be in involved in very little that happens on a daily basis. But but it takes time to get there.
00:43:58:23 – 00:44:05:22
Unknown
Sure.
00:44:06:00 – 00:44:12:00
Unknown
Sure.
00:44:12:02 – 00:44:16:16
Unknown
Sure.
00:44:16:18 – 00:44:57:23
Unknown
Yeah. Profit center. Do you when you’re doing your estimating do you, do you estimate time for this CM in programing and then charge for that.
00:44:58:01 – 00:45:00:08
Unknown
Got it.
00:45:00:10 – 00:45:33:14
Unknown
Sure. Sure, sure. Yeah. I mean, I think, with the right customers, which sounds like you are very much, you know, having, you know, some, especially like an aerospace and, and, you know, really highly regulated industries. I sometimes, you know, I’ve heard the, the, the saying and I totally believe it’s true. You know, in our shop where, yeah, you’re delivering machine parts, but you’re really delivering a package and the parts just happen to come along with it.
00:45:33:16 – 00:46:00:08
Unknown
And so those, those type of companies are absolutely willing to pay for, you know, for the, the purchase of the CMM and the calibration and all the instruments and the time to program at the time to run it in the time to. And if you think of it that way, it’s just as value added, even though you’re not making chips like you are with the CNC machine, it is a different mindset, but you can’t deliver those parts without it.
00:46:00:10 – 00:46:08:22
Unknown
Sure.
00:46:09:00 – 00:46:35:10
Unknown
Yeah, I think that’s admirable. I really do. Yeah. And that shows your your focus, and emphasis on being like an incredibly quality driven company, but not having it dragging you down on the financial side, that.
00:46:35:12 – 00:46:42:17
Unknown
Sure.
00:46:42:18 – 00:46:54:03
Unknown
Got it.
00:46:59:10 – 00:47:26:13
Unknown
Yeah, yeah.
00:47:26:15 – 00:47:59:23
Unknown
Got it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I get it. It’s the work that goes into creating those, What, what would you say if you had to put a very rough number, percentage, something on an ROI for pro shop? Obviously it’s not not inexpensive, but, how do you even think about that?
00:48:23:12 – 00:48:36:10
Unknown
Yeah.
00:48:36:12 – 00:48:48:21
Unknown
Right. So you had a full time salary? Yeah.
00:48:48:23 – 00:48:54:01
Unknown
Yeah. Sure.
00:48:54:03 – 00:49:09:03
Unknown
Right.
00:49:09:05 – 00:49:13:02
Unknown
Got it.
00:49:13:04 – 00:49:40:01
Unknown
Right. Yeah. Okay. In the just general growth of your shop over the last, you know, six years. What would you say are some of your biggest wins, and strategic moves you’ve made? You know, software aside, pro shop aside, just whatever, just in the growth of your business.
00:49:40:03 – 00:49:54:06
Unknown
Sure.
00:50:09:01 – 00:50:20:18
Unknown
I was just going to say, every future machine will be, if I have access and sell the verticals. Yeah.
00:50:20:20 – 00:50:42:04
Unknown
Right. Sure, sure.
00:50:42:06 – 00:50:53:20
Unknown
Right. Which you previously would have done with multiple setups on a vertical and spent hours.
00:50:53:22 – 00:51:05:05
Unknown
Okay. Got it.
00:51:10:20 – 00:51:22:09
Unknown
Oh! Whoa!
00:51:22:11 – 00:51:29:15
Unknown
Okay. You want to share what you ended up with? Maybe not the other ones, but.
00:51:29:17 – 00:51:41:06
Unknown
Okay.
00:51:57:12 – 00:52:01:21
Unknown
Right. Sure.
00:52:01:23 – 00:52:15:22
Unknown
So the programing software of the machines. Not the machines themselves, but.
00:52:16:00 – 00:52:19:20
Unknown
Right.
00:52:19:22 – 00:52:32:00
Unknown
Okay. Is that. An.
00:52:32:02 – 00:52:47:01
Unknown
Okay. And is that Calypso? Is that with that? Yeah. Okay. Nice. Yeah.
00:52:47:03 – 00:52:51:18
Unknown
Sure. Yeah.
00:52:51:20 – 00:52:56:20
Unknown
Yeah. Sometimes that is what you got to do.
00:52:56:22 – 00:53:21:12
Unknown
Okay. No, those are good. Yeah. Yeah. Good. It’s a good combination. Five axis mils and xyz CMM. And it’s a good combination. So let me just ask you, this is sort of off topic, but, I see a lot of new startup shops that buy a vertical and they’re like, hey, it’s like the cheapest way to get in the door.
00:53:21:13 – 00:53:45:20
Unknown
You know, what would you say to a shop just starting out and trying to get their foot in the door, trying to establish themselves? Is it worth, you know, spending the more money and getting a five axis right off the bat?
00:53:45:22 – 00:53:51:12
Unknown
Okay.
00:53:51:14 – 00:54:09:22
Unknown
Got it.
00:54:10:00 – 00:54:16:12
Unknown
Right. Sure.
00:54:27:16 – 00:54:30:00
Unknown
Right.
00:54:30:01 – 00:54:35:17
Unknown
Right.
00:54:40:02 – 00:54:48:22
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. Now that makes sense. I appreciate you sharing that. So,
00:54:49:00 – 00:55:08:12
Unknown
Got it. Okay. All right. Yep. That makes sense. Yeah. I mean, I I’m right there with you. You know, we, Of course, when we had our shop, five axis wasn’t nearly as mainstream as it is today. You know, we sold the shop ten years ago, but, you know, we ultimately did have three or 4 or 5 axis machines, but it took us a while.
00:55:08:13 – 00:55:42:23
Unknown
And the cost even, even that decision making with verticals versus horizontals, it’s like, yeah, we could buy two verticals or three for every horizontal, so, you know. But, yeah, when you factor in, you know, spend a lot of time and that and then being able to hit all the sides at once and not have to make fixtures and make programing simpler and all those things and, yeah, it just, it really you can make a lot more dollars per hour off of, you know, way more than 2 or 3 times possibly on a vertical.
00:55:43:01 – 00:55:47:06
Unknown
Yeah.
00:55:47:08 – 00:55:59:22
Unknown
Right.
00:56:00:00 – 00:56:12:14
Unknown
Sure.
00:56:12:16 – 00:56:28:05
Unknown
Right. That’s a good problem to have.
00:56:28:07 – 00:56:39:22
Unknown
Right. Sure.
00:56:40:00 – 00:56:57:13
Unknown
Got it. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. And certainly, like you said, some parts you couldn’t even make on a vertical. So if you have clients asking you for those kind of parts, then that’s that’s even more a no brainer.
00:56:57:15 – 00:57:04:01
Unknown
Sure.
00:57:04:03 – 00:57:34:18
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. So I just a couple other questions and this one’s not on the list, but, there’s a lot of shops out there right now that are not busy, and there’s some a fair number that are just absolutely swamped. Are you guys staying pretty busy? And if it where would you, if you had to come up with your own, reasons why some shops aren’t as busy and some shops are.
00:57:34:20 – 00:58:01:12
Unknown
Is it the markets they’re serving? Is it, their capabilities or is it their approach to sales and marketing? What what do you think is the difference? That’s that, is out there right now.
00:58:01:14 – 00:58:06:15
Unknown
Got it.
00:58:15:02 – 00:58:20:02
Unknown
Yeah.
00:58:20:04 – 00:58:30:02
Unknown
Yeah.
00:58:30:04 – 00:58:44:01
Unknown
So you grew but not as much as the prior year.
00:58:44:03 – 00:58:52:12
Unknown
Right.
00:58:52:14 – 00:58:55:20
Unknown
Sure.
00:58:55:22 – 00:59:10:09
Unknown
Yeah. But this year you’ve seen a lot of growth.
00:59:10:11 – 00:59:19:19
Unknown
Can I just ask you what you did for those sales and marketing efforts that worked?
00:59:19:21 – 00:59:34:00
Unknown
Oh, really?
00:59:34:02 – 00:59:42:02
Unknown
And that. And that bore fruit. You eventually made connections and got work from those companies.
00:59:42:04 – 00:59:51:05
Unknown
Okay.
00:59:51:07 – 01:00:20:04
Unknown
Okay.
01:00:20:06 – 01:00:28:18
Unknown
Cool. Yeah.
01:00:28:20 – 01:00:37:11
Unknown
Got it. Some good organic SEO there.
01:00:37:13 – 01:00:45:13
Unknown
Yeah.
01:00:45:15 – 01:00:51:20
Unknown
Yep. Yep. Yep.
01:00:51:22 – 01:01:03:16
Unknown
Oh, nice.
01:01:03:18 – 01:01:50:19
Unknown
Right. Sure. That’s awesome. That is very cool to hear. Thank you for sharing that. So I would just have one last question. If you can imagine what your shop would look like today if you hadn’t decided to buy pro shop two years ago. What would it look like? What would you be doing? What would be different?
01:01:50:21 – 01:02:02:21
Unknown
Sure.
01:02:02:23 – 01:02:10:08
Unknown
Got it.
01:02:10:10 – 01:02:15:15
Unknown
Right.
01:02:15:17 – 01:02:34:00
Unknown
Sure.
01:02:34:01 – 01:03:14:02
Unknown
Right. Awesome. Well, I’m grateful that we can contribute to you not working till 10:00 and milling a hole with the wrong tool. And, having a little bit less chaos in your. In your life. And, and thank you for sharing everything you shared today. I really appreciate it. So if, if speaking of sales and marketing, if people listening to this are interested in doing work with you, how would they reach out and find out more about you guys?
01:03:14:04 – 01:03:18:19
Unknown
Okay.
01:03:18:21 – 01:03:23:06
Unknown
We didn’t actually say where you’re located.
01:03:23:07 – 01:03:27:23
Unknown
Very good.
01:03:28:01 – 01:03:37:00
Unknown
Okay. Sure. But the Denver area. So.
01:03:37:02 – 01:03:45:22
Unknown
Okay. The greater. The greater. Greater Denver area. Yeah.
01:03:46:00 – 01:04:05:23
Unknown
It’s a nice job. Yeah. Well, thank you again for, jumping on with me and sharing your story. I really appreciate it. And, it’s as as I always say, it’s just it’s incredibly heartwarming for me to hear about these sort of transformation stories and how much Pro Shop has had an impact on small businesses like yours.
01:04:06:01 – 01:04:15:07
Unknown
Because that’s what our mission is all about. So it’s great to hear when it’s actually landing. That same way. So.
01:04:15:09 – 01:04:20:23
Unknown
Well, thank you for that.
01:04:21:01 – 01:04:41:18
Unknown
You should, Yeah. If you’re ever out in Washington, we’ll take you to the to the old shop. It’s still running today. Has a different name. They’re still using pro shop. And, Okay. Well, anytime. Anytime. Well, Nick, thank you again. Appreciate it. And, we’ll talk to you again soon.
