What Tribal Knowledge Is Actually Costing Your Shop | Ep. 55

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Replacing an employee can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $40,000. But the real risk isn’t just recruiting and training their replacement. It’s everything that walks out the door with them.

Jess Bird supports CAM software across the Midwest and hosts CNC Underground After Hours, giving her a firsthand look inside a lot of shops. Her test for whether a company has real systems is simple: Can it survive a vacation? If your best employee takes a week off and everything slows down, you don’t have a system. You have a hero.

We dig into the costs most shops never measure—not machine downtime, but the time spent waiting for answers, searching for information, and repeatedly solving the same problems. I share the simple math we use internally: one minute equals one dollar. Five people standing in a hallway for ten minutes just cost the company $50, even if that expense never appears on a report.

That lack of documentation also affects what your business is worth. If the company can’t operate without its owner or a few key employees, a buyer isn’t acquiring a self-sustaining business. Every process you document and every piece of knowledge you make accessible reduces that dependency—and builds enterprise value.

We also discuss why technology implementations fail, why support can matter more than the product itself, and how shops should approach AI without trying to transform everything overnight. As Jess puts it, start with the simpler applications and build from there. You’re not training for the Olympics right out of the gate.

What’s Covered in this Episode

• (0:00) Replacing one employee runs $10,000 to $40,000, and tribal knowledge is what makes it expensive
• (1:02) Learn more about Jess Bird, CNC Underground, and the manufacturing community
• (6:36) Enter the MakingChips + DN Solutions + Kennametal machine giveaway
• (7:21) Overcoming hero culture and building systems instead of placing bandaids
• (10:16) If the business can’t survive you, it isn’t worth much when you go to sell
• (11:31) Calm versus chaos: Stop chasing the wrong solutions
• (14:35) Are you misdiagnosing the bottleneck(s) in your shop? Are you just fighting fires?
• (20:21) What can we automate or systemetize to free up machinists?
• (22:02) What is it costing you to avoid embracing AI?
• (24:44) How CLA helps manufacturers tap into millions in revenue and cost savings
• (26:16) How to get implementation right: leverage support and move slowly
• (32:33) Take your shop to the next level with DN Solutions
• (33:42) How to handle resistance to change in your shop
• (37:37) Machine monitoring looked like big brother until it turned into a coaching tool
• (39:37) Technology doesn’t make you replaceable—It makes you more likely to get promoted
• (41:28) Building a culture around documenting and sharing tribal knowledge
• (43:33) It’s called continuous improvement for a reason
• (46:09) Companies that outperform aren’t okay with stagnancy, because a flatline eventually fails

Resources Mentioned

• Enter to win a fully tooled SVM4100 from MakingChips, DN Solutions, and Kennametal at makingchips.com/giveaway
• Find out what your biggest headache is costing you with CLA
• Take your shop to the next level with DN Solutions
• Find the MakingChips recording studio in the South Hall Hennig booth at IMTS
• GibbsCAM
• CNC Underground
• CNC Underground After Hours Podcast
• ProShop ERP

Connect with Jess Bird

• Midwest Cam Solutions
• Jess Bird on LinkedIn
• CNC Underground After Hours on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, and Amazon Music, new episodes every other week