Raw Material

I Found the Bottleneck in My Shop. It’s Me | Ep. 10

Jamie Marzilli — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Paul Van Metre's book isn't a general business book with a machining chapter bolted onto it. It's built for this industry, and one sentence in it has been digging in my ribs for three weeks: "If precision matters on the shop floor, it has to matter in the business too."

Reading it back made me realize something that I didn't want to admit. What got me here isn't going to take me there.

This one isn't comfortable. It's me admitting I'm not as good at this as I thought I was, and then doing something about it. Stick around for part 2.

What's Covered in this Episode

(0:45) Why I'm doing my first book review, and how Paul Van Metre's manuscript blew my mind
(3:58) Five or six evolutions since my wife dared me to start this company at 31
(4:29) The harsh review I gave Paul, and wondering later if I was the hard reader
(5:11) The six levels of machine shop managers, and why that early pain never leaves you
(5:56) The one sentence in the book that's been digging in my ribs for three weeks
(6:59) Investing ProShop ERP is an investment in your business
(8:38) The myth of heroics, and why being a great machinist doesn't make you a good owner
(11:30) Which shop am I? Admitting out loud that I'm not holding those margins
(13:13) Why you're better off doing nothing than doing something for a loss
(15:00) Why we created Hire MFG Leaders (and why you should use it)
(15:29) The Goal, the theory of constraints, and why your biggest bottleneck defines your throughput
(16:38) Six new spindles, a 13,000 square foot building, and the same output as before
(19:41) Quality control should be staffed like an emergency room, and the hire that erased that bottleneck
(20:42) The bottleneck moved to the front of the shop—and it turned out to be me
(21:41) Why we’ve begun implementing the EOS system at Marzilli machine

Resources Mentioned

“Precision Manufacturing, Precision Business” by Paul Van Metre
ProShop ERP
Hire MFG Leaders
The Machine Shop Mastery Podcast
The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt
Traction and the EOS system

Connect with Jamie Marzilli

Connect on LinkedIn
Raw Material on Spotify
Raw Material on Apple
MakingChips

9. Two Shades of Turquoise: Both In Spec, Both Rejected

Jamie Marzilli — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 09:00:00 GMT

It's been a rough couple of months in the shop. This isn't a blame session, it's a post mortem. Two things went wrong at the same time. One of them was on us. One of them wasn't. Both are worth understanding, because I'd bet at least one of them is sitting inside your company right now, just waiting.

The first one was an ownership gap. A handful of staffing decisions that each made sense on their own stacked up and left a hole nobody was standing in, and a daily quality check quietly stopped happening. We knew what needed to be done. We knew how to do it. We never said how often, or who owned it. That's the whole failure.

The second one wasn't about how we made the part at all. We've got parts that pass every spec on the print, the customer agrees they pass, and the customer still can't use them. That's the conversation nobody wants to have out loud, so I'm having it here. I walk through both failures, what they cost us, and the three changes we made so neither one can happen the same way twice.

What's Covered in this Episode

(0:00) Whose fault is it when engineers tighten tolerances instead of doing the functional design work
(0:45) Two long term jobs, two failures at once, and only one of them was on us
(2:14) The staffing moves that left our quality department fragile, and the five whys that found what actually broke
(4:34) Part A: a failure with time-blocked accountability and in-process checks
(5:40) Part B: A customer rejecting parts against a revision they never sent us
(7:42) Sign up for the machine giveaway sponsored by DN Solutions and Kennametal
(8:27) Two shades of turquoise (parts may pass every spec and the customer still rejects it)
(12:16) Work on a solution with your customer that is mutually beneficial
(13:58) What we learned from part A and part B
(14:40) An investment in ProShop ERP is an investment in your business
(16:16) What we changed: Better systems and time blocking based on roles
(17:49) What we’re still working on: quarterly system reviews
(18:37) We're not qualified because of titles, we're qualified because we have scars

Resources Mentioned

Connect with Jamie Marzilli

Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn
Marzilli Machine
MakingChips

8. Buy the Shop Now or Go Work in One First?

Jamie Marzilli — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Tom Brown came back for round two, and this time we tackled the question that could change everything: Should he buy a machine shop now, or go work in one first?

He has his eye on a highly certified, 40-person shop serving prime customers, but buying it means taking on serious financial and operational risk. We break down what actually matters before signing: quality systems, tribal knowledge, employee retention, training, customer health, and whether the business can survive losing key people.

I also challenged Tom on his lack of technical experience and shared a cautionary story about a shop that unraveled after one critical employee left.

I wasn't trying to talk him out of buying a shop. I wanted to see if he could be talked out of it.

He didn't budge. That's why I think he's got a shot.

What's Covered in this Episode

(1:08) Why Tom sees trade shows as his fastest way to add value
(2:15) Cobots versus caged robots
(3:53) Manufacturers reps, veteran owned status, and the ISO 9001 and AS9100 wall to climb
(6:01) Quality management versus quality control (and why customers care about your systems)
(7:40) Why you need to check out the Hennig Workflow Automation System
(8:31) How much capital you can raise decides everything about the deal you get
(10:38) Family culture, and why I’m considering slowing our growth rate
(11:15) The SBA caps manufacturing loans (and where to cap your spend)
(15:53) Why I would rather make parts than run the business
(18:24) What happens to guys who retire and stop
(19:49) Why the shop runs on teaching, not on yelling
(21:42) Can you succeed in this without coming up as a machinist?
(22:48) Head to the IMTS Industrial AI Conference, Wednesday, September 16
(23:38) The reshoring debate: tariffs, raw material, and the supply chain we never built
(26:50) Local labor rates, global competition, and why no other trade has to do this
(28:23) Venture capital is all over manufacturing: here's why
(29:40) My job is to make you wonder if you’re doing the right thing
(33:36) Create inspection plans without manual data entry with Ground Control
(34:16) Tribal knowledge, why we haven't been back to the moon, and going paperless
(35:55) The indicators that actually matter: turnover, training, days to pay, bankable customers
(37:45) The stamping shop that lost one key employee and went out of business
(39:10) De-risking the buy, building redundancy, and being first in and last out

Resources Mentioned

Connect with Tom Brown

Connect with Tom Brown on LinkedIn

What to Expect from Raw Material

Jamie Marzilli — Mon, 11 May 2026 13:24:00 GMT

Raw Material is about the people behind the parts. The owners, machinists, operators, builders, and problem-solvers who carry the weight, make the calls, fix the messes, and keep the work moving. This podcast gets into the pressure, the failures, the lessons, and the wins that come with life in manufacturing. No fluff. Just real conversations about pushing people, not buttons.

5. I Started a Machine Shop on a Dare. Here's the Real Story.

Jamie Marzilli — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Everybody wants the highlight reel. The 13,000 square foot shop, the wall of CNC machines, the certifications on the wall. Nobody wants to hear about the two toilets, the seven parking spots for 26 people, or the rigger who sliced a neighbor's Tahoe clean in half. That's exactly the part we're telling you today.

This is the first episode Lee and I have done together, so we figured we'd start where it all started. We met on match.com back in 2010. A few months in, she told me to go get a job. I did, hated it, and then she dared me to start my own shop. That dare turned into Marzilli Machine.

We walk through the stuff the how-to-start-a-business books skip right over. Writing a real business plan with the SBA. Convincing a bank to bet on you. Zoning, remediation, and finding a building nobody could ever find. Starting with one 1997 Haas and a surface grinder in a garage wedged between apartment buildings in Fall River.

We also get into the grind nobody brags about. Eighty to a hundred hour weeks. Sleeping on a pullout couch at the shop. Doing payroll from a hospital bed and again before the honeymoon. Moving 22 machines in three days with 35 Gaylords and a spreadsheet. And the certifications that decide what work you're even allowed to quote, from ISO to AS9100 to a CMMC bill that's pushing good owners into retirement.

If you're working for somebody right now and wondering what it takes to go out on your own, this one's for you. No fluff, no filters. Just how it actually happened.

What's Covered in this Episode

(0:00) A rigger forgets to pull the truck wheels in and slices a neighbor's Tahoe in half
(1:09) How Lee and I met on match.com (and why she thought I was a jobless bum)
(2:30) Quitting a boss who didn't get the shop floor, and the dare to start my own
(3:07) Writing the first business plan, plus Lee's MBA and machining family
(5:01) The SBA and MSBDC, and pinning down rent, power, payroll, and equipment
(7:07) What the bank really wants, plus zoning, remediation, and a grandfathered shop
(10:18) ProShop ERP: why I invested in myself first and saw ROI in weeks
(11:54) One 1997 Haas, bad electrical, 7 parking spots, and moving 22 machines in 3 days
(14:47) Lee joining the business and achieving significant growth
(15:38) Why UPS and DHL wreck your parts, and how to package aerospace work
(17:04) Lee back at work days after giving birth to make a client meeting
(18:55) The grit nobody brags about: 80 to 100 hour weeks and sleeping at the shop
(20:12) The certs that unlock better work, and what ISO, AS9100, and CMMC really cost
(21:57) Owners aging out, shops closing, and private equity consolidating the industry
(22:38) Elevate at IMTS 2026: leadership and community with AMT and Women in Manufacturing
(23:30) Lee's side of the shop: HR, books, financials, and financing the move
(24:38) My road from machinist at 15 to shop owner, and learning to lead
(27:30) Turning tribal knowledge into work orders, and splitting online from offline work
(29:17) What's next: solo deep-dives, Lee's interviews, and guests

Resources Mentioned

Connect with Jamie & Lee Marzilli

Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn
Connect with Lee on LinkedIn
Marzilli Machine

7. So You Want to Buy a Machine Shop With No Experience?

Jamie Marzilli — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Everybody wants to own a machine shop until they find out what it actually costs them. This time I sat down with Tom Brown, a guy who just walked out of Harvard with an MBA and seven years in the Marine Corps behind him, and he wants to buy a shop. Good for him. But I gave him the version nobody else will.

You might work harder than anyone you've ever met for less money than you've ever made in your life. That's not me being negative. That's the truth about this business, and it's a truth just about every owner I know has lived through.

We got into the whole thing. SBA 7A loans, seller financing, and why so many shops sit at break even on paper because they've quietly turned into lifestyle businesses. How a bank reads the books. What to check before you sign: how old the equipment is, how stable the customer list is, and how old the people on the floor are.

Because here's the part that matters most. Owning a shop is like running a baseball team where every day is the playoffs. There's no triple-A farm club feeding you talent. Interview a hundred people and maybe one is a real class 3 machinist. The silver tsunami is real, a whole generation got pushed away from the trades, and if you lose your people you don't just lose the shop, you go bankrupt.

So we talked about the real path in. Get a job at a shop first. Find a mentor. Maybe partner with somebody who already knows how to cut metal. Write the business plan, because you haven't started anything until you have. And understand cashflow like you know yourself, because payroll doesn't care about your bad month. If you've ever thought about owning a shop, start here.

What's Covered in this Episode

(0:00) You might work harder than anyone you've ever met for less money than you've ever made
(0:46) Meet Tom Brown: Seven years in the Marine Corps, then Harvard for an MBA
(5:56) Buying a shop from a retiring owner vs a safe corporate career
(9:07) Why buy a shop instead of starting one from scratch
(11:40) Check out the IMTS Job Shops Workshop and Networking Reception
(12:32) Owning a shop is like running a baseball team where every day is the playoffs
(14:00) Why Massachusetts wins: MassMEP, MIT, WPI, and strong grant support
(15:41) Why Tom chose manufacturing and land on machining
(17:05) What size shop, SBA 7A loans, and seller financing
(18:35) How banks read the books and the due diligence process
(20:13) Workforce development issues (and what I do to combat that)
(23:16) The machine mix at the show Tom is looking at
(25:17) Investing in ProShop is an investment in your business
(26:52) Get a job at a shop first (and the 70 year old owner with no successor)
(30:11) Days to pay, net terms, and how big customers finance on your back
(33:15) Payroll could be 35,000 dollars a week—and a bad month can bury you fast
(35:41) You haven't started buying a shop until you've written the business plan
(37:05) Cashflow as the one universal truth, and why the show is called Raw Material

Resources Mentioned

Connect with Tom Brown

Connect with Tom Brown on LinkedIn

3. AI Won't Save Manufacturing. What Will?

Jamie Marzilli — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:00:00 GMT

In Part 2 of my conversation with Mark Manuel, we move beyond marketing tactics and start talking about something much bigger: the future of manufacturing itself.

Everybody is talking about AI right now. Most of them have no idea what they're talking about. Mark has spent his career sitting at the intersection of technology, manufacturing, and sales, and he brings a refreshingly practical perspective to the conversation. We discuss what AI can actually do today, where it's already creating value, and why blindly trusting it is a mistake. More importantly, we talk about how manufacturers can use technology to become more competitive without losing sight of the human relationships that still drive this industry.

The conversation also takes an unexpected turn into workforce development, trade schools, and the challenges of attracting the next generation into manufacturing. As someone who regularly works with vocational schools and young machinists, this is a topic I care deeply about. We get into the stigma manufacturing still carries, whether trade schools are selecting the right students, and what it will take to rebuild America's industrial base over the next decade.

What I appreciate most about Mark is that he never gets distracted by shiny objects. Whether he's talking about AI, automation, websites, or sales, everything comes back to solving real problems for real people. That's what this episode is about. Not technology for technology's sake. Not marketing buzzwords. Just practical ideas for building stronger manufacturing businesses and a stronger manufacturing workforce.

If you're interested in where manufacturing is headed, how AI will impact our industry, and what shop owners should be focusing on right now, this conversation is worth your time.

Segments

(0:00) Jamie recaps Part 1 and introduces a discussion on AI, automation, and the future of manufacturing
(0:53) Mark explains how technology and customer intent data can help manufacturers uncover hidden opportunities
(5:24) The origins of SiteSonar and why understanding demand matters more than having a beautiful website
(6:37) Using data to identify high-intent buyers and focus limited sales resources where they matter most
(8:46) Jamie shares lessons on networking, referrals, and building trust through relationships
(11:17) How AI transformed content creation and why Mark embraced tools like ChatGPT early
(13:13) Using technology and data to uncover new markets and growth opportunities
(15:13) Your buyers have technical questions. Navu delivers reliable, accurate answers. Learn more at Navu.co/MakingChips
(16:27) Trade shows, manufacturing associations, and the power of telling your story
(17:51) Jamie and Mark discuss workforce development, trade schools, and attracting young people to manufacturing
(22:09) Why manufacturing still carries an outdated stigma and how the industry can change that perception
(23:43) The debate around aptitude, education, and who should have access to trade school opportunities
(28:56) Mark's advice for manufacturers: understand your market, communicate your capabilities, and focus on page-level marketing
(30:08) Why you need to listen to the Lights Out podcast
(30:32) Mark shares his vision for the future of manufacturing, automation, robotics, and connected factories
(32:39) How AI, APIs, and digital systems will change the way manufacturers discover suppliers and customers
(34:14) Mark's three-step blueprint for growing a manufacturing company from the ground up

Resources mentioned on this episode

Massachusetts Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC)
Missouri Association of Manufacturing
TITANS OF CNC
Skills USA
Why you need to listen to the Lights Out podcast
Industrial Marketing
Mark Manuel on LinkedIn

Connect With Raw Material

MakingChips.com
Connect on LinkedIn

4. Make Big Tech Pay for 1,000 Trade Schools, with Rep. Jake Auchincloss

Jamie Marzilli — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Every shop owner I know is fighting the same war: where do the next machinists come from, and who is going to pay to train them? On this one I sat down with my own congressman, Jake Auchincloss, who came down to the shop with a plan that actually puts money behind the problem.

Why not make big tech build a thousand trade schools across the country, surge one-on-one tutoring to every K-12 student, and make the social media corporations foot the bill? It is bold, it is specific, and it is the freshest idea on workforce I have heard in a long time.

Jake does not pull punches, and neither do I. He calls the social media platforms what he thinks they are: not content companies, but pharmaceutical companies selling dopamine to kids whose brains cannot fight back. Digital fentanyl. We get into how they lobby Congress, the three lines they run every time, and why he thinks the states, not Washington, are going to be the ones to tax their ad revenue and put it back into education.

But this is a shop floor show, so we did not stay in policy land. I told him the truth about what training really costs, the 300 percent you eat on a new hire, the forty grand it takes to fix a spindle after a crash, and why the small shops doing two to fifteen million in revenue are the ones who need to be protected and paid to bring young people in. We argued lottery versus merit for getting kids into trade schools, why we are failing young men, and why the best machinists in their sixties and seventies should be treated like the celebrities they are.

Then we went wide. The new space race and what it is doing to aerospace demand. Drones, defense, and why we should be learning from Ukraine. The K-shaped economy. Tariffs that Jake never even got to vote on. Local banks as the backbone of small manufacturing. Energy costs and the case for nuclear. And a real conversation about AI, where I make the case that it grows shops instead of gutting them, the same way Industry 4.0 did.

This is a long one because it earned it. Two builders, one machinist and one congressman, trying to figure out how we actually fix the workforce instead of just complaining about it. Pour a coffee and dig in.

What's Covered in this Episode

(1:00) Rep. Jake Auchincloss: 1,000 trade schools, K-12 tutoring, paid for by social media corporations
(2:01) Why the 2020 school closures were a catastrophe kids haven't recovered from
(3:07) Taxing the attention-frackers, and the three pillars of a real trade school
(5:05) Jamie's shop-floor truth: training costs, crashes, paying machinists, protecting small shops
(9:23) The problem with trade schools (and what we think you should do to to fix it)
(13:37) How we fail young men, and why purpose, teams, and rules matter
(15:52) Why social media companies are dopamine dealers—not content platforms
(17:36) The temperance argument, and how Big Tech lobbies Congress to dodge it
(19:12) Why we created Hire MFG Leaders (and why you should use it)
(19:40) Where the bill lands: why the states will lead with ad-revenue levies
(21:12) Accreditation red tape, and the free Titans of CNC curriculum
(23:16) A small-group training model, and why a case of parts beats a credential
(26:17) The manufacturing Renaissance: aerospace, space, defense, and drones
(30:04) The K-shaped economy and why certs like AS9100 draw the line
(31:15) Precision tiers: how medical work compares to aerospace
(32:27) Massachusetts' edge in high-mix precision (and the grant red tape that holds it back)
(36:04) How ProShop ERP can help your shop achieve on-time delivery
(37:38) Which trade-school model works, plus discipline and keeping a job
(40:54) How to help more shops start and why tax credits miss the unprofitable
(42:54) Shoutout: Local banks are the backbone of small manufacturing
(45:02) Locally priced and globally sold: the squeeze on American shops
(46:00) Energy costs, solar rules, and the case for building nuclear
(48:24) Why you should register for the IMTS Job Shops Workshop
(49:18) Tariffs: no vote, all uncertainty, and the run-on-gas effect
(51:47) Tariff outputs or subsidize inputs? The post-war order and how China cheated
(54:40) AI in Congress and why it disrupts and creates jobs like Industry 4.0
(58:02) WarpCore, edge agents, and growing a shop 5x instead of cutting it 80%
(1:02:22) Why ingenuity is the wall AI keeps hitting, from CAD/CAM to AI poetry
(1:03:57) Why this goes the way of the internet (and staying optimistic with guardrails)

Resources Mentioned

Connect with Jake Auchincloss

6. Why Small Shops Have the AI Advantage

Jamie Marzilli — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Everybody in this industry is getting sold the same scary story right now: AI is coming for your shop, and if you're small, you're finished. Chris Stevens, the MFG coach, and I think that's backwards.

The little guys, the owner operators and the shops under 30 people, might be holding the strongest hand in the whole game. They're fast. They're nimble. They can move on this stuff over a weekend while the big primes are still stuck in a committee meeting and an Excel spreadsheet.

We also get into the trap, because it's real. It's way too easy to burn six months building some AI tool to solve a 90 second problem. Feels like progress. Zero return. If you own the place, every hour you spend has to point back at one thing, and that's cash.

And no, AI isn't taking your machinists' jobs. What it's actually doing is ripping out the admin that drags your best people off the floor. Clean data still wins. Relationships still win. DFM still wins. And the shops that treat their people like the IP they are are the ones that come out ahead.

This one runs the whole gauntlet: the 50 billion dollar fear machine, why the best shops in the country stay invisible while the hellholes go viral, the dying apprenticeship, and whether these AI brains eventually end up driving robots on your floor. Let's get into it.

What's Covered in this Episode

(0:00) The trap: burning six months to automate a 90 second problem
(1:01) Chris Stevens: From the floor to the front office to consulting
(3:43) A client who killed paid ads, leaned into LinkedIn, and filled his pipeline
(6:48) The downside of AI: It can pull you off your core focus for weeks
(7:31) The CRIT framework: context, role, interview, task
(8:50) The one rule for entrepreneurs: is this going to produce cash?
(10:39) Any investment in ProShop is an investment in your business
(12:15) How 6 years of Industry 4.0 data became a company brain named Dex
(16:32) Why clean, structured data is so undervalued (too many people use Excel)
(18:07) The 50 billion dollar narrative: fear sells, and layoffs weren't really about AI
(19:35) The money goes to those who push AI to the edge, not those who build it
(22:25) AI won't take jobs, it removes the barriers that stop good shops from competing
(25:29) The five year vision: same price, twice the quality and tolerance
(26:35) Role duplication and the knowledge crisis in our industry
(30:41) Why Marzilli does DFM for free: sales through giving
(31:27) Why you need to head to theIMTS Industrial AI Conference
(34:08) Private equity and venture capital moving into manufacturing
(36:14) Why manufacturing roll-ups fall apart: it's a bottom-up talent business
(37:16) Culture matters: what happens after the owner or key manager leaves
(41:19) Getting out of your bubble with NTMA, AMT, and community groups
(47:10) Multimodal AI: cameras for eyes, mics for ears, sensors for touch
(49:35) Why we created Hire MFG Leaders (and why you should use it)
(50:04) Where humanoids win, and where one-off parts stop them cold
(55:27) Why small to midsize shops are in the prime seat right now

Resources Mentioned

Connect with Chris Stevens

The Home of MFG
Connect with Chris on LinkedIn

2. Why Your Shop's Website Isn't Making You Money

Jamie Marzilli — Fri, 29 May 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Most machine shop websites suck. Not because they look bad. Because they don't understand how manufacturing buyers actually think.

In this episode of Raw Material, I sat down with Mark Manuel, better known as "The Industrial Ambassador," and we got into something that honestly doesn't get talked about enough in this industry: most manufacturers are marketing themselves completely wrong. Shops spend a pile of money on websites, SEO, social media, videos, branding, all this stuff… and then sit there wondering why the RFQs never come in.

Meanwhile, Mark built a seven-page "ugly website" that generated millions of dollars in business because he understood one thing most people miss: buyers don't search for what you do. They search for the problem they need solved.

That one idea turns into a much bigger conversation throughout this episode. We talked about how engineers actually search online, why most shops accidentally pigeonhole themselves, why trust still matters more than marketing tactics, and why younger buyers behave completely differently than the older generation running most manufacturing companies today.

We also got into AI, trade shows, sales psychology, and why social media is mostly a distraction for small manufacturers trying to grow. Mark's perspective is different because he's not some generic marketing guy trying to sell machine shops on buzzwords. He's spent years walking factory floors, talking to owners, going to trade shows, studying buyer behavior, and figuring out what actually moves the needle in this industry.

And honestly, we covered so much ground that this ended up becoming a two-part conversation. This first episode lays the foundation around marketing, buyer psychology, trust, and how manufacturers need to rethink the way they present themselves online. In Part 2, we go even deeper into AI, data, the future of industrial sales, and where all of this is heading next.

Segments

(0:56) Learn more about Mark Manuel (the industrial marketing expert)
(2:51) The parallels between Yellow Pages, Google, and changing customer behavior
(4:08) Why manufacturing sales are built on trust, relationships, and long sales cycles
(7:25) Jamie and Mark discuss authenticity as the ultimate sales and marketing tool
(10:37) The story behind a seven-page "ugly website" that generated millions in business
(12:21) Why manufacturers accidentally pigeonhole themselves through their websites and capabilities
(15:14) How engineers actually search online and why most shop websites fail to generate RFQs
(17:30) Generational shifts, AI, and the changing behavior of manufacturing buyers
(20:04) Why we love SMW Autoblok for workholding (Hint: RASRAM)
(20:49) AI hallucinations, data collection, and the future of industrial sales
(24:05) Mark explains SiteSonar, high-intent buyer signals, and the "Demand Discovery Ladder"
(27:01) Why we created Hire MFG Leaders (and why you should use it)
(27:30) Why social media is mostly a distraction for small manufacturers trying to grow
(30:08) The importance of trade schools, workforce development, and getting young people into manufacturing
(31:46) Jamie and Mark debate social media, niche marketing, and the "Moneyball" approach to manufacturing growth

Resources mentioned on this episode

Connect With Raw Material

MakingChips.com
Connect on LinkedIn

Subscribe on Apple and Spotify

1. Raw Material: Built by Machinists, Not Buzzwords

Jamie Marzilli — Fri, 15 May 2026 10:00:00 GMT

Welcome to Raw Material. I'm Jamie Marzilli, and this show is going to be different from just about every manufacturing podcast you've heard before. This isn't a boardroom conversation about EBITDA and buzzwords from people who forgot what it feels like to stand on the shop floor. This is for the machinists, operators, programmers, shop owners, and builders still grinding it out every single day.

In this launch episode, I share my journey from learning manual machining in the late '90s to struggling through the early CNC transition and eventually building Marzilli Machine Company into a multimillion-dollar aerospace manufacturer. I talk about what it was really like starting in a residential garage surrounded by tenement buildings in Fall River, Massachusetts, and how those early years shaped the way I look at leadership, manufacturing, and people.

I also dig into some of the biggest challenges facing manufacturing right now: the disappearing skilled trades workforce, the real cost of training young machinists, the "gray tsunami" of experienced talent retiring, and why AI is about to create a massive divide between the shops that adapt and the shops that get left behind. Along the way, I go on a few rants, share some scars, and explain why this show is going to stay raw, honest, and occasionally explicit.

Most importantly, I want Raw Material to become a place where people in this industry actually hear themselves reflected back. The stress, the pride, the late nights, the mistakes, the wins, and the pressure of carrying a business, a team, and a family all at once. Some episodes will be leadership conversations. Some will be war stories. Some will probably get emotional. But none of them will be fake.

Segments

(0:00) Why Raw Material exists and why I wanted a more honest manufacturing podcast
(1:04) Why this show is built for people still working on the shop floor and figuring it out in real time
(2:30) Starting Marzilli Machine Company in a garage and growing into aerospace manufacturing
(3:23) The failures, mistakes, and hard lessons that shaped me as a shop owner
(4:44) My path from manual machining apprenticeships into CNC programming and Mastercam
(8:19) Why fearlessness and problem-solving are essential skills in manufacturing
(9:55) Young talent, mentorship, and the growing challenges of developing the next generation
(11:10) The "gray tsunami" and why AI will reshape the future of manufacturing shops
(12:43) How trade shows, networking, and industry relationships changed the trajectory of my business
(14:39) The real financial burden of hiring and training inexperienced machinists
(16:00) Previewing future episodes with my wife, industry leaders, and people from across manufacturing
(16:43) Why this show will stay gritty, emotional, explicit, and completely unfiltered
(17:30) Watching manufacturing skills transform the confidence and lives of young employees
(19:01) Women in manufacturing and building a family-oriented culture inside our company
(19:37) Why the people behind manufacturing deserve more recognition and respect
(20:58) Share your mistakes, breakthroughs, and the stories that shaped you

Resources mentioned on this episode

Modern Machine Shop Magazine
ProShop ERP
TITANS of CNC
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MakingChips.com
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