Graff-Pinkert - Screw Machines, Hydromats, CNCs

Our guest on today’s show, Howard Sheldon, grew up working in his family’s third generation precision turning company. He planned to eventually take over the business from his father, but unfortunately succession didn’t happen the way he had hoped.

Howard left his family company in his mid-30s, and 10 years ago started his own Swiss turning company, Sheldon Precision Engineering Ltd. 

Howard turned out to be a natural entrepreneur, and he has built a thriving business that gives him the lifestyle he wants.

My guest on today’s show, Thadd Mellott, called us at Graff-Pinkert because he needed a Star SB20 CNC Swiss machine. His company, Circle M Spring, in Warsaw, Indiana, produces medical parts, including implantable orthopedic components. Circle M Spring is currently merging with a medical component design company that specializes in sports medicine. Thadd is incredibly excited about the merger because he now will have the rare ability to supply medical components directly to hospitals—a privilege that most machining companies can only dream about.

How many times has something happened to you that really sucked but then eventually turned out to be a good thing or even a great thing that happened for you? 

Today, I’m going to tell you a story about when a big machinery deal went to hell and then how its failure led to an amazing turn of events—a way better result than if things had gone the way they were supposed to go.

You know. Serendipity.

Recently, we have seen a growing number of mergers and acquisitions in the manufacturing space.

After these deals are finalized there’s a lot of uncertainty for the employees caught in the middle of reorganization.

Our guest on the podcast today is Jennifer Fondrevay. Jennifer is a best selling author and the Founder of Day1 Ready, a consultancy that advises companies on how to prepare for challenges that result from changes in the workplace.