6. How to Turn Around a Struggling Shop

The Manufacturing Blueprint · Jul 2, 2026 · 51m

Every shop owner eventually walks into a mess. Maybe you just took over a struggling facility, maybe you stepped into a new role, or maybe the business you've run for years just needs a refresh. In this episode, Paul Barnes and I dig into the question we both get asked a lot. When a manufacturing business is on its knees, where do you actually start?

The instinct is usually to buy new machines or clean house and bring in new people. We make the case for almost the opposite. Most of the time you don't have a capability problem, you have a visibility problem, and the first job is to stop the…