130. Starting a Machine Shop at 60: How RPM Built a High-Performance Team

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I sat down with Randy Swan, who started a Swiss machining shop at 60 after a 34 year career working for other people. Five years in, RPM is growing more than 60 percent a year. Ask Randy what’s behind that number and he doesn’t start with machines or markets. He starts with the 14 people on his floor.

He hires for character, capability, and values, and he puts experience close to last. He looks for people who care and are willing to learn, then trains them through a three tier system at their own pace. One of his strongest operators had never seen a Swiss machine before she walked in the door. She runs multiple machines now and checks everyone else’s parts.

The other half of it is transparency. Randy puts the financials on the floor, posts the sales and profit thresholds where everyone can see them, and pulls the whole team together every Tuesday to look at the same numbers. Last year RPM paid its first profit sharing. When the shop does well, everybody does well, and people behave differently when they can see the target.

The results back him up. Seven Swiss machines running seven days a week plus a night shift, ISO in the first six months, AS9100 in under three years. Sales does its part too, because as Randy puts it, nothing happens until somebody sells something. His 70 year old salesman lives by the shop’s rule that no doesn’t mean no, it just means not right now, and he keeps checking back with buyers until the work shows up.

We also get into the flow mapping he’s doing with the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance to strip the waste out of processes that made sense when he was doing everything himself, and why he’d rather be the best shop in Oklahoma than the biggest. Grab a pencil for this one. There’s a lot of hard won wisdom packed in.

What’s Covered in this Episode

• (0:00) “No does not mean no—it just means not right now.”
• (1:26) Learn more about Randy Swan and why he started a Swiss shop at 60
• (7:01) Ground Control, automated FAI generation and PO review for scaling manufacturers
• (7:41) Passing the five year mark, leaning on old relationships, and a 70 year old MSC salesman who outworks everyone
• (9:46) A snapshot of RPM today and why they do in-house training
• (11:52) The secret behind 60 percent year over year growth
• (13:42) Building the playbook and getting ISO certified in the first six months
• (14:30) Running seven days a week to offset heavy capital investment
• (15:06) Moving into aerospace and earning AS9100 in under three years
• (15:51) Bringing in the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance to map the process flow
• (17:26) Doing more with less, and protecting ten percent of the week to think, plan, and play pool
• (20:14) Kennametal’s Next Level Shop and the bike giveaway at IMTS 2026
• (21:22) Cutting duplicated work and over documentation by treating process like a risk register
• (23:54) Over-documenting every material receipt when a few fields would do
• (26:17) Breaking into aerospace on trust and machining the specialty hardware other shops no quote
• (28:57) Why relentless follow up wins the work (and the touches most salespeople never make)
• (31:00) Hiring for character, capability, and values, and building talent internally
• (34:50) DN Solutions, high end multitasking and five axis machining with automation
• (36:01) Diving into their three tier training system for new hires
• (39:22) Transparency, shared financials, and benefits from 401k to fully paid health insurance
• (42:45) Yearly budgets, two five year plans, and choosing to be the best shop, not the biggest
• (47:00) His biggest lesson, build a team with the right character and check egos at the door

Resources Mentioned

• Ground Control
• Kennametal
• IMTS
• DN Solutions
• Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance
• ProShop ERP

Connect with Randy Swan

• RPM (Revolution Machine)
• Email Randy directly at randy.swan@rpm-ok.com