Most manufacturers are great at building things. Far fewer are great at understanding whether those things are actually making them money — and that gap is costing them more than they realize.

In this episode, Justin sits down with Allen Engstrom, Managing Director of CFO Network, to break down the financial realities that every mid-market manufacturer needs to understand. With over two decades of experience — including a stint at Intel, where he helped oversee a 60-person team managing a $60 billion data storage market strategy — Allen has seen firsthand what separates manufacturers who thrive from those quietly taking on water.

They get into the cash flow mismatch that makes manufacturing uniquely brutal, the single metric Allen looks at first when he walks into a business, and why "we'll make it back next quarter" is a mindset that can sink a company. If you've ever wondered whether your financials are telling you the full story, this one's for you.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why manufacturing cash flow is so uniquely challenging — and what Allen saw firsthand at Intel committing a billion dollars to build a factory for products that didn't exist yet
• The difference between gross margin and Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) — and why ROIC is the number Allen looks at first
• How to benchmark your business against industry peers to spot whether your margins are competitive or dangerously thin
• The "leaky boat" framework: how to identify where money is quietly escaping your operation through poor labor utilization, equipment underperformance, and pricing gaps
• Why a 1% improvement in the right place can literally double your cash flow
• What private equity firms are really looking for when they evaluate a manufacturing business — and how to prepare for that culture shift
• The fractional CFO value proposition: why bringing in financial expertise may be the highest-ROI investment you can make in your business
• Why sunk costs are water under the bridge — and how forward-looking financial discipline separates growing companies from struggling ones

About Allen Engstrom: Allen Engstrom is the Managing Director of CFO Network, where he leverages over two decades of experience to provide world-class outsourced finance and accounting solutions for businesses of all sizes. Holding an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin with a specialization in IT entrepreneurship and finance, Allen blends deep technical knowledge with sharp business acumen. His career includes a significant tenure at Intel Corp, where he served as a program manager overseeing a 60-person team for a $60 billion data storage market strategy and managed M&A transactions totaling over $4 billion. Today, based in North Little Rock, Arkansas, he is known for transforming complex financial data into actionable growth strategies.

Connect with Allen: 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-engstrom-4a436/

Enjoyed this episode? If this conversation added value, please take a moment to like, subscribe, and share the show. The more mid-market manufacturers we can reach, the more we can help move the needle on the bottom line — which is what The Allied Advisors Podcast is all about.

Episode Description

Most manufacturers have experienced the same gut punch: a major improvement project goes beautifully, everyone celebrates, and then six months later you walk back out on the shop floor and it's like it never happened. The problem isn't your people. It isn't your culture. It's the absence of a daily discipline to sustain what you built.

In this first-ever solocast, Justin Goethe goes deep on the Daily Leadership Routine (DLR) — the system he has seen transform some of the world's best manufacturing operations and the one he believes is the single biggest difference between companies that sustain gains and those that don't.

McKinsey research shows only 30% of organizational transformations fully succeed. VA & Company found that 70–80% of improvement projects fail within 24 months — not because the solutions were wrong, but because there was no system to hold the gains. The Daily Leadership Routine is that system.

What You'll Learn

• Why lean projects, Six Sigma rollouts, and improvement initiatives fail to stick — and the one thing that changes that
• The 5 pillars of Daily Management and how each one plays a specific role in keeping operations stable
• How to structure a 15-minute daily meeting that actually drives decisions (not just status updates)
• The communication cascade model — from shop floor to executive level — and how to scale it for your organization
• Why process confirmation is a coaching exercise, not an audit (and how to make sure your team feels the difference)
• The 4 maturity levels of Daily Management and why starting at Level 1 is the right move
• The 6 most common reasons Daily Management fails — and how to avoid every one of them
• A practical, step-by-step guide to launching DLR at your facility starting this week

Key Takeaways

Daily management is not a meeting — it's a leadership system. It connects leaders to the reality of operations every single day through a structured routine of monitoring, reacting, and improving.

Allied's Fractional CI Manager Program

Justin's Fractional CI Manager (FCIM) program is a 12-month embedded partnership designed to help mid-market manufacturers build the internal capabilities to run continuous improvement on their own. It's not traditional consulting — it's a teach-to-fish model.

The program includes:

• Quarterly on-site value stream mapping workshops (System CIP Cycle)
• Project A3 development and coaching
• Weekly roadmap review meetings
• Daily management implementation and coaching
• Problem-solving skill development at all levels

Clients have achieved up to 80% increases in output with zero capital expenditure — no new equipment, no major investment. Just better management of existing processes.

Resources & Links

• Watch the video version (with KPI board visuals) on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4OF-0InH_9o
• Email Justin directly with questions: jgoethe@alliedgroup.io
• Learn more about the Fractional CI Manager Program: https://allied-log.com/fractional-continuous-improvement-manager/

Connect with Justin

• Email: jgoethe@alliedgroup.io
• Company: Allied Group

In this episode of the Allied Advisors Podcast, host Justin Goethe sits down with Christian Smith, a results-driven operations executive, former US Army captain, and Lean Six Sigma black belt. Christian has transformed operations and increased EBITDA for major organizations like Danaher, Target, and Nestlé.

Today, we dive deep into the "front door" signals of a struggling manufacturer, the critical difference between person vs. process, and why the "superstar problem solver" might actually be your biggest bottleneck.

Key Takeaways

• The First Signal of Trouble: When walking into a new facility, Christian looks for visual waste—people waiting, over-processing to "look busy," or visual management tools (like floor markings) that are completely ignored by the team.
• Person vs. Process: While leadership often blames "bad people" for poor performance, Christian argues that 99% of the time, the issue is the process. If you give people the right tools, training, and processes, they will succeed.
• The Danger of Tribal Knowledge: We discuss "Bob"—the superstar machinist who is the only one who knows how to run a critical piece of equipment. Christian explains how this "tribal knowledge" creates massive business risk and why standardizing that knowledge is non-negotiable for scaling.
• Grace Under Pressure: Christian shares how his military background taught him to maintain calm in high-stress manufacturing environments, reminding us that "nobody is going to die" if a product is 15 minutes late, allowing for more rational, process-driven decisions.
• The Power of Gemba: Successful leaders don't solve problems in conference rooms. Christian emphasizes the "go-to-gemba" mentality—being on the floor, sitting in the lunchroom, and truly understanding the daily frustrations of the frontline team to drive real change.

Featured Guest: Christian Smith

Christian is a veteran operations leader specializing in building high-performing teams and driving sustainable growth. Trained through Danaher Business University, he excels at connecting operational discipline with commercial strategy to unlock new growth opportunities.

• Connect with Christian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianesmith/

About Allied Advisors

We embed senior operators into mid-market manufacturing and supply chain organizations to unlock throughput, free up cash, and drive EBITDA growth. We focus on Installation over Advice through our Fractional Continuous Improvement Manager (FCIM) program.

Are you an "Exhausted COO" tired of firefighting? * Stop the Capital Leakage: Learn about our Proprietary AI Framework for managing procurement exceptions.

• Synchronize Your Supply Chain: Book a 2-Day Strategic Workshop to optimize your MRP strategy and reduce inventory bloat.

Visit us at: www.alliedadvisors.io

Email us at: info@allied-log.com

Guest: Jay Carney, Co-Founder and President of My Solution Designs

Host: The Allied Advisors Podcast

Episode Summary

In this episode, we dive deep into the concept of "Product Wellness" with Jay Carney. While most manufacturers focus on immediate crises, Jay argues that products often suffer from a "slow fade" caused by normalized inefficiencies and hidden operational friction. We explore how traditional "green" metrics—like high aftermarket sales—can actually mask a product that is "getting sick" and how leadership can use AI and direct observation to diagnose these issues before they lead to a "heart attack" for the business.

Key Discussion Points

1. What is Product Wellness?

• The Living Organism Analogy: Products should be viewed as living organisms that don't just "die" suddenly but get sick and fade away over time.
• The Steve Jobs Influence: Most companies fail because they lose focus on the product, treating it as a static entity that will always perform well.
• The "Blind Spot" Check: Much like a diagnostic blood test for a human, product wellness requires looking at what is missing or misaligned in the "blood work" of the organization.

2. The Danger of "Normalized Inefficiency"

• The Schematic Trap: Jay shares a story from his early career where a technical error in a schematic was "rejected" by engineering, forcing technicians to create permanent, unrecorded workarounds.
• Institutionalized Tribal Knowledge: When "Joe and Mike" are the only ones who know the workarounds, the product appears healthy until that knowledge walks out the door.
• The Conformity Study: Over time, teams begin "standing up when the bell rings" (performing workarounds) without knowing why, which adds unseen costs and sucks the life out of the margin.

3. How Good Metrics Mask Bad Products

• The Aftermarket Illusion: High revenue in aftermarket parts can be a red flag. If a specific part is a "repeat offender" for failure, the customer is paying for your design inefficiency.
• The Warranty Ratio: Public standards (like Caterpillar's 3.5% for heavy equipment) are vital benchmarks. If a company aggressively lowers its warranty ratio to save money, it may actually be destroying customer confidence and future sales.

4. Future-Proofing with AI

• Capturing Tribal Knowledge: Organizations can use local AI models to record conversations with senior staff and convert decades of "unwritten" expertise into searchable documentation.
• RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation): Jay explains how AI can "listen" to new knowledge and adapt it into a learning mechanism that is unbiased and lacks ego.

Takeaways for Leadership

• Go Beyond the Dashboard: Don't just accept a "green" light on a KPI; ask why it's green and what it might be hiding.
• Watch the "Ballet": Go to the shop floor and observe the flow. Look for hesitations or "stumbles" in the process that indicate a workaround is in place.
• The Maintenance Connection: If quality slips but materials haven't changed, look at the equipment tolerances. No machine is perfect, and poor maintenance is a leading indicator of product sickness.

Episode Summary

In this episode, Justin sits down with Pat Eardley, a seasoned HR expert with over 25 years of experience. They dive into the common "people issues" that prevent mid-market manufacturing firms from scaling, focusing on the gap between creating policy and actually holding teams accountable. Pat shares her perspective on why "being clear is kind," how to handle the transition from the shop floor to management, and why the "family culture" model often backfires.

Key Takeaways

• Accountability is Key: Many firms have a "library of policy" sitting on a credenza but fail to hold people accountable to those standards.
• The Kindness of Clarity: Managers often avoid conflict because they want to be "the cool manager," but Pat argues that providing clear expectations is the kindest thing a leader can do.
• Supporting New Supervisors: Moving from coworker to boss is a difficult transition. Companies must provide specific training on how to have hard conversations and manage former peers.
• Tools Over Blame: Leadership often blames "bad operators" when the real issue is a lack of clear processes, training, or the physical tools needed to do the job effectively.
• The "Family" Trap: Pat notes that "family" cultures at work often struggle because they blur the lines between professional and personal boundaries.
• The Discovery Phase: To become an "employer of choice," firms should start by interviewing their own leadership team to find out what is and isn’t working on the floor.

Memorable Quotes

Featured Guest: Pat Eardley

Pat is the founder of Shift HR (founded in 2009). She specializes in streamlining HR strategies and fostering inclusive workplace cultures for small and mid-sized businesses. She is an alumna of Ashford University and a former Director of HR for Benchmark Hospitality.

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/pateardley/

In this episode of the Allied Advisors Podcast, Justin Goethe sits down with Braydon McCormick, C-suite operator, serial entrepreneur, and Co-Founder & Managing Director of Light Forge Works, to cut through the noise surrounding artificial intelligence in manufacturing.

Rather than dashboards, chatbots, and “AI for AI’s sake,” Braydon brings an operator-first perspective on how AI should actually be deployed inside mid-market and PE-backed organizations — focusing on real bottlenecks, measurable ROI, and execution on the shop floor.

This is a grounded, tactical conversation for leaders who want AI to drive margin, throughput, and enterprise value, not just check a buzzword box.

🔑 Key Topics Covered

• Why most AI initiatives fail to deliver ROI
• The danger of “AI in search of a problem”
• How AI can connect siloed systems without massive IT projects
• Real examples of communication breakdowns in manufacturing operations
• Using AI to shorten RFP cycles and prevent dropped opportunities
• Why single-purpose AI applications beat large enterprise rollouts
• How AI augments people instead of replacing them
• The economics of modern AI-first software development
• CapEx vs. OpEx thinking for custom AI tools
• What mid-market manufacturers need to know about AI security and data privacy
• Where companies get burned by chatbots and poor AI implementations

🚨 Common AI Mistakes Braydon Sees in Manufacturing

• Deploying chatbots that don’t improve revenue, margin, or service
• Trying to “boil the ocean” instead of solving one clear problem
• Ignoring broken communication flows between sales, engineering, vendors, and the shop floor
• Treating AI as a replacement for people instead of an accelerant
• Rolling out tools without validation, guardrails, or human oversight

💡 Big Takeaway

AI delivers value only when it’s tied to a specific business problem. The real power of AI isn’t flashy interfaces — it’s quietly eliminating friction between systems, people, and processes. When done right, AI dramatically compresses cycle times, reduces errors, and allows teams to operate at a higher level without adding headcount.

As Braydon puts it: Don’t ask what AI can do. Ask what problem you’re trying to solve — then apply AI surgically.

🧠 AI on the Shop Floor (What Actually Works)

The conversation dives deep into how AI can:

• Read drawings and historical data to support faster engineering decisions
• Assist with RFP triage and prioritization
• Reduce handoffs, rework, and miscommunication
• Act as a “gatekeeper” that ensures critical steps aren’t missed
• Enable faster, cleaner execution without massive ERP replacements

Rather than enterprise-wide transformations, Braydon advocates for small, high-impact AI applications that deliver fast wins and compound over time.

👤 About Today’s Guest

Braydon McCormick is a seasoned C-suite operator and serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience helping mid-market and PE-backed companies turn advanced technology into real operating results. As Co-Founder & Managing Director of Light Forge Works, Braydon has led companies from zero to exit-ready, built high-margin services businesses, secured FDA approvals, and developed defensible IP through patented innovation.

He specializes in AI-first software development, digital transformation, and operational scaling in complex, regulated environments.

📬 Connect with Braydon & Light Forge Works

• Light Forge Works: https://www.lightforgeworks.com
  
  
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dbmcco/

In this episode of the Allied Advisors Podcast, Justin Goethe is joined by Reid Klosowsky and Bill Moroney, co-founders of Freight Think LLC and former senior leaders at Bed Bath & Beyond. Together, they unpack why freight and transportation spend is one of the most misunderstood — and most powerful — levers for improving profitability in today’s supply chains.

With decades of experience spanning transportation, vendor management, and retail supply chain operations, Reid and Bill share practical insights on how companies can move beyond averages, silos, and “default decisions” to truly understand the real cost of moving products.

🔑 Key Topics Covered

• Why freight data is notoriously messy — and why most companies stop too early
• The hidden cost of “average-based” freight assumptions
• How product decisions and transportation decisions quietly work against each other
• The danger of premium freight becoming the default instead of the exception
• Why e-commerce magnifies freight mistakes (and losses) at scale
• The difference between shipping a truck vs. shipping a SKU
• How incentive structures drive freight behavior — for better or worse
• Where AI is already helping (and where human judgment still matters)
• Early thoughts on blockchain, visibility, and what actually creates value
• Why companies with thin margins feel freight pain the fastest

🚨 Common Freight Mistakes Reid & Bill See All the Time

• Paying for faster service levels that provide zero real benefit
• Treating freight as “someone else’s problem” instead of a total landed cost issue
• Making sourcing decisions that lower unit cost but raise total supply chain cost
• Letting fear of stockouts justify permanent premium freight behavior
• Celebrating sales spikes without realizing they’re losing money per unit

💡 Big Takeaway

Freight isn’t just a logistics problem — it’s a profitability problem. When companies connect freight data to products, forecasts, service levels, and incentives, they unlock opportunities that directly improve the bottom line. As Bill puts it: a dollar is a dollar — whether it’s freight, inventory, or markdowns.

🤖 Freight, AI, and the Road Ahead

Reid and Bill also share a grounded, experience-based perspective on AI in freight and supply chain analytics. While AI can dramatically speed up analysis and surface insights, they emphasize the importance of clean data, context, and human oversight — especially when decisions impact margins at scale.

👥 About Today’s Guests

Reid Klosowsky is Co-Founder of Freight Think LLC and former VP of Global Transportation & Supply Chain Flow at Bed Bath & Beyond, where he led a $10B transportation network through massive disruption and transformation.

Bill Moroney is Co-Founder of Freight Think LLC and former VP of Vendor Management at Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy BABY, with deep expertise in supplier performance, cost-to-serve models, and profitability optimization.

📬 Connect with Freight Think

• Website: https://www.freightthink.com
  
  
• LinkedIn: Bill Maroney - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-maroney-07b5a61a1/
• LinkedIn: Reid Klosowsky - https://www.linkedin.com/in/reid-klosowsky-8909831/

Guest:

Steve Cook, Executive Managing Director, LFM Capital
MIT LGO (MBA/MSEE) | Former Dell Plant Manager | Private Equity Operator & Educator

🎙️ Episode Overview

In this powerhouse conversation, Justin sits down with Steve Cook, Executive Managing Director at LFM Capital, a private equity firm uniquely built and led by operators and engineers. Steve shares rare, behind-the-scenes insights on how LFM identifies, acquires, and transforms mid-market manufacturing companies—not through financial engineering, but through people-centric leadership, hands-on operational excellence, and a relentless commitment to long-term value creation.

With decades of experience leading industrial businesses, teaching at Harvard Business School, and mentoring future leaders at MIT, Steve brings a refreshing blend of humility, clarity, and practicality to the world of PE-backed manufacturing.

If you're a manufacturing leader, business owner, aspiring CEO, or private equity stakeholder, this is a must-listen.

1. Why LFM Capital Breaks the Traditional PE Mold

• LFM is one of the only U.S. private equity firms where an operating partner also runs the firm.
• True parity between deal partners and operating partners leads to better diligence, alignment, and execution.
• How LFM avoids the “painted-on operating partner” problem common in the industry.

2. What PE Really Looks for in Mid-Market Manufacturing Deals

• Why LFM invests in companies with $3–$15M EBITDA and fewer than ~250 employees.
• How leadership quality, culture, and values matter more than perfect metrics.
• Why buyers should not pursue “perfect companies”—real value is created where opportunity exists.

3. Leadership: The Make-or-Break Factor in Value Creation

• Arrogance is the enemy of leadership—humility is essential.
• Why effective CEOs must be able to “play the full keyboard”:
  • Shop floor → Board room → Customer meetings.
• LFM’s CEO Development Program: a 5–7 year rotational system creating cross-functional, hands-on, next-generation executives.

4. The First 100 Days After Acquisition

• LFM’s collaborative approach: no “one-size-fits-all” playbook.
• How they co-create an Operational Agenda before closing a deal.
• Why focusing on just three priorities at a time is essential for smaller companies.

5. Implementing Lean in Resource-Constrained Environments

• Why Lean is easier to implement in small companies than large ones.
• The cultural importance of leadership buy-in—especially from the CEO.
• Steve’s take on fractional CI leadership, external facilitation, and when companies should backfill with full-time CI talent.

6. How LFM Navigates Tough Deals & Upholds Values

• The Apollo 13 story: how LFM refused to abandon a distressed deal, preserving jobs, paying back lenders, and honoring the seller’s legacy.
• Why LFM optimizes for a 50-year time horizon, not a 5-year fund cycle.

• Mid-market manufacturing owners considering an exit
• CEOs and plant leaders navigating growth or operational challenges
• Private equity operating partne