Articles

Why the Machining Industry is Thriving, with Miles Free —EP. 149

Miles Free, Director of Industry Affairs with PMPA

By Noah Graff

Our guest on the show today is my friend Miles Free, Director of Industry Affairs at the Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA).

Miles was actually the first featured guest on this podcast four years ago, and we are very thankful to have him back for episode 149. He is definitely one of the most passionate people I know about the machining world. It was a great conversation in which we covered an array of topics, such as tariffs, shop safety, electric cars, and even a bit about Ghostbusters.

A More Intelligent Way to Hire, with Brian Balasia—EP. 148

By Noah Graff

Our guest on the podcast today is Brian Balasia, CEO and Co-Founder of TalentEi, a company that produces a software platform that matches employers and job seekers across a variety of sectors. Brian says the platform enables companies to hire superior people, more quickly, and at a better price than traditional hiring methods such as job descriptions and resumes.

Tracking Your Shop’s Performance, with Lauren Dunford—EP. 147

Our guest on today’s podcast is Lauren Dunford, CEO and cofounder of Guidewheel. Guidewheel produces a sensor that clips onto a machine tool’s power supply to collect data while it runs. The data helps manufacturers understand what processes on the shop floor need to be improved and guides them toward solutions.

Best of Swarfcast: Citizen CNC Swiss Lathes with Marc Klecka—EP 109

Today’s show is the first episode of our new season about Swiss-Type CNC machining. Our guest is Marc Klecka, founder and president of Concentric Corporation, a prominent distributor of Citizen-Cincom CNC Swiss lathes in Cleveland, Ohio.

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Main Points

Pasta and Precision Parts, with Antonio Adiletta

Pasta machines operate a lot like cam screw machines, Antonio Adiletta told me when I interviewed him for this week’s podcast.

Antonio is co-owner of Arcobaleno and GAM Precision in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. After growing up in Italy, Antonio moved to Canada and then eventually emigrated to the United States with his wife and business partner, Maja. He has manufactured, sold, and serviced fresh pasta making machines for 26 years, and for the last decade, he has simultaneously run a CNC machine shop.

Tornos DECO Swiss Meister, Achim Bauer

On today’s podcast I spoke to Achim Bauer, one of the most knowledgeable people I know about Tornos DECO CNC Swiss machines. His company, Bauer & Licht Industrietechnik OHG, in Pforzheim, Germany, is one of the only companies in the world that specializes specifically in rebuilding Tornos DECOs. Recently, I had the privilege to pick his brain about the nuances of the powerful sliding headstock machine that’s no longer manufactured yet still has a vast group of loyal users worldwide.

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I Want to Give More

Sometimes in the machinery business I fall into the habit of thinking only about transactions and only about how I can make more money. I’m thinking about finding some machines that nobody else knows about that we can buy for a great deal and then sell to someone else for a nice profit. Maybe we’re trying to pull off a brilliant complicated scheme, like buying three machines, then trading two of them for a totally different kind of machine that we hope is worth a lot more. Or, maybe we’re combing the Web for some overlooked treasure in a poorly promoted auction sale.

Starting a Machining Company is Hard, with Jon Perin

Today’s guest on the podcast is Jon Perin, owner and President of Perin Industries, a young CNC machining company in Webster City, Iowa. Jon, started Perin Industries in 2018, after a 12-year career as a hospital administrator. Like many entrepreneurs, Jon has had to face some daunting challenges. Starting out, he aggressively bought new state of the art CNC equipment to make parts for the medical sector. When he had trouble penetrating that market he successfully pivoted to fire arms work.

Upping Our Machinery Business Game, with Noah and Lloyd Graff

Today’s podcast is the second half of our conversation about Graff-Pinkert’s business in 2021. I particularly liked this part of the conversation because we dug deeper into our approaches to selling machinery, talking to people, and one of our favorite subjects—how to find serendipity.

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Rebound of 2021

For today’s podcast, I decided it was a good time for us to reflect on our used machinery business so far in 2021. It’s been an interesting and profitable nine months for Graff-Pinkert, so we had plenty to talk about—enough to stretch it into a double episode. Also, I was having trouble finding a new guest I wanted to interview.