Lean Built: Manufacturing Freedom

Hosted by Henry Holsters and Pierson Workholding

Business Entrepreneurship

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Episodes

159

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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About the show

Two successful entrepreneurs talk about manufacturing, lean principles, and the freedom they are pursuing in life and business.

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60 recent

August 24, 2026Episode 16040 min

When Automation Creates More Work | Lean Built - Manufacturing Freedom E160

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.

August 17, 2026Episode 15924 min

Your Shop Doesn’t Have to Be Clean to Be Lean | Lean Built - Manufacturing Freedom E159

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.

August 10, 2026Episode 15845 min

Going to IMTS 2026? 7 Tips for Machine Shop Owners | Lean Built - Manufacturing Freedom E158

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.

August 3, 2026Episode 15740 min

When a Good Employee Isn’t the Right Employee | Lean Built - Manufacturing Freedom E157

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.

July 27, 2026Episode 15645 min

Why Simplicity Beats Complexity in Business | Lean Built - Manufacturing Freedom E156

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.

July 20, 2026Episode 15548 min

Your Team Doesn’t See You the Way You Think They Do | Lean Built - Manufacturing Freedom E155

This week, Andrew and Jay are back from vacation and comparing notes on what it takes to unplug without losing momentum. They talk about the transition back into work, why deleting emails can be more productive than answering them, and the systems they rely on to keep their businesses running while they’re away. They then shift into leadership and communication through the lens of Surrounded by Idiots , a book on personality styles and self-perception. Andrew reflects on candid feedback he recently received from his team and how easily leaders can misjudge the way they’re perceived. Jay and Andrew explore healthy conflict, hiring for emotional maturity, decision fatigue, and why understanding different personality types can dramatically improve communication inside an organization. They also discuss how reducing unnecessary choices, from restaurant menus to product catalogs, can create better customer experiences, stronger businesses, and less mental friction for everyone involved.

July 6, 2026Episode 15445 min

Don’t Let AI Do Your Thinking | Lean Built - Manufacturing Freedom E154

This week, Jay and Andrew treating vendors like partners, and why that pays off. They also dive into the evolution of their daily morning meetings, sharing how they’re constantly tweaking the format to make those few minutes more meaningful for their teams. Finally, they tackle AI in manufacturing. Where does it actually save time? Where does it make people worse at thinking? And how do you use it as a tool without letting it become a crutch?

June 29, 2026Episode 15318 min

Why Every Machine Shop Should Take More Shop Tours | Lean Built - Manufacturing Freedom E153

What if one of the fastest ways to improve your machine shop is walking through someone else’s? In this solo episode, Andrew shares lessons from recent shop tours, including visits to manufacturers in Japan and Toyota Material Handling in Columbus, Indiana. He explains why every shop owner and manufacturing leader should regularly visit other facilities, shamelessly borrow great ideas, and expose their teams to new ways of thinking. Andrew explores how shop tours create better benchmarks, reveal simple solutions to stubborn problems, strengthen industry relationships, and help leaders see both their company’s strengths and blind spots. He also reflects on why taking your team along is often even more valuable than going alone, and why the best leaders spend more time listening than talking.

June 22, 2026Episode 15259 min

Your Memory Is Not a Management System | Lean Built - Manufacturing Freedom E152

Andrew shares how a simple magnetic tag meant to prevent a security mistake failed, not because the idea was bad, but because the process wasn’t complete. From there, Andrew and Jay explore Kanban systems, physical signals, mistake-proofing, and why the best systems don’t rely on memory. Along the way, Andrew and Jay trade stories about forgotten garage doors, rusting cast iron, Toyota-inspired fixtures, tool wear, AI, and the difference between hard work and the right work. They reflect on the value of training shoulder-to-shoulder with employees, and why the most effective improvements are often the simplest ones: a tag on a keyring, a fixture that prevents mistakes, or a process that makes the wrong action impossible. Here is the BMW video Jay referenced. And here's the podcast Andrew referenced, Stories are Soul Food.

June 15, 2026Episode 15147 min

The More You Optimize, The More Things Break | Lean Built - Manufacturing Freedom E151

A single drop of coolant shut down an overnight production run that should have been making parts for hours. Nothing crashed or was broken, yet the machine stopped, production stopped, and the schedule slipped. That small failure leads to a bigger discussion about one of the hardest lessons in manufacturing and business: the more optimization you pursue, the more opportunities you create for failure. Andrew and Jay explore the tradeoff between speed and certainty, why complex systems often become fragile systems, and how owners can avoid creating unnecessary chaos in pursuit of efficiency. They discuss lights-out machining, process documentation, SOPs, simplification, customer urgency, and the role leaders play in bringing calm when everyone else is stressed.