my TRUE POSITION

Hosted by Jim Carr

Business

Website RSS feed

Episodes

171

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

About the show

Manufacturing Professionals will receive immediate and actionable insight into high-level issues of running a small to mid-sized manufacturing company. All communicated in an easy-to-digest 20 minutes by your expert podcaster and second-generation business owner, Jim Carr.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

September 12, 2026Episode 17227 min

Pick Up The Damn Phone!

Sometimes the best sales strategy is not a new campaign, a new consultant, or a complicated marketing funnel. Sometimes it is calling people who already know you. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr shares a recent sales epiphany from CARR Machine & Tool: he started calling inactive customers, and the response was immediate. About 80 percent responded, and many said they were swamped and actively looking to outsource precision machining. Jim breaks down why inactive customers are not dead customers, why old relationships need oxygen, and why your CRM may be one of the most underused sales assets in your company. He also shares a practical outreach method: call, leave a short voicemail, immediately send a follow-up email, include your cell number, ask what the customer is working on, listen first, then explain where your company is going. With aerospace and defense demand strong, customers need capable suppliers. But they may not remember you unless you get back in front of them.

August 28, 2026Episode 17130 min

Quoting Is NOT Machining the Part

Quoting machined parts is one of the most important and misunderstood functions inside a machine shop. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr breaks down what really goes into building a disciplined quote — from material, finishing, tooling, outside services, hardware, scrap, shipping, planning, programming, setup, inspection, automation assumptions, DLH rates, overhead, and profit markup. Jim explains why a quote is not the same as machining the part. It is your best possible estimate before the work exists. He also shares why machinists can sometimes go too deep into the rabbit hole when helping with quotes, why outside services need to be marked up, why ERP structure matters, and why bad quotes punish the shop floor later. This episode is about cost discipline, estimating judgment, margin protection, and understanding that quoting is not guessing. It is leadership.

August 21, 2026Episode 17021 min

The Best Manufacturing Classroom Isn't a Classroom

IMTS 2026 is coming back to Chicago, and Jim Carr believes manufacturing leaders should do more than just attend. They should bring their teams. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim explains why IMTS is one of the most valuable team development opportunities in manufacturing. With more than 86,000 people, 1,800 exhibitors, 10 technology sectors, and over 1.2 million square feet of manufacturing innovation, IMTS is not just a trade show. It is a front-row look at the future of the industry. Jim shares why he has been attending IMTS since he was 16 with his late father, Richard, and how that experience shaped the way he sees manufacturing. He also breaks down how CARR Machine & Tool turns IMTS into a team-building and learning day: taking the team by party bus, assigning groups to explore specific areas of interest, collecting information, sharing what they learn, and ending the day with dinner as a team.

August 14, 2026Episode 16922 min

Be Careful When Giving a Friend a Purchase Order

Doing business with friends can be rewarding — but it can also get complicated fast. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr shares personal lessons from decades in manufacturing about the risks of mixing friendship with purchase orders, subcontracting, tooling, consulting, and supplier relationships. The hard truth: good people can still be bad business partners. Jim talks about why expectations break down, why it is so hard to hold a friend accountable, and why a simple written agreement before the work begins may be the best way to protect both the business and the friendship. Because when delivery slips, quality fails, communication breaks down, or money gets involved, friendship alone will not save the relationship. Clear expectations might. This is a personal, reflective episode about trust, boundaries, leadership, and the real consequences of letting business and friendship collide without a plan.

July 31, 2026Episode 16820 min

CMMC Is Paused: The Hackers AREN'T

Manufacturing has become the number-one industry targeted by cyberattackers, accounting for 27.7% of the incidents investigated by IBM X-Force in 2025. manufacturers such attractive targets? It comes down to production downtime, valuable customer intellectual property, aging technology and our position inside increasingly connected global supply chains. In this episode of My TRUE POSITION, Jim Carr explains why small and family-owned machine shops are especially vulnerable, how cybercriminals get from an employee's inbox to the shop floor and what owners can realistically do to protect their businesses. Jim also addresses what the recent CMMC Phase II suspension does—and does not—mean for defense manufacturers. No scare tactics. No hundred-page IT checklist. Just practical, owner-level actions to protect your company, your customers and your ability to keep making parts.

July 24, 2026Episode 16729 min

The Backlog Is REAL: So Is the Bottleneck

A big backlog feels great — until you realize backlog doesn't ship itself. In this episode, I break down the hard reality behind today's aerospace and defense demand. The orders may be real. The opportunities may be real. But so are the constraints: labor, material, inspection, outside processing, cash flow, supplier delays, machine uptime, and leadership capacity. This is not a negative episode. It is a reality episode. Because a purchase order is not the finish line. It is a promise. And the shops that win over the next few years will not simply be the ones with the biggest backlog. They will be the ones that can convert demand into delivered product, delivered product into cash, and cash into enterprise value. Backlog is not the win. Execution is.

July 18, 2026Episode 16640 min

CMMC Hit the Brakes...Because the Arsenal Can't Wait!

The government just suspended CMMC Phase II—and the reason goes far beyond cybersecurity. With defense inventories under replenishment pressure, aerospace backlogs at historic levels, and qualified manufacturing capacity already constrained, Washington finally recognized that six-figure certification costs and overwhelming documentation requirements were pushing capable small manufacturers out of the Defense Industrial Base. In this episode, Jim breaks down what the CMMC pause really means, what requirements remain in force, how it could reshape competition for defense machining, and why the next two-plus years may create extraordinary opportunities for manufacturers that are truly prepared to execute.

July 10, 2026Episode 16526 min

No One Wants to Work Overtime: Now What?

Manufacturing owners love to say nobody wants to work overtime anymore. But maybe the better question is: why did we build businesses that depend on it? In this episode, I dig into the new overtime reality facing machine shops and manufacturers. The workforce has changed. People want their nights, weekends, and family time back. But customers still want shorter lead times, faster delivery, and flawless execution. That puts owners right in the middle. This episode is not about blaming workers or whining about younger generations. It's about leadership, capacity, planning, accountability, and building a company that does not require constant heroics just to hit the schedule. Overtime should be a tool. It should not be the operating model. Because the future belongs to shops that can deliver without burning people out.

June 26, 2026Episode 16429 min

The Machines Are Here! The People Aren't.

Chicago has spent billions building the future of manufacturing and logistics — rail yards, airport cargo systems, automation, robotics, smart factories, and advanced equipment. But here's the hard truth: machines don't create capacity by themselves. People do. In this episode, I break down the workforce crisis hiding behind the automation boom. We don't just need more technology — we need the technicians, machinists, programmers, maintenance experts, automation engineers, and leaders who can actually run it. Because the future of manufacturing won't be decided by who buys the best machines. It'll be decided by who builds the people capable of keeping them moving.

June 19, 2026Episode 16322 min

The Family Business Survival Guide

Most family businesses don't fail because they run out of money. They fail because they run out of leadership, communication, trust, and a real succession plan. In this episode, I break down why some family businesses survive for generations while others collapse the minute the founder steps away. We'll talk about entitlement, founder dependency, hard conversations, next-generation leadership, and the brutal difference between being founder-led and becoming institution-led. Because building a family business is one thing. Building one that can survive without you is something completely different.