This podcast has been going for five years now, and those people who listen to it frequently might be tired of the Graff-Pinkert ad at the beginning of the show. I was tired of it, so I finally created a new ad.For people who are listening to this show for the first time, I’m a used machine tool dealer with a family...

Editor’s Note: This podcast was recorded in Spring of 2022. Tyler has now been retired for over 2 years, and Noah is the proud father of a 1 year old.In early 2022, Tyler Jarosz sent me an email to ask if Graff-Pinkert would be interested in a used little parts washer he no longer needed in his machine shop. He foun...

Nine years ago, I traveled to Sweden to see some old Wickman multi-spindle screw machines for sale at one of the country’s largest automotive suppliers. The machines were ok, but we decided not to buy them.I stayed the night in the sleepy town of Värnamo, a screw machining hotspot of Sweden. The next morning, I knoc...

Today’s guest on the podcast is Jayme Rahz, CEO of Midway Swiss Turn, a small precision machining job shop in Wooster, Ohio.Around a quarter of Midway Swiss Turn’s business is supplying the U.S. Department of Defense. While supplying the DoD can be a lucrative opportunity for a manufacturer, the work comes with some...

In November of 2015, our used machine tool company, Graff-Pinkert, bought a Schütte S32PC, mfd. 2002, in Cologne, Germany, from a dealer we didn’t know. It was a nice looking machine. A big 32mm CNC Multi-Spindle, painted red and cream because it came out of a Mercedes factory. We were excited to bring the machine t...

On this podcast I spoke with James Persenaire, a district manager at FANUC America Corporation. James gave insight into the strengths and weaknesses of collaborative robots and how Fanuc’s collaborative robots differ from competitors such as Universal Robot. He also addressed misconceptions about traditional robots ...

Last week, I heard a story about an old customer of Graff-Pinkert who lost three key machinists because a shop down the street was paying more. It led me to make a post on Linkedin, asking if machinists and setup people were paid enough to attract young people to the machining field. On the whole, commenters vented ...

For years, Graff-Pinkert has tried to convince customers who use 6-spindle Acme-Gridley or New Britain automatic screw machines that they would benefit from running Wickmans instead. Before I go any further with this spiel, I want to add that I have never run production, so I’m sure there are reasons why Wickmans ar...

Sometimes machining companies tell Graff-Pinkert they have long running, lucrative jobs supplying parts to the D.O.D., and it always has seemed a little mysterious to me. What are these parts they are supplying to the government? How does a company get to become a supplier to the D.O.D.?Is supplying parts to the U.S...

On today’s episode, we’re shaking things up. We’re playing an episode from a podcast I guested on, the Business Growth on Purpose podcast with Jose Palomino.One of the topics we focused on in the interview was how I discover new leads and opportunities in our used machinery business by using strategies that create s...