Lean Built: Manufacturing Freedom

Jay and Andrew kick things off with a spirited disagreement over Jay’s decision to take a palm sander to his 1977 Fender Precision Bass. From there, the conversation turns to Andrew’s latest adventures cutting 4140 steel on the Matsuura, Jay’s big announcement about his new Haas UMC 500 with a 27-pallet pool, and the importance of choosing equipment that actually makes sense for your business.They then dig into gross profit margins, knowing when to discontinue a product, why some of the most valuable things a company does can’t be measured on a spreadsheet, the surprising power of customer experience, the difference between a beautiful shop and a truly lean one, and why even your lean processes need to be lean.

What do flying tiny homes, CNC machines, electric guitars, and the Tesla Roadster have in common? More than you might think.In this episode, Jay and Andrew cover a lot of ground, beginning with the challenges of moving a 19,000-pound tiny home over a house with a massive crane. That experience sparks a conversation about professionalism, customer service, and why manufacturers should pay more attention to the customer experience.From there, the discussion turns to shop improvements, machine rigging, the advantages of anchoring CNC machines, and the difficult decisions involved in buying, selling, and upgrading equipment. Andrew shares his experiments with bandsaw blades, while Jay reflects on saying goodbye to a machine that helped build his business.Things get especially nerdy as the conversation moves into the physics of vibration and resonance. Drawing connections between machining, musical instruments, baseball bats, and even the infamous Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse, Jay and Andrew explore how seemingly minor changes can dramatically affect performance.

This week, Jay and Andrew talk about finding the right balance between speed, efficiency, and quality in the machine shop. After catching up on Jay’s experiment with working remotely during a family vacation, the conversation turns to used tool holders, the hidden costs of excessive tool changes, and some unforgettable machine crashes.They share stories of broken pull studs, destroyed spindles, and a terrifying incident involving a 45-pound piece of aluminum spinning on a ShearHog. Along the way, they explore why running machines too conservatively can be just as problematic as pushing them too hard, and how machinists can systematically find the sweet spot between performance and reliability.

Jay and Andrew talk through the shop decisions that look wrong on paper but make sense once you consider the whole system. That means knowing when excess inventory is costing you more than it is worth, why cheap equipment can sometimes be exactly the right equipment, and when spending money now saves far more expensive time later.They also dig into 3D printing, toolholding, material choices, and the hidden value of simply trying something instead of deciding in advance that it will not work.Check out all the awesome videos on the Pierson Workholding YouTube Channel and Pierson Plus, and be sure to comment that Lean Built sent ya!

What happens when your business grows to the point where you no longer know everything happening inside it?Jay and Andrew talk about the strange transition from doing everything yourself to building a team that can make good decisions without you. They get into delegation, giving employees room to improve processes, knowing when production needs to take priority, and why good employees eventually need to move from waiting for instructions to simply proceeding unless told otherwise.They also discuss the tradeoff between time and cash, why hiring competent people can accelerate a company, how to think about employee reviews and frequent feedback, and why business owners should deliberately hire people who know more than they do.Plus, there is plenty of shop talk along the way, including coolant changes, lessons from IMTS, and an upcoming Matsuura reinstall.