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HFW Industries Shop Talk
34 Episodes
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Welcome to episode 28! Today we talk about big capital projects underway in our spray shop, some great continuous improvement efforts by several members of our team as well as some big life changes happening outside of work.
As always, thank you for listening!
Welcome to Episode 28! Today we talk summer picnics, spray shop upgrades and continuous improvements you will see in the shop soon.
Tucker Holladay joins the podcast once again to discuss the latest improvements in the shop!
Welcome to Episode 26! In this episode, we discuss Tucker's first couple weeks on the job, Two Second Lean and a recent example that shows off how this can be put to practical use!
Welcome to Episode 25! Today we had a great discussion with HFW's newest employee, Tucker. Discussing everything from lean to lake effect snow, this was a fantastic conversation.
Thanks for listening!
Welcome to Episode 24 and our first episode of 2025 (try keeping that straight!).
In this episode, I discuss some recent thoughts, some of the topics reviewed at our recent leadership offsite meeting and preview the year ahead and what we can expect to see at HFW.
We are building the foundational elements that will foster tremendous growth at HFW, and we look forward to building a bright future with everyone.
As always, your questions, comments and ideas are most welcome!
Thank you to our incredible team and our wonderful customers and vendors. We are grateful to have the privilege of working with such high quality people.
We are thrilled to have Todd Tevens, Managing Director at Lawley Retirement Advisors, back on the podcast today.
Todd is a wonderful asset to everyone at HFW, and talks through important details on HFW's 401k program, changes coming in 2025 and issues everyone should consider in their retirement portfolio.
We are so thankful for our great partnership with Todd and Lawley! Special thanks to Todd for his time discussing these pertinent topics!
Welcome to Episode 21 with Chris Coupal!
This is a great episode where Chris and I discuss everything from 5S and continuous improvement to hiking mountains and getting stranded in a blizzard.
Chris is a fantastic example of the amazing people we have at HFW, and I was thrilled to have him on the podcast.
Welcome to Episode 20! Today we officially unveil our HFW Core Values.
We are very excited to discuss these values and how they define who we are as a business. We are building a monster., and our Core Values are a big piece of that :)
Let me know your thoughts!
Today we have Peter back on the podcast to discuss a little bit about the culture we are trying to foster. Peter is a tremendous example of what you can become at HFW, and we are very excited about the trajectory of the business with the great team we have.
Listen in to hear more about what kind of person is a good fit at HFW, our lean and 5S initiatives, some of the improvements Peter is working on and what to expect from Peter and our business moving forward.
Today we have a fantastic conversation with our Plant Manager, Peter.
A 30 year veteran at HFW, Peter has seen a lot and has worked his way up from starting as a manual machinist to running the whole shop.
We are fortunate to have a strong leader like Peter in our business. Enjoy this episode!
Today we introduce Traction/EOS as part of a larger initiative to grow our business and further develop our people. Our goal is for HFW to be the best employer in the manufacturing industry, which will propel our business to future success. Traction is one way to help us cultivate this high-performance culture we are after.
Let me know if you would like to be on a future episode!
Merry Christmas! Thank you to our great team and all of the wonderful people we have the great fortune to work with. We appreciate all of you.
Here is looking forward to the great things we will do in 2024!
Welcome to episode 15! Today we have a great episode with Jayden, one of the newest members on our team.
For being only 18 years old, Jayden has a tremendous amount of knowledge and wisdom, and we are very fortunate to have him on our team. He is developing into a supremely talented machinist and learning a lot from the amazing team we have at HFW!
This was a great episode and I am thankful for Jayden for taking some time to do this.
I am always looking for more guests of the podcasts! Please let me know if you are interested!
Thanks to everyone who makes HFW the business that it is! Happy Thanksgiving!
Welcome to episode 13! in this episode, we review a few happenings around the shop including our new tool program, a few new hires and recruiting and a few work anniversaries.
Thanks for listening, and let Jack know if you would like to be on the podcast.
Welcome to Episode 12!
Today we have a fantastic conversation with Peter Santasiero, a CNC machinist who came to HFW in the 90s, traveled the country in the 2000s and is now back at HFW! Peter has had a very interesting career that is a great example of what is possible in the trades!
This was a great conversation, hope you enjoy!
For feedback or if you would like to be on the podcast, speak to Jack. We are always looking for guests!
This is episode 10 (not 9 as I say repeatedly in the episode...oops!).
This is a fantastic episode with the one and only Mike Auquier, our CNC supervisor and project engineer. Mike's background is classic HFW in that it is varied and interesting.
In this episode we discuss Mike's upbringing, getting into the trades, how he thinks about his role now and a couple special shoutouts for people that are busting their butts.
As always, thank you for listening! We are always looking for guests, so if you are interested in being on the podcast, let Jack know!
Welcome to Episode 9! Today we have a cool conversation with Matt Watson about a neat opportunity Matt recently had to participate in a conversation with Scott Bieler, President and an owner of West Herr Automotive Group.
Even though West Herr is a very different business to ours here at HFW, Scott talked about a lot of great lessons that have helped turn West Herr into a $3.2 billion revenue business. These are applicable to any business! Spoiler alert: a lot of it has to do with treating your people exceedingly well.
There is a lot to be inspired by in Scott's presentation, and it was nice to sit down and hear Matt discuss his key takeaways.
As always, thanks for listening! If you have an idea for the podcast or would like to be on, let Jack know!

















