The Manufacturing Automation Podcast

Gimbel Automation and Develop LLC
  • 5.0 (10)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Michael and Matt talk about company philosophies and operating systems, industrial marketing for automation B2B companies, how they structure their lives/work-life-balance, and much more.

  1. 11H AGO

    Product vs. Service: The Dangerous Middle for Automation Companies

    Matt and Michael dive into a question many automation companies eventually face: are you building a product business or a service business—and what happens if you try to do both? Michael reflects from a corporate retreat on the tension between scaling product-driven revenue and supporting the service-heavy work that often surrounds automation deployments. Meanwhile, Matt shares what growth pressure looks like on the integrator side. With a single customer consuming a large portion of Develop’s engineering capacity, the team is racing to hire new engineers, restructure financial forecasting, and build the systems needed to support multiple large automation builds without sacrificing delivery quality. They also discuss pricing strategy for automation products, how operator skill level affects real-world reliability, the risks of customer concentration, and why founders often become the bottleneck again during rapid growth phases. Along the way, the conversation touches on marketing slowdowns, hiring challenges in engineering roles, ERP experimentation with AI, and the constant balancing act between execution today and building the systems needed for tomorrow.

    48 min

  2. MAR 4

    AI as Your ERP: When Engineering, Sales & SOPs Start Writing Themselves

    Matt and Michael compare notes on what happens when growth forces you back into the weeds—and AI becomes the ultimate force multiplier. Matt shares how being the sales bottleneck again has sharpened his approach to qualifying projects, turning down work that isn’t the right fit, and focusing engineering energy where it matters most. Meanwhile, Michael dives deep into rebuilding the company’s internal stack—experimenting with a custom AI-built ERP to replace Notion, integrating Kanban data, QuickBooks dashboards, GitHub version control, and even exploring CRM replacement. From converting complex CNC macros across control types to automating proposal formatting with a brand kit, he’s seeing 20-hour tasks collapse into one-hour workflows. The episode covers selective selling in a busy market, machine shop demand signals, hiring remote engineering talent vs. in-person culture, and how rapid AI capability is reshaping what “engineering skill” actually means. It closes with honest reflections on overwork, vacation guilt, and the tension between building the business—and building the life around it.

    40 min

  3. FEB 20

    When Customers Crash Machines: Service Boundaries, Smarter Scaling & Hiring for Culture

    Matt and Michael reflect on the operational realities that surface once automation is deployed in the field—especially when crashes happen and customer expectations collide with the limits of a small team. Michael shares lessons from repairing a damaged IntraLoad system in Chicago, and how these moments are forcing him to rethink service models, contract structure, and which customers—and products—are best suited for scalable growth. They also discuss the strategic shift toward semi-turnkey gripper integrations, which offer faster deployment, lower service burden, and a cleaner path to scale compared to fully integrated pallet loading systems. Meanwhile, Matt reflects on insights from a FANUC integrator conference, including the generational turnover happening across automation companies and the opportunity it creates for younger, more agile firms. The episode closes with candid conversations about leadership, including the difficult decision to let go of a senior engineer and the surprising productivity gains that followed. Both hosts emphasize the importance of culture alignment over raw talent, and how tightening hiring criteria, reinforcing core values, and investing in team cohesion are becoming essential to building resilient, scalable automation companies.

    39 min

  4. FEB 4

    Small Business Hell: Culture, Capacity, and the Cost of Doing Things “Right”

    Michael and Matt unpack what it really feels like to operate in the most difficult stage of company growth—the stretch where you’re too big to wing it and too small to specialize. They talk candidly about culture drift, missed deadlines, and the hidden cost of onboarding, especially when half the team is new and tribal knowledge disappears faster than expected. The conversation dives deep into execution vs. effort, why batching creates downstream quality failures, and how Gantt charts, daily huddles, and clearer deadlines are helping realign work with outcomes. Michael shares hard-earned lessons from QC issues and a necessary termination, while Matt explains why “depth of bench” matters more than headcount—and how utilization, onboarding curves, and capacity planning shape smarter hiring decisions. They also debate CRM discipline vs. custom tools, the real ROI of enterprise software, and when founders should stop building systems themselves and start enforcing the ones they already pay for. The episode closes with honest reflections on leadership, culture-building habits, and how to keep teams motivated when growth is messy, exhausting, and unavoidable.

    59 min

  5. JAN 28

    The 10x Conversion Jump: SOP Discipline, Sales Bottlenecks & Turning Shopify Into the Core Business

    Matt and Michael compare notes on what happens when your bottleneck stops being production and starts being sales consistency and founder bandwidth. Michael shares how Gimbel Automation’s Shopify revenue is up ~4x in a few months, driven by a major page overhaul and a conversion rate that’s increased ~10x—shifting his attention toward scalable “widget” sales instead of field-heavy turnkey installs. Matt breaks down the other side of the same problem: Develop’s delivery engine is scaling, but the limiting factor is now top-of-funnel response time, lead follow-up cadence, and project accounting, pushing him toward hiring an executive assistant and standardizing customer reporting. Together they talk SEO reality (KD-zero industrial keywords), how agencies stall when founders stop reviewing deliverables, and why the next growth step is often delegation plus tighter systems, not more leads. On the ops side, they cover floor-space constraints, CapEx tradeoffs, and practical improvements like Kanban discipline, objective-driven OKRs, and aligning incentives to measurable execution. The episode closes with real-world engineering updates—including shipping a major build in brutal weather, refining CoolantClear beta production, and catching a critical torque-spec oversight before a prototype hits the field.

    1h 3m

  6. JAN 21

    The SEO Grind, the Forgiveness Log, and What Breaks at Scale

    Matt and Michael recap a packed week of operations pressure, follow-on project momentum, and the unglamorous reality of scaling: quality errors, retraining, and tightening SOPs without bloating the system. Matt shares what he’s learning from a new owner-operator roundtable, plus how follow-on work is stacking up across multiple active builds. On the marketing side, they go deep on SEO strategy that actually works in industrial B2B—long-tail keyword mapping, training an agency to understand the market, and what a realistic monthly SEO spend looks like when the founder is still the bottleneck. They close with two practical scale moves: (1) a shop-floor re-layout to unlock space for larger machine builds, and (2) a cultural experiment Matt calls the “forgiveness log”—a structured way to push decision-making down to the team, speed up execution, and track ROI on micro-improvements in real dollars and hours.

    53 min

  7. JAN 14

    Building Automation Businesses Without Losing the Plot

    In Episode 64 of the Manufacturing Automation Podcast, Michael Gimbel and Matt Moseman dig into what it actually looks like to run and scale an automation business when the hype wears off. This episode covers: Hiring realities and why “working interviews” reveal more than resumes Founder stress, perspective traps, and learning to measure the right metrics Profit-first thinking vs. raw growth in capital-intensive businesses Website conversion strategy, SEO obsession, and messaging clarity Product demand signals, beta launches, and pricing confidence Automation product mix decisions and long-term market education challenges Time tracking, utilization, and building real COGS visibility Leadership, culture shifts, and reducing founder dependency This is a candid, operator-level conversation about decision-making, discipline, and building sustainable automation companies — not just impressive ones. If you’re a manufacturer, integrator, or founder navigating growth, hiring, and product strategy, this episode is for you. 👉 Listen to the Manufacturing Automation Podcast on Spotify and follow the show for weekly conversations on building automation businesses the right way. No theory. No fluff. Just two founders documenting the journey. New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe and join the conversation.

    1h 8m

  8. JAN 7

    Profit First Thinking, Product Strategy & Building for Strength

    In Episode 63 of the Manufacturing Automation Podcast, Michael Gimbel and Matt Moseman kick off the new year by reflecting on 2025 and setting a more disciplined, profit-driven direction for 2026. They dig into the shift from cash to accrual accounting, applying Profit First principles, and why growth without margin creates unnecessary stress. The conversation also covers product strategy decisions, simplifying automation offerings, market education challenges, and designing products that scale — not just technically, but operationally. This episode covers: Accrual vs cash accounting in automation businesses Profit First mindset and financial discipline Product mix decisions and scaling realities Market education vs product elegance Engineering capacity, CI priorities, and team accountability Building companies from a position of strength No theory. No fluff. Just two founders documenting the journey.New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe and join the conversation.

    1h 2m
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5
out of 5
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About

Michael and Matt talk about company philosophies and operating systems, industrial marketing for automation B2B companies, how they structure their lives/work-life-balance, and much more.

Information

  • Creator
    Gimbel Automation and Develop LLC
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    69
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Gimbel Automation and Develop LLC
  • Show Website
    The Manufacturing Automation Podcast

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