117. 12,000 Work Orders a Year: Managing Growth with Systems That Work

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From shadowboxing aerospace tool kits with a CO2 laser to running thousands of work orders annually across machining, sheet metal, and waterjet operations, Low Country Aerospace has grown by embracing systems, trust, and relentless customer focus. In this episode of Machine Shop Mastery, Paul Van Metre sits down with founder Barry Russell to unpack the unconventional path that transformed a small support-services company into a fast-growing aerospace manufacturing operation.

Barry shares how saying “yes” to customer needs opened entirely new business opportunities, even when he had little idea how to execute them at first. From buying his first laser and imaging machine to eventually investing in CNC machining centers and waterjets, the company’s growth was fueled by relationships, adaptability, and a willingness to figure things out along the way. But as the business scaled, Barry learned that growth without systems can quickly become chaos.

One of the most powerful themes in this conversation is leadership transformation. Barry opens up about the difficult process of letting go, trusting his leadership team, and shifting from working in the business to working on it. With guidance from a mentor, he learned to think more strategically, build incremental growth plans, and empower his team with autonomy instead of micromanagement. That mindset shift helped position the company to handle explosive growth while maintaining strong delivery performance and company culture.

The episode also dives deep into operational realities that many shops face today: cash flow struggles, scaling labor, balancing overtime with flexibility, implementing second shifts, and managing staggering work order volume without sacrificing quality or delivery. Barry’s transparency about near-insolvency during COVID, finding financial solutions through factoring, and navigating growth responsibly offers valuable lessons for shop owners at every stage.

Whether you’re running a small shop trying to land your next big customer or managing a growing operation struggling to scale sustainably, this episode delivers practical wisdom on leadership, systems, trust, and long-term growth strategy from someone living it every day.

You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in…

(0:00) Barry shares the philosophy: “Think big, stay small”
(1:20) Paul introduces Barry Russell and the growth of Low Country Aerospace
(3:14) Barry explains how aerospace relationships led to starting the business
(5:40) Early growth came from saying yes to customer needs and learning on the fly
(7:35) Entering machining, buying the first CNCs, and growing into aerospace parts production
(9:48) Building trust with customers through honesty, relationships, and reliability
(13:24) Get a free report of opportunities in your industry from FacturMFG.com/chips
(14:30) COVID, slow-paying customers, and nearly running out of cash
(16:13) How factoring and financial changes stabilized the company
(20:26) Creating a flexible culture with strong retention and employee trust
(24:28) Learn more about IMTS 2026 (and why you need to come see us there)
(25:21) Learning to let go, trust the team, and stop micromanaging
(27:17) A mentor helps Barry develop long-term planning and scalable systems
(29:17) “Micro-dosing” growth through incremental, achievable goals
(32:10) Why autonomy, accountability, and trust matter more than control
(37:58) Check out the Hennig WorkFlow Automated Pallet Delivery System
(38:48) Balancing sales growth with operational capacity and workload realities
(42:42) Managing nearly 12,000 work orders annually while maintaining strong delivery performance
(46:22) Why Low Country Aerospace processes material in-house using waterjets
(48:39) Decoupling from daily operations while staying connected to the team
(53:09) Barry’s biggest lessons on relationships, humility, mentorship, and trusting people
(55:53) Final advice for growing shops: build systems before scaling big