Dynamic Metal Innovations (DMI) was founded by Mark Sternat and Scott Hartrick in 2019 and is located in Emmaus, PA. Being digital natives and not having legacy equipment and systems has allowed Mark and Scott to jump feet first into technology as a pillar of shop growth.

In this episode of The Pricing Series, Jay Jacobs and Jeff Gorman are joined by Justin Quinn: President at Focused on Machining. Justin is a previous guest on the show and long-time customer of Paperless Parts. Earlier this year at Paperless Parts' first-ever user conference, POWER 2023, Justin sat in on a presentation Jeff gave on the platform's Advanced Analytics. Lightbulbs went off, and Justin laid out his vision for a Pipeline Report. Jeff built the report for Justin, and within just a couple of weeks, Justin was able to make better decisions that drove his win rate up by 5%.

In this episode, Jeff and Jay revisit the theme of seasonality in custom manufacturing. As manufacturing tends to trend busier this time of year Jeff and Jay explore strategies to use pricing to manage demand.

Jeff and Jay sit down with Nick Mosey of Moseys Production Machinist in Anaheim, California. Nick and Jay had a conversation a few weeks back about how to reduce accounts receivables, and after some great discussion, we agreed to have Nick come on the podcast so that some of his other questions could be captured for you. We touch upon a wide variety of topics, including how to prioritize payables, why you should always have a line of credit at a bank, even if you don't use it, and if you do, how to use it. How pricing algorithms can be designed to automatically adjust pricing for new prospects, why profits are essential for growth, and lots more.

Jeff and Jay sit down and chat about how a shop might plan for 2023. Jeff shares what he has heard shops say about the previous year and how they can use this reflection to set goals and aspirations for the new year!

In this episode we dive in to how we see shops handling the dramatic fluctuations in material pricing. What are their strategies and how does automated quoting make them easier to implement.

Scott Duncan of F&M Tool and Die joins us to ask Jay and Jeff some questions on growing his business. Jeff and Jay met several years ago through the Entreprenuers Organization. Jay, Jeff and Scott chat strategy about raising EBITDA, why you would want a high profit margin and how to achieve it.

Jeff and Jay get into what information can be interrogated from a 3D CAD model. How to input it automatically into quoting software and then how it can be used for design for manufacturability feedback during the quoting process based upon the parameters of manufacturability. Jay built a company around using 3D data to quote and manufacture parts, and this episode will give you a glimpse of how 3D CAD model geometry speeds quoting, and dramatically reduces errors.

Jay and Jeff take a deep dive into Analytics; data derived primarily from quoting activities. For those quoting in excel or an ERP system it may be difficult to extract information such as win rate. One of the advantages of estimating software is that all this data comes for free and very little effort is neccessary to generate reports. Jeff and Jay get into some of the ways reports can be sliced and diced both out of the box and how you can customize for your shop.

eff shares his experience at his first trip to IMTS (International Manufacturing Technology Show). It was also Paperless Parts first time exhibiting at the show. Jeff shares with us many common questions he received at the booth as well as some of the cool products and companies he saw while walking the show. Jeff shares his experience at his first trip to IMTS (International Manufacturing Technology Show). It was also Paperless Parts first time exhibiting at the show. Jeff shares with us many common questions he recieved at the booth as well as some of the cool products and companies he saw while walking the show.

Brian and Jason Korbelik of Precision Parts Fast join us on this episode. Precision Parts Fast has implemented many concepts and recommendations we've discussed on prior episodes. They are winning more work than ever and have lots of questions on how to automate estimating even more through the use of Paperless Parts. We captured it all for you. We get into pricing levers, part type categorization, and shop rates. Why complex parts can be the devil; throwing away your calculator; managing expectations and even chat about credit cards. These guys are smart, hungry, and growing fast.

In this episode we focus on pricing strategies for repeat parts and how to think of them in terms of rising costs; particularly materials, blanket orders, multiple shipments, and long term agreements. We also dive into AB testing to determine whether new customers will pay more and also how to use AB testing to test out different pricing strategies.

We explore a wide range of pricing strategies today. How to handle customers who cherry pick your quotes, stinging you with the line items you price too low and awarding the juicy parts to someone else. How to handle no quotes; when to no quote, putting a policy in place and what to say to the customer. What to do when an unknown new customer sends in a giant quoting package for the first opportunity. Enjoy!

On today's episode, Jay and Jeff get into how easy it is to update pricing in Paperless Parts. Some shops may be hesitant to update pricing often because it takes time and effort. But what happens when you remove the friction and make it easy? What if you could update factors for pricing everyday? Think about what opportunities are possible when things are simple!

We are back with our 4th episode in this special pricing series. Jay talks in depth about how he believes US Manufacturing will not just survive but flourish in the event of a recession. We also dig deep into shop rates and why it is difficult to determine one rate for an entire shop. We talk strategies and considerations for coming up with these rates. Enjoy!

We are back with our third installment in this special series. Jay and Jeff talk about how to teach, train, and develop less experienced team members into becoming productive in estimating. Enjoy!

We are back with a second edition of our special series on Pricing. Jay and Jeff sit down and discuss getting data in and out of Paperless Parts through APIs and other methods. The importance of automated data collection and the risks associated with human error. Enjoy!

This is the first of a mini-series of episodes with Jeff Gorman, Customer Success Manager at Paperless Parts. Jeff speaks with hundreds of shops and will join us to explore aspects of pricing; from setting floor prices to maximizing profits and everything in between. Join us weekly for this special series!

In this Bonus episode, Jeremy Dustin of Metalcraft Technologies picks Jay's brain on how he can efficiently offer expedites in his shop. Jay shares his experiences and ideas for managing and pricing expedites. If you're contemplating adding expedites to your shop or already offer them, this episode is not to be missed!