I came into contact with Edwin Nyuysever Mbinkar a month ago, when he sent an email to Graff-Pinkert inquiring about an expensive Mikron 5-axis machining center on our website. He explained that he was the manager of a High Tech Centre (British spelling of “Center”) in Cameroon, and he wanted his school to have the first 5-axis machining center in the country.

By Noah Graff
 

Today’s guest on the podcast is Matt Wardle, owner and President of JD Machine Corp. in Ogden, Utah. JD Machine currently produces around 4,000 active part numbers, serving a diverse group of sectors, which include aerospace, defense, and medical.

Matt says he sometimes envies other machining companies who have a more narrow focus on the types of parts they produce because it simplifies their operations. Yet, he insists that producing a diverse group of parts is the best path for his company to have longterm success.

I wonder. How many people in the world do I already know who I’m missing out on doing great things with?

The used machinery business is quite good lately for Graff-Pinkert, though I’m probably jinxing this prosperous period by saying that. Sometimes I ask myself how I have contributed to make these deals happen. I know that sounds like a comment from a business person lacking swag, but it’s good to ask oneself why things are working while they are working. It often seems like we luck into our best deals. We just happen to serendipitously find the one person in the world looking for a legacy Hydromat HB45-12 or an INDEX MS42C CNC Multi-Spindle Mfd. 1999.

Getting lucky—finding that one guy (or woman) who wants to buy our machines—I think can be attributed to our customer network as much as anything. It sounds crazy, but I think at least 50 percent of the deals Graff-Pinkert makes include at least one party who we already have a past relationship with. We have relationships with a colorful cast of characters around the world, comprised of dealers, end-users, and auctioneers. A lot of these people I’ve really gotten to know well for many years, and I regard them as friends. We talk on the phone often, and they actually seem to genuinely care when they ask how my newborn son Abe is doing.

By Noah Graff
 

Our guest on today’s show is Steve Tamasi, owner and CEO of Boston Centerless, a distributor and manufacturer of ground bar stock. I asked Steve why there is such a shortage of raw materials for precision turning manufacturers and what companies can do to deal with this problem. We also talked about how the war in Ukraine is affecting metals prices. What is pig iron, anyway?