Letting Employees Make Decisions Without Losing Control | Lean Built - Manufacturing Freedom E165

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.

Jay and Andrew are back from IMTS 2026 with sore feet, too much espresso, and a lot to think about.They compare notes on what actually stood out at the show, from higher-density workholding and spindle-gripper automation to pallet pools, CMMs, in-process probing, and the surprising lack of AI hype on the machining floor. But the bigger question is what any of it is actually worth to a working shop.When does automation create real capacity, and when are you buying an expensive solution because it looks like what a modern shop is supposed to have? Jay wrestles with the ROI on a quarter-million-dollar pallet system, while Andrew makes the case for simpler automation that keeps machines running while people do something else. They also dig into inspection, why quality should happen as close to the process as possible, and when the machine you already own may be the best inspection tool available.Along the way, they talk IMTS survival strategies, trade show networking, bandsaw blades, the changing generation of machinists, why manufacturing knowledge is becoming less guarded, and what younger shops can learn from the last decade of other people’s expensive mistakes.

Andrew and Jay are getting ready for IMTS and talking through what they actually want to find when they get there. The conversation starts with high-density workholding and the tradeoffs between flexibility, access, and optimization, then moves into 3D printing, shop organization, prototyping, and the difference between looking organized and actually improving flow.They also talk automation and AI in manufacturing. Where should automation make decisions for you, and where should it simply give a skilled operator better information? Andrew and Jay consider what aviation safety can teach manufacturers about systems, human judgment, and failing safely, then look ahead to how AI might help machines recognize problems nobody explicitly programmed them to expect.Plus, Andrew introduces his kids to Fusion, Jay automates more of his shop shutdown process, and the guys make time for the important questions, including hot sauce, fresh salsa, and whether sushi gets progressively more dangerous the farther you travel from the Pacific Ocean.

AI is starting to change the shop in ways that go far beyond ChatGPT.Andrew and Jay compare notes on the AI tools they are actually using, from automating invoices and administrative work to the possibility of simply describing a part and having AI build a 3D-printable model. They talk about where Autodesk Fusion’s AI tools are today, why learning CAD may look very different in a few years, and why good systems still matter when software keeps changing.Then it’s back to machines. Andrew is officially lathe-free, which leaves some valuable open floor space and raises the obvious question of what, if anything, should replace it. That leads into CMMs, five-axis machining, the ongoing Matsuura saga, and the constant tension between speed, quality, consistency, and automation. Remember, there is no point in making bad parts faster.Plus, IMTS is almost here. Andrew and Jay look back at the Instamachinist class of 2016, talk about what they are hoping to see at the show, and reveal how to get your hands on one of Andrew’s limited IMTS shirts.

Andrew recently sold an underutilized CNC lathe, which raises a bigger question: when an investment does not work out as planned, was the money wasted? How do you gauge what value you got out of it, even in learning?Andrew and Jay discuss knowing when to experiment, when to hire expertise instead of learning everything yourself, and why good business owners need to understand what they should and should not personally master.Then the conversation turns to KPIs, benchmarking, revenue per employee, and the danger of comparing your company against businesses operating under completely different constraints. They also dig into the levers a business owner can actually control, why discounts may simply pull future sales into the present, and the relative value of Pierson's traditional IMTS sale.

What happens when the systems meant to make your shop more efficient start creating more complexity? Can automation be dangerous? When a system works reliably, how do you keep human checks from becoming mindless? When should something live on a checklist, and when should it simply be automated? And what happens when you keep stacking new solutions on top of problems that have already been solved?Jay and Andrew cover all this plus Matsuura leveling issues, Brother’s U500 100-tool five-axis machine, pallet automation, mist filtration, shop air conditioning, and the constant challenge of improving a manufacturing operation without exhausting the people who work in it.

What does a real lean shop look like when the cameras aren’t hiding the mess?In this episode of Lean Built, Jay Pierson goes solo to break down a behind-the-scenes day at Pierson Workholding...and some of the misconceptions people have about lean manufacturing. A lean operation isn’t necessarily spotless, effortless, or perfectly optimized. Sometimes two guys wrapping a pallet is actually the right solution.Jay digs into why Pierson starts the day with 3S, how leaders should turn expectations into clear systems and procedures, and why extreme ownership means taking responsibility when your team doesn’t meet the standard.He also looks toward the future: AI, robotics, automation, and the technology that will increasingly remove tedious physical and mental labor. But the goal isn’t a world without work. There’s something deeply satisfying about making things, solving hard problems, and finishing the day knowing you produced something real.

If you’re heading to IMTS 2026, don’t spend three days wandering around looking at machines you could have watched on YouTube.In this episode, Andrew and Jay share their best advice for machine shop owners who want to get real value out of IMTS, from crafting a better elevator pitch and making the right connections to finding hidden capacity gains in the tooling, workholding, and processes surrounding the machines you already own.They talk about why you should guard your time at booths, meet the technical people behind the sales teams, use your phone as an external memory, network with other shop owners, and debrief every night before valuable contacts and ideas disappear.Plus: free dinners, IMTS transportation hacks, CMM shopping, and where you can find Andrew and Jay at the show.

Change is inevitable, but how do you get through it without losing your culture? From improving systems and giving honest feedback to hiring the right people and knowing when someone is no longer the right fit, Andrew and Jay share lessons they’ve learned from change over the years. They also dive into why continual improvement matters, how to create a team that’s willing to adapt, and why great leadership often means making difficult but necessary decisions.

This week, Andrew and Jay dive into one of the most overlooked competitive advantages in business: simplicity.Inspired by Stuart Brand’s The Maintenance of Everything, they explore why every system naturally drifts toward chaos, and why leaders should must eliminate it.Along the way they discuss why simple systems outperform complicated ones over the long run, the surprising leadership lessons hidden in Waffle House’s infamous order system, how unnecessary complexity creates maintenance nightmares, hiring for curiosity instead of just qualifications, why great communication always requires a closed loop, and the difference between patient hiring and slow hiring.Here's the insane Waffle House video they discuss.