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. May 27

    Configurators That Close, Automate Crunch & the Bet on Dropping HubSpot

    Matt opens the week buried in content review — 18 pages for Vac-Fixture, eight for Develop, two press releases, and a 12-email drip campaign audit, all pushed through in one week to hit the Automate deadline. It's good work, but he's sick of reading about his own company. Michael is dealing with a softer May on e-commerce after a record April and trying to figure out whether it's a content problem, a sales cadence problem, or just a lumpy business reality — then a second CoolantClear reel hits 1.1 million views and 30K in sales in 14 hours, which doesn't fully answer the question but does clarify the recipe. On the marketing and sales side, the TumbleBlast 3D configurator is live and already eliminating four calls a day about cabinet compatibility. A CoolantClear compatibility checker and a full G-code kinematic simulator for 500 CNC machine models are both in progress — though Matt pushes back on priority order, and Michael concedes mid-conversation that he's doing the exciting thing again instead of the highest-leverage one. The HubSpot vs. Gim Command debate resurfaces with an actual bet: Michael thinks Matt drops HubSpot within 18 months, Matt takes the other side, and they both agree to let the business decide. Engineering covers Develop's new CNC machinist starting his first real parts on day four — promising but emotions deliberately regulated — and a new peer review process being tested where junior engineers review senior work first for exposure before a senior signs off. Michael is getting pulled back into CoolantClear 2 electrical details he shouldn't be touching, and names the real bottleneck: his lead engineer is remote, and he needs a local one whether he wants to spend the money or not. The episode closes with a packaging foam machine that ROIs in a month, Matt's 90-day review process being handed to team leads for the first time, and a shared reflection on what it feels like when the business finally starts running without you in every seat.

    59 min

  2. May 20

    Death by SKU, Project 29's Biggest Spend & When You Stop Being Good at "the Work"

    Both hosts open the week running on fumes but with cautious optimism — Matt's new EA is three weeks in and already taking real weight off his calendar, while Michael is back from his last planned in-person install and feeling the full weight of how much travel has been quietly killing his momentum and marketing output. The shift to Turnkey Direct is officially underway, IntraLoad is fully wound down, and Michael is now focused on building an ecosystem play where every product on the floor feeds recurring hardware orders for years. On the sales and marketing side, Matt heads out on a full-day site visit to a large packaging company with half a dozen automation projects worth one to several million dollars each — and comes back focused on how Develop can become their fractional automation department rather than a one-time vendor. Michael confronts a stretch where deals just weren't closing, then three Turnkey Direct orders land within two days of each other, and he lands on the same diagnosis every time: his follow-up cadence and marketing output both fall apart when he's on the road. The HubSpot vs. Gim Command debate resurfaces — Matt's all in at $9,600 a year, Michael is counting down to cancellation. Engineering covers Develop's largest single component spend in company history clearing in one month for its confidential flagship project, two more engineers starting June 1st to give the team some buffer back, and a candid admission that the customer's product is still slightly evolving mid-design. Michael's CoolantClear 2 saga continues — a motor change cascaded into a driver change cascaded into a new electrical enclosure — while demand on CoolantClear 1 keeps outrunning supply. The episode closes with a long, honest conversation about CI prioritization, P&L forecasting discipline, and the strange disorientation of becoming a manager who's now worse at the individual work that built the company in the first place.

    1h 5m

  3. May 13

    Travel Kills Momentum: Killing IntraLoad, 3D Configurators & Sales Comp That Actually Works

    Michael opens on the road — again — and makes a decision he's been circling for a while: IntraLoad is done, full-service in-person turnkeys are done, and the business is going all-in on product revenue and remote Turnkey Direct installs. The goal is scalability without him being the critical path. Matt's feeling a different kind of drain — not hours, but context switching. Negotiating contracts, building comp structures, prepping for Automate, and trying to find time for a deal pipeline audit that hasn't happened in seven weeks. Both hosts land on the same diagnosis: the grind doesn't get lighter, the weight just shifts. On the marketing and sales side, Michael launches a 3D configurator with 300 machine models that lets customers visualize and add-to-cart a full automation package in one click — built on Replit, deployed via iframe, and now wrestling with an SEO tradeoff Matt pushes back on. They go deep on keyword strategy for machine-specific CNC tending pages and whether low-difficulty brand keywords are actually worth chasing. Matt, meanwhile, is seven weeks behind on a deal pipeline audit and actively designing his first sales hire — with a margin-based comp structure his roundtable helped him shape that ties commission to delivery, not just close. Engineering covers Develop completing its full hiring wave — CNC machinist, two new engineers on June 1st — and a site visit to a multi-robot machine that's running beyond KPIs with operators onboarding in under a day. Michael's Coolant Clear 2 production prototype is wrapped, supply is being reshored, and a viral Instagram reel hit a million views in two minutes of filming. The episode closes on cash strategy — Matt's three-tier war chest structure and a frank conversation about what happens when you pour every dollar of margin back into R&D.

    54 min

  4. May 6

    Two Biggest Deals Ever, CoolantClear Rev 2 & the Flywheel Finally Kicking In

    Michael opens with something he hasn't been able to say in a while — things are calming down. Passive revenue is growing, repeat customers are showing up, and he's starting to feel less like the linchpin of every transaction. Matt, meanwhile, is deep in financial planning for a line of credit renewal that has to account for two of the largest projects in Develop's history landing back to back in 90 days, with multi-million dollar material procurement timelines to match. On the sales side, Develop closes one of its biggest deals to date — booked for Q3 to fit existing capacity — while Michael sells through his entire CoolantClear inventory and launches Rev 2 with domestic machining, an integrated solenoid, and a redesign that expands compatibility to Brother machines. The Spindle Storm billet chip fan is also weeks from launch at $129, going head to head with a $400 competitor. Matt credits Claude and connected HubSpot and QuickBooks data for building his most thorough bank model yet. Engineering covers Develop's full mechanical team locked on the complex case packing machine through Q2, a FANUC training week for team members, and a growing facility question — add 12,000 square feet onto the current building, or move entirely? Michael wraps with a candid take on AI-driven ad optimization: out of roughly 100 SKUs, Google Shopping ads were only profitable on about a dozen. Turning the rest off nearly doubled ROAS overnight.

    54 min

  5. Apr 29

    Automate or Bust: Trade Show All-In, Gim Command Live & When AI Makes Scrap Fast

    Matt opens the week with a closing runway feeling — Automate is on the horizon and there's a lot to do. He walks through Develop's most ambitious trade show setup yet: a 10x30 booth with a 10x20 LED wall, live HMI demos where attendees can actually run a machine, and a complete website overhaul cutting everything that isn't hyper-focused on automation. The website nearly tripled in traffic over the last six weeks — partly explained by an A3 and FANUC SI certification press release going out around the same time. Michael's week is defined by one thing: Gim Command going live internally. The custom AI-built ERP has already replaced multiple SaaS subscriptions, moved all task and Kanban management out of Notion, and has Claude embedded directly into the system for user-level queries. He's 100-plus hours in, spending $3–4K a month on AI credits, and describes the experience as "transformative" — while Matt remains skeptical and reminds him that every software project he's ever seen runs long. Meanwhile, CoolantClear goes viral again with a million-view Instagram reel — and breaks the supply chain. The AI-caused Tumble Blast product ID deletion from last week wiped out Google Shopping ad learning worth tens of thousands in spend. Michael's reflection: AI is like automation — you can make a lot of parts fast, or you can make a lot of scrap fast. The episode closes with a substantive exchange on CI discipline — Matt's WIP-cap system, budgeted CI pools, and why letting small improvements die on the vine is often the right call — and a fractional CFO update: two weeks in, already identifying changes, and told to stop asking for permission.

    58 min

  6. Apr 22

    EA Hired, AI Broke the Store & Build vs. Buy the Eternal Debate

    Matt opens with his head already in 2027 — two of the largest projects in Develop's history landed back to back, and now the focus is making sure the sales pipeline is ready to sustain that momentum after the current wave clears. Michael is back from the Toolpath Manufacturing Summit, where he spoke on a panel and came home with renewed clarity on where the business needs to go — and a snowboarding edge sharpening that made him feel like a beginner again. On the marketing side, Develop's website traffic has nearly doubled in a month with no clear explanation — knowledge base pages quietly gaining traction, possibly AI-driven. Michael, meanwhile, shares a costly AI mistake: a Shopify MCP server accidentally deleted product variants from the tumble blast listings, quietly costing an estimated $15–20K in lost revenue over three weeks before anyone noticed. He also breaks down how firing his marketing agency and replacing everything with Claude-connected ad analysis nearly doubled return on ad spend — and how he's now converting five-figure orders directly through the web store. Engineering covers Develop hiring a third mechanical engineer off a shortlist from a previous hiring round, a mechanical engineer transitioning into an IT and account management role ahead of the next growth wave, and a frank debate about daily huddles — whether founders should stay in them or get out. Michael pushes back on Matt stepping away entirely; Matt pushes back on Michael still running Gantt charts himself. The continuous improvements section closes with Matt finally hiring an executive assistant after a six-month search — first applicant on his birthday, first person hired. The episode closes with a long, honest debate about build vs. buy in software: Michael doubling down on his custom ERP despite the security and maintenance risks, Matt arguing you don't build your own CNC just because you can — and both landing somewhere honest about where they actually differ in philosophy.

    1h 5m

  7. Apr 15

    Two Biggest Deals Ever, CoolantClear Rev 2 & the Flywheel Finally Kicking In

    Michael opens with something he hasn't been able to say in a while — things are calming down. Passive revenue is growing, repeat customers are showing up, and he's starting to feel less like the linchpin of every transaction. Matt, meanwhile, is deep in financial planning for a line of credit renewal that has to account for two of the largest projects in Develop's history landing back to back in 90 days, with multi-million dollar material procurement timelines to match. On the sales side, Develop closes one of its biggest deals to date — booked for Q3 to fit existing capacity — while Michael sells through his entire CoolantClear inventory and launches Rev 2 with domestic machining, an integrated solenoid, and a redesign that expands compatibility to Brother machines. The Spindle Storm billet chip fan is also weeks from launch at $129, going head to head with a $400 competitor. Matt credits Claude and connected HubSpot and QuickBooks data for building his most thorough bank model yet. Engineering covers Develop's full mechanical team locked on the complex case packing machine through Q2, a FANUC training week for team members, and a growing facility question — add 12,000 square feet onto the current building, or move entirely? Michael wraps with a candid take on AI-driven ad optimization: out of roughly 100 SKUs, Google Shopping ads were only profitable on about a dozen. Turning the rest off nearly doubled ROAS overnight.

    37 min

  8. Apr 8

    Getting to the Good Part: Viral Products, Style Guides & the CEO Shift

    Matt opens with a rare moment of reflection — his first real day off since his son was born surfaced something he'd been ignoring: he's lost the Sunday thinking time that used to drive his best strategic decisions. Both hosts find themselves in a similar place, mid-evolution on what their roles in their own companies should actually look like going forward. On the marketing side, Michael's CoolantClear goes viral with 600,000–700,000 views — and almost no one buys it. He drops the price, sales start moving, and a full product redesign is now in motion. He also walks through how deeply integrated his AI-to-ads setup has become, with real-time ROAS visibility and the ability to make changes across Google and Meta without touching a dashboard. Matt, meanwhile, is close to publishing the 1701 case study and candidly admits his agency is waiting on him — he's become the bottleneck he was trying to hire around. Engineering covers Project 29's progress toward its December deadline, Matt's quietly obsessive push to build a machine style guide for new engineers, and Michael's realization that having one great engineer has him immediately wanting to hire another. The episode closes with a conversation that's rare for this show — both hosts getting philosophical about the arc of entrepreneurship, business PTSD, and why they both feel like they're finally getting to the good part. Plus: grills, steaks, and a gantry mill sale that turned into a logistical nightmare.

    53 min
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5
out of 5
10 Ratings

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
    80
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Gimbel Automation and Develop LLC
  • Show Website
    The Manufacturing Automation Podcast

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