©2024 MakingChips – Equip and Inspire Manufacturing Leaders
By Jennifer Dubose
Titan Gilroy’s Challenge to Every Machine Shop Owner | Ep. 542
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We spent this year asking young shop owners how they found machining, and one name came up in almost every single conversation. Titan Gilroy. What better way to close out our Generation CNC and workforce development series than a conversation with the man himself?
Most of the conversation lands on the part owners would rather not hear. If your shop is dirty, your walls are beige, and your bathroom is an afterthought, you’re telling every visitor and every employee exactly what your standards are. Titan makes the case that precision isn’t something you save for the part. It shows up in the crevices nobody sees, in how your team dresses and speaks, and yes, in the bathroom.
He’s also blunt about where the talent problem actually sits. People drive past your building every day with no idea a CNC machine exists, let alone that it pays six figures without a degree. Whether they ever find out is a question of what the industry puts in front of them, and what your shop looks like when they finally walk in.
We also dig into what actually moves people. The briefcase of parts that beats a resume, why your best performers are the ones studying machining on a Saturday, how an apprenticeship program can pull your culture out of a hole, and the apprenticeship guide book Titans of CNC is releasing at Boombastic.
The through line is uncomfortable and useful. The next generation is out there, and whether they rise is mostly on the owner.
What’s Covered in this Episode
- (0:00) Why nearly every Generation CNC guest named Titan Gilroy
- (1:54) From homelessness and prison to finding purpose in manufacturing
- (4:17) 3,600 registered schools and more than 800,000 current students
- (5:32) Increase spindle uptime without adding headcount with Hennig Workflow
- (6:29) How does Titan think we can overcome the awareness gap?
- (8:32) The shops that struggle have no vision, no imagination, and no pride
- (10:36) You need to live greatness in everything that you do (yes, even bathrooms)
- (14:05) Bring a briefcase of parts to the interview—not a resume
- (16:45) Take your shop to the next level with DN Solutions
- (17:55) An obsession for perfection, and the crowd it attracts
- (20:40) How the curriculum is evolving toward lights out machining
- (22:53) Out automate anyone, then take the machining to the highest level
- (24:13) We need to continuously upskill our teams to fill the gaps we’re seeing
- (26:23) How to promote a culture of continuous improvement
- (28:20) The apprenticeship guide book launching at Boombastic
- (33:48) Why Mike’s best guys have never had to ask for a raise
- (37:47) Invest in your own business first with ProShop ERP
- (39:26) How to inspire greatness in the next generation
- (41:57) Cutting the two negative voices and watching the culture rise
- (45:25) What Boombastic looks like November 11 through 13
Resources Mentioned
Connect with Titan Gilroy
- Titans of CNC
- Connect on LinkedIn
Connect with MakingChips
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©2025 MakingChips – Equip and Inspire Manufacturing Leaders