Push and shove to generate business

If your mom was like mine when I was growing up, she probably told you that pushing and shoving showed bad manners and to always refrain from such behavior. Of course, Mom was right—at least outside the context of running a machine shop.

In a career that requires constant productivity improvement, Mom’s advice no longer applies. A little—or even a lot—of pushing and shoving is important when it comes to managing and directing the operations of a machine shop. Not the physical kind that can cause an altercation, but the kind of pushing and shoving that a manager must use to enhance shop productivity and hopefully increase business.

While many experienced owners and managers would scoff that such a realization shows naiveté, it’s a factual one that’s important to discover—even if you’re late to the party. Riding herd is a must, and my most recent experience in that situation involved a buyer I’ve known from a longtime family relationship. He works for a large engineering firm that’s stuck in the seminar-generated mode of “we’re not adding any new vendors”— even though our shop is more capable than many of their current suppliers.

Recently, when they had a critical rush job, he contacted us, sent a package of drawings and asked if we could complete the project within 5 days, something their other vendors couldn’t promise. He correctly understood there would be a premium paid for such a quick turnaround. This wasn’t an easy project. It was time-consuming and required numerous operations, not to mention the tight deadline. There was no room for error; the parts had to be perfect the first time.