Big Rocks Engineering

𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞: 𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲.

Not everywhere. But at your non-bottleneck operations, absolutely.

Here's why. Every system has one constraint that sets the pace — one machine, one process, one person. The whole operation moves at that speed no matter what you do everywhere else. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤.

So when you push a non-bottleneck machine to run at 100% because idle equipment feels like waste, what happens?

Work-in-process piles up. Inventory goes up. Operating expense goes up. And throughput — the actual rate you turn work into money — doesn't move at all.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫.

Find the constraint. Protect it. Let everything else run at the pace it can consume. That's the whole game.

— 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥 | 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 | (𝟑𝟏𝟒) 𝟔𝟒𝟗-𝟎𝟔𝟏𝟎

“𝐖𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭.” 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲 — 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭?

Inspection only means something if the thing you're inspecting against is right.

A CMM is a very expensive way to confirm a part matches a drawing. If the drawing is wrong, incomplete, or out of date, all that machine does is give you confidence in the wrong answer.

This is why quality problems so often trace back upstream to documentation rather than to the shop floor. The operator ran it right. The inspector checked it right. The spec was wrong.

Real quality assurance is a chain: correct drawing, correct process, correct measurement. Miss the first link and the other two don't save you.

𝐖𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐅𝐀𝐑𝐎 𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐇𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐌𝐌 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 those machines check against.

— 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭 | 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘙𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 | (314) 649-0610

Some companies start in a garage. 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

In 1973, Mack Hils was building small fasteners for antique pickup beds in the basement of his home. Hand tools. Long hours. One part at a time.

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝟓𝟎,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐄𝐌𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.

𝘍𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘖2 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩, 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 150 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘛𝘐𝘎/𝘔𝘐𝘎/𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘐𝘚𝘖 9001:2015 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘍𝘈𝘙𝘖 𝘊𝘔𝘔 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

Fifty years in, the company still runs on the idea it started with: do quality work and the business takes care of itself.

Sourcing fabrication, forming, stamping, or welded assemblies? 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞.

— Mike Hill | Big Rocks Engineering | (314) 649-0610

𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧.

That's the whole thesis of my 𝐅𝐀𝐁𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐇 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, and it's the bet our entire company is built on.

Here's why I believe it. Every system has one constraint that sets the pace for everything else. On the shop floor that's usually a machine. At the company level, for most small manufacturers, it isn't a machine at all.

It's whether people are trusted to own outcomes or just execute tasks. Whether improvement is a project or a daily habit. Whether leadership development gets budgeted like capital equipment or squeezed in when there's time.

Fix the machine and you get a faster bottleneck. Fix the culture and you change what the company is capable of.

I'm unpacking the full framework in Vegas this October. 𝐂𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝟐𝟎 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝟐𝟎% 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, link in the comments. 👇

𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥 | 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫, 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠

Thank you to everyone who helped make the Future Makers: Advanced Manufacturing STEM Experience a meaningful opportunity for students from Hazelwood East Middle School and Rogers Middle School - Affton.

With support from Big Rocks Engineering and partners including Greater St. Louis Area Scouting, Project Manufacturing, Southwestern Illinois College, and Missouri University of Science and Technology, students had the chance to explore advanced manufacturing in a hands-on, approachable way.

Opportunities like this help young people connect classroom learning to real careers and begin to understand that manufacturing is not just something that happens somewhere else, but rather right here at home.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭.

It's been running for fifteen years. One supplier makes it. Nobody remembers who designed it. The only drawing is a photocopy of a photocopy with a handwritten change in the margin from 2011.

And it works. That's the problem — it works, so nobody touches it.

Then the supplier retires, or raises the price 40%, or has a quality escape and suddenly that part is the only thing standing between you and a shipment you can't make.

The time to document that part is now, while everything's calm and you have a good sample to work from. Not during the emergency.

If you know exactly which part I'm describing, 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞. That's the one we should start with.

— 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥 | (𝟑𝟏𝟒) 𝟔𝟒𝟗-𝟎𝟔𝟏𝟎 | 𝐡𝐭𝐭𝐩𝐬://𝐰𝐰𝐰.𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠.𝐜𝐨𝐦

𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 “𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝟒.𝟎.” 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐱 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦?

The buzzword may have faded, but manufacturers are still facing the same challenges—technology adoption, workforce buy-in, AI, automation and turning digital investments into real results.

So what changed… and what didn’t?

👉 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐰.
https://bigrocksengineering.com/industry-4-0-manufacturing-challenges

𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐅𝐀𝐁𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐇 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫.

October, Las Vegas. The session is called 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐎𝐮𝐭-𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐁𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭.

Here's the argument I'm making. Most small manufacturers think they're losing to bigger competitors because of capital. Better equipment, deeper pockets, more people. I don't think that's it.

I think culture is the constraint. And unlike capital, culture doesn't require a bigger budget. It requires a framework and the discipline to run it weekly.

This isn't theory. It's what we run across five companies at Big Rocks Manufacturing, and I'll walk through the actual frameworks, not a case study with the details sanded off.

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞. 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝟐𝟎 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟐𝟎% 𝐨𝐟𝐟.

𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭 | 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳, 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘙𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨

Grateful for a room full of people who show up, pull up a chair and actually talk. The conversation went everywhere it should. Excitement building for IMTS this week. The continued uptrend in manufacturing demand. Real talk on AI, ERPs, and actually using the technology on the floor instead of just talking about it.

And then the stuff that makes these nights worth it, like swapping stories about San Francisco, hiking Yosemite and Sequoia and somehow ending up deep in the history of the Norton grape and Napa Valley (if you know, you know, go read The Wild Vine).

That's the point. People who do the same work, facing the same challenges, just talking it out over a cold one.

Thank you to everyone who came out and made it what it was. These nights don't work without you and every time, I leave reminded of how good this community really is.

Haven't made it out yet? Join us for the next one on October 8th. The door's always open, and the first cold one is on us. 🍺