my TRUE POSITION

Jim Carr

Manufacturing Professionals will receive immediate and actionable insight into high-level issues of running a small to mid-sized manufacturing company. All communicated in an easy-to-digest 20 minutes by your expert podcaster and second-generation business owner, Jim Carr.

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26 episodes
weekly
Avg 27 min
English

Episodes 26

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#176
October 9 · 18 min
Culture Has a Dashboard Too
Manufacturers track almost everything — sales, backlog, delivery, quality, scrap, margin, and cash. But are they tracking culture? In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr talks about the value of anonymous employee surveys and why they can become one of the most important leadership tools inside a manufacturing company. At CARR Machine & Tool, employee surveys have become a way to identify trends, measure communication, understand training gaps, evaluate accountability, and give employees a safe way to share what they are experiencing on the floor. This episode is not about blame. It is about visibility. Because owners do not always know what employees experience every day. And sometimes the survey shows you something before the business pays the price. Employee feedback is not HR fluff. It is leadership intelligence.
#175
October 3 · 26 min
Your New Administrative Assistant Is Already Here
AI does not have to be complicated to be useful. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr talks about his recent experience using an AI Chrome browser extension that works inside the tools he already uses — Gmail, Google Suite, Sheets, QBO, HubSpot, ProShop ERP, and other browser-based business systems. The big realization: AI is no longer just a search box or a novelty tool. It is becoming a practical administrative assistant inside the daily workflow. Jim breaks down simple ways manufacturers and business owners can use AI right now: summarizing emails, curating customer lists, reviewing CRM notes, drafting follow-ups, cleaning up spreadsheets, organizing meeting notes, and reducing administrative drag. He also talks about the guardrails: AI should not input passwords, should move slowly, should ask for approval, and should not make business changes without human review. This episode is not about replacing people. It is about creating leverage. Because sometimes the smartest way to start using AI is not with a massive project. It is with the simple tasks wasting your time every day.
#174
September 25 · 27 min
The Customer You Should Have Fired Two Years Ago
In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr breaks down the hard truth about bad customers — the ones who fight price, push delivery, challenge quality, pay late, consume your team, clog your schedule, and still expect priority treatment. Jim explains why bad customers are not just a sales problem. They are an operational contaminant. They drain leadership bandwidth, hurt morale, pressure margins, disrupt scheduling, and steal capacity from better customers. This episode is about customer discipline, leadership, margin protection, and knowing when a customer is no longer strategic. Because some customers don't grow your business. They consume it. And firing a bad customer may be the move that creates room for the business you actually want to build.
#173
September 18 · 27 min
Don't Build Yesterday's Job Shop
In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim breaks down exactly what he would do differently if he were starting from scratch in today's manufacturing environment. The old model was simple: buy a machine, chase work, quote cheap, work hard, and figure it out. But today, skill and hustle are not enough. Modern manufacturing requires systems, quality discipline, inspection capability, quoting accuracy, customer selection, ERP, cybersecurity awareness, brand visibility, sales strategy, and leadership depth. Jim explains why a machine is not a business model, why customer selection matters, why inspection should be treated as a competitive weapon, why marketing is no longer optional, and why the best shops are building enterprise value from day one.
#172
September 12 · 27 min
Pick Up The Damn Phone!
Sometimes the best sales strategy is not a new campaign, a new consultant, or a complicated marketing funnel. Sometimes it is calling people who already know you. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr shares a recent sales epiphany from CARR Machine & Tool: he started calling inactive customers, and the response was immediate. About 80 percent responded, and many said they were swamped and actively looking to outsource precision machining. Jim breaks down why inactive customers are not dead customers, why old relationships need oxygen, and why your CRM may be one of the most underused sales assets in your company. He also shares a practical outreach method: call, leave a short voicemail, immediately send a follow-up email, include your cell number, ask what the customer is working on, listen first, then explain where your company is going. With aerospace and defense demand strong, customers need capable suppliers. But they may not remember you unless you get back in front of them.
#171
August 28 · 30 min
Quoting Is NOT Machining the Part
Quoting machined parts is one of the most important and misunderstood functions inside a machine shop. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr breaks down what really goes into building a disciplined quote — from material, finishing, tooling, outside services, hardware, scrap, shipping, planning, programming, setup, inspection, automation assumptions, DLH rates, overhead, and profit markup. Jim explains why a quote is not the same as machining the part. It is your best possible estimate before the work exists. He also shares why machinists can sometimes go too deep into the rabbit hole when helping with quotes, why outside services need to be marked up, why ERP structure matters, and why bad quotes punish the shop floor later. This episode is about cost discipline, estimating judgment, margin protection, and understanding that quoting is not guessing. It is leadership.
#170
August 21 · 21 min
The Best Manufacturing Classroom Isn't a Classroom
IMTS 2026 is coming back to Chicago, and Jim Carr believes manufacturing leaders should do more than just attend. They should bring their teams. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim explains why IMTS is one of the most valuable team development opportunities in manufacturing. With more than 86,000 people, 1,800 exhibitors, 10 technology sectors, and over 1.2 million square feet of manufacturing innovation, IMTS is not just a trade show. It is a front-row look at the future of the industry. Jim shares why he has been attending IMTS since he was 16 with his late father, Richard, and how that experience shaped the way he sees manufacturing. He also breaks down how CARR Machine & Tool turns IMTS into a team-building and learning day: taking the team by party bus, assigning groups to explore specific areas of interest, collecting information, sharing what they learn, and ending the day with dinner as a team.
#169
August 14 · 22 min
Be Careful When Giving a Friend a Purchase Order
Doing business with friends can be rewarding — but it can also get complicated fast. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr shares personal lessons from decades in manufacturing about the risks of mixing friendship with purchase orders, subcontracting, tooling, consulting, and supplier relationships. The hard truth: good people can still be bad business partners. Jim talks about why expectations break down, why it is so hard to hold a friend accountable, and why a simple written agreement before the work begins may be the best way to protect both the business and the friendship. Because when delivery slips, quality fails, communication breaks down, or money gets involved, friendship alone will not save the relationship. Clear expectations might. This is a personal, reflective episode about trust, boundaries, leadership, and the real consequences of letting business and friendship collide without a plan.
#168
July 31 · 20 min
CMMC Is Paused: The Hackers AREN'T
Manufacturing has become the number-one industry targeted by cyberattackers, accounting for 27.7% of the incidents investigated by IBM X-Force in 2025. manufacturers such attractive targets? It comes down to production downtime, valuable customer intellectual property, aging technology and our position inside increasingly connected global supply chains. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr explains why small and family-owned machine shops are especially vulnerable, how cybercriminals get from an employee's inbox to the shop floor and what owners can realistically do to protect their businesses. Jim also addresses what the recent CMMC Phase II suspension does—and does not—mean for defense manufacturers. No scare tactics. No hundred-page IT checklist. Just practical, owner-level actions to protect your company, your customers and your ability to keep making parts.
#167
July 24 · 29 min
The Backlog Is REAL: So Is the Bottleneck
A big backlog feels great — until you realize backlog doesn't ship itself. In this episode, I break down the hard reality behind today's aerospace and defense demand. The orders may be real. The opportunities may be real. But so are the constraints: labor, material, inspection, outside processing, cash flow, supplier delays, machine uptime, and leadership capacity. This is not a negative episode. It is a reality episode. Because a purchase order is not the finish line. It is a promise. And the shops that win over the next few years will not simply be the ones with the biggest backlog. They will be the ones that can convert demand into delivered product, delivered product into cash, and cash into enterprise value. Backlog is not the win. Execution is.
#166
July 18 · 40 min
CMMC Hit the Brakes...Because the Arsenal Can't Wait!
The government just suspended CMMC Phase II—and the reason goes far beyond cybersecurity. With defense inventories under replenishment pressure, aerospace backlogs at historic levels, and qualified manufacturing capacity already constrained, Washington finally recognized that six-figure certification costs and overwhelming documentation requirements were pushing capable small manufacturers out of the Defense Industrial Base. In this episode, Jim breaks down what the CMMC pause really means, what requirements remain in force, how it could reshape competition for defense machining, and why the next two-plus years may create extraordinary opportunities for manufacturers that are truly prepared to execute.
#165
July 10 · 26 min
No One Wants to Work Overtime: Now What?
Manufacturing owners love to say nobody wants to work overtime anymore. But maybe the better question is: why did we build businesses that depend on it? In this episode, I dig into the new overtime reality facing machine shops and manufacturers. The workforce has changed. People want their nights, weekends, and family time back. But customers still want shorter lead times, faster delivery, and flawless execution. That puts owners right in the middle. This episode is not about blaming workers or whining about younger generations. It's about leadership, capacity, planning, accountability, and building a company that does not require constant heroics just to hit the schedule. Overtime should be a tool. It should not be the operating model. Because the future belongs to shops that can deliver without burning people out.
#164
June 26 · 29 min
The Machines Are Here! The People Aren't.
Chicago has spent billions building the future of manufacturing and logistics — rail yards, airport cargo systems, automation, robotics, smart factories, and advanced equipment. But here's the hard truth: machines don't create capacity by themselves. People do. In this episode, I break down the workforce crisis hiding behind the automation boom. We don't just need more technology — we need the technicians, machinists, programmers, maintenance experts, automation engineers, and leaders who can actually run it. Because the future of manufacturing won't be decided by who buys the best machines. It'll be decided by who builds the people capable of keeping them moving.
#163
June 19 · 22 min
The Family Business Survival Guide
Most family businesses don't fail because they run out of money. They fail because they run out of leadership, communication, trust, and a real succession plan. In this episode, I break down why some family businesses survive for generations while others collapse the minute the founder steps away. We'll talk about entitlement, founder dependency, hard conversations, next-generation leadership, and the brutal difference between being founder-led and becoming institution-led. Because building a family business is one thing. Building one that can survive without you is something completely different.
#162
June 13 · 26 min
The Best Business Education I Never Paid For
What if the most valuable business lessons you'll ever learn don't come from a college classroom, a consultant, or an MBA program? Over the last ten years, I've had the privilege of sitting behind a microphone and interviewing hundreds of CEOs, entrepreneurs, shop owners, engineers, and manufacturing leaders. What started as a podcast turned into something far more valuable—a front-row seat to the successes, failures, leadership philosophies, and hard-earned wisdom of some remarkable people. In this episode, I share the biggest lessons I've learned from a decade of conversations. We talk about why curiosity beats intelligence, why culture matters more than technology, how relationships compound over time, and why the most successful leaders are often the most humble. Whether you're running a machine shop, leading a team, building a business, or simply trying to become a better version of yourself, these are the lessons that have shaped the way I think, lead, and make decisions. This isn't an episode about podcasting. It's about what ten years of listening taught me.
#161
June 5 · 17 min
The Defense Manufacturing Boom Is Coming: Are You Ready?
Defense spending is rising. Aerospace production is accelerating. Munitions demand is growing. And behind the scenes, manufacturers are preparing for what could become one of the biggest opportunities in decades. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr shares what he's seeing firsthand from the front lines of aerospace and defense manufacturing. He discusses why some shops will be positioned to thrive, why others may struggle to keep up, and what leaders should be doing today to prepare for the demand that's coming tomorrow. If you're a shop owner, manufacturing executive, or anyone responsible for growth and capacity planning, this episode offers practical insights into the future of American manufacturing and the opportunities that may lie ahead. The work is coming. The real question is: will your company be ready?
#160
May 29 · 26 min
A Young Engineer Asked Me for 3 Pieces of Advice: Here Are Ten!
A young mechanical engineering student named Jake Masters reached out to me on LinkedIn asking for advice before stepping into his family's 70-year-old CNC manufacturing business. That message inspired this episode. In this solo episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr shares 10 hard-earned lessons about leadership, failure, culture, cash flow, technology, and what it really takes to survive in precision manufacturing. This isn't motivational fluff. It's real-world operator wisdom from someone who's lived it. Whether you're entering the family business, leading a shop, or building the next generation of manufacturing — this episode is for you. Because inheriting the company is one thing. Improving it? That's leadership.
#159
May 22 · 28 min
MRP Is Broken: How Modern Shops Are Rebuilding Their Tech Stack
In this episode, Jim Carr sits down with Lorin Shamos from First Resonance to break down why traditional ERP and MRP systems are falling behind—and what a modern "Factory Operating System" actually looks like. From real-time scheduling and material planning to execution, traceability, and automation, this conversation dives into how advanced manufacturers are replacing spreadsheets and firefighting with systems that actually reflect reality. If your operation still depends on manual updates, outdated data, and constant rescheduling… this episode will hit home.
#158
May 15 · 32 min
When Failure Isn't an Option: Inside High-Reliability Manufacturing
Not all manufacturing is created equal. Some parts can fail. Others can't. In this episode, Jim Carr sits down with Errick Egeland from The Lee Company to explore what it takes to manufacture miniature, high-reliability fluid control components used in aerospace, medical, defense, and space applications. From precision flow control to extreme repeatability, this conversation dives into the discipline required to build components where failure is not an option. If you think tight tolerances are challenging… wait until performance, pressure, and reliability are all on the line.
#157
May 8 · 33 min
Space Junk, Collisions, and Control: Who's Managing the Chaos in Orbit?
Space isn't just about launching satellites anymore—it's about maintaining them, inspecting them, and eventually removing them. In this episode, Jim Carr sits down with Jeff Schloemer from Astroscale to break down the emerging world of in-orbit servicing and space logistics. From satellite inspection and life extension to debris removal and collision prevention, this conversation explores how space is becoming a fully operational environment—and why that matters for the future of infrastructure, defense, and global communication. If you think manufacturing is complex on Earth… wait until you hear what it takes in orbit.

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