Most machine shops judge a good day by spindle time. If the machines are cutting, we're making money. If they're sitting still, something must be wrong.
But what if keeping capacity open for the right customer is actually part of the product?
That question kicks off our conversation with strategist Kaihan Krippendorff, who we met at MFG 2026 in Fort Lauderdale. Kaihan's big idea is that value is moving closer to the moment and place where it is needed. For machine shops, that means reshoring, faster turnaround, stocked material, flexible capacity, automation, and being the supplier customers call when a problem cannot wait.
We talk about why customers are rarely just buying a part. They are buying uptime, speed, confidence, and the ability to avoid a production nightmare. That shift changes how a shop should think about pricing, customer relationships, and where it can create value beyond the machine.
We also get practical about what this could look like on the shop floor: having material ready, showing available capacity online, and recognizing when a $200 part becomes a $2,000 solution because the customer needs it immediately.
The future may not belong to the biggest shop or the cheapest shop. It may belong to the shops that understand urgency, move quickly, and become harder for customers to replace.
Because it is not the big that eat the small.
It is the fast that eat the slow.
What's Covered in this Episode
- (1:06) Recapping MFG 2026 and welcoming Kaihan Krippendorff
- (2:02) Kaihan's two worlds: strategy thought leadership and the Outthinker think tank
- (4:02) The game is changing, and proximity is the new playbook
- (5:15) Reshoring, the end of globalization, and the rising cost of distance
- (6:39) Take your shop high-end with DN Solutions
- (7:52) "Jobs to be done": sell the outcome, not the part
- (11:21) Storch Magnetics: one lobbyist out-sold the whole sales team
- (12:26) Tooling vending machines and the $8 stadium water bottle
- (14:06) The weekend rush job: a $200 part worth $2,000 by Monday
- (15:52) Distributed 3D printing, zero marginal cost, and selling uptime
- (18:32) A 2026 prediction: AI gets arms and legs
- (21:04) Reinvest in yourself first with ProShop ERP
- (22:43) Coca-Cola Freestyle: create the value after demand shows up
- (24:57) Low Country Aerospace and buying raw material smarter
- (27:25) Sell results, not atoms: the Uber and Domino's lesson
- (29:04) Putting open capacity online and a distributed network of shops
- (32:08) Connecting directly to customers and ProCNC's 2004 head start
- (35:36) Why categories are powerful and time splicing for quick response
- (37:15) Stop getting burned by recruiters: Use Hire MFG Leaders
- (38:29) Segmenting customers by who values speed most
- (42:09) Riches in the niches and the rise of the mega factories
- (44:48) What a typical shop can do now: the nine Ps checklist
Resources Mentioned
Connect with Kaihan Krippendorff
Connect with MakingChips
