Cutting Through the Noise with Jason Ray

"Pick a target product, go after that, make relationships with your customers, and make money."

Manufacturing demand is strong, but more work does not automatically mean your shop is ready to grow.

In this episode of Cutting Through the Noise, Jason Ray sits down with Matt Newman, President of Athena Manufacturing, to talk about what it takes to manage growth when business is moving fast; Athena has grown 50% this year and now em...

"Pick a target product, go after that, make relationships with your customers, and make money."

Manufacturing demand is strong, but more work does not automatically mean your shop is ready to grow.

In this episode of Cutting Through the Noise, Jason Ray sits down with Matt Newman, President of Athena Manufacturing, to talk about what it takes to manage growth when business is moving fast; Athena has grown 50% this year and now ...

In manufacturing, reputation is everything. A big part of your reputation is shaped by your brand, but too many shops still think of branding as just their logo and website. In reality, a lot more goes into it, and those signals can shape how potential customers perceive your business before they ever even speak with you. The way you quote, communicate, follow up, and position your business all contributes to the impression you lea...

As the #1 fabricator in the U.S. for 15 consecutive years, with more than 80 years in business, 2,300+ employees, and 26 locations nationwide, Mayville Engineering Company (MEC) brings a unique perspective on what it takes to modernize at scale.

In this episode of Cutting Through the Noise, Paperless Parts CEO Jason Ray talks with Daniel Bourquin, MEC's Chief Information Officer, about the work behind building one modern manufac...

Meta is putting $600 billion dollars into AI infrastructure over the next five years. If you bought $600 billion dollars worth of CNC machines, how many parts would you have to make - and what would you have to charge - to pay them off?

In this episode of Cutting Through the Noise, Jason Ray is joined by Scott Sawyer, Paperless Parts Co-Founder & Chief Scientist, to unpack what all the AI hype actually means for manufacturers...

In this episode of Cutting Through the Noise, Jason is joined by Paperless Parts' CISO (Chief Information Security Officer), Colton Ericksen.

Jason and Colton cover the 10 most essential CMMC and cybersecurity-related questions all manufacturers should ask any software vendor they're considering working with.

Stream the episode now, or view a copy of the list of 10 questions, complete with links to key resources and references,...

U.S. manufacturing is "coming back," but not in the way most people picture.

In this episode of Cutting Through the Noise, Paperless Parts Co-Founder & CEO Jason Ray sits down with Bill Berrien, owner of Pindel Global Precision and founder of Liberty Precision, to talk about what Bill is seeing on the front lines of precision manufacturing. They cover:

- Why profitability is the foundation of supply chain resilience, and ...

Earlier this year, Paperless Parts surveyed 200 precision manufacturers about key trends shaping the custom part manufacturing industry. We used that data to compile our 2026 Build-to-Print Supplier Readiness Report: https://www.paperlessparts.com/wp-content/uploads/2026-SupplierReadinessReport.pdf

If you're an OEM or Tier 1 supplier, this is a direct line into what's really top of mind for your supply base, and includes actiona...

Wrapping up 2025, the AI noise in manufacturing is louder than ever; and everyone seems to have a "solution." In this end-of-year episode, Jason Ray sits down with Jay Jacobs (founder of Rapid Manufacturing and Co-Founder of Paperless Parts) to talk about how shop owners can actually approach AI in 2026 without getting scattered or betting big on the wrong things.

They walk through practical questions every manufacturing leader s...

In Episode 5 of Cutting Through the Noise, Jason sits down with Summit 7's Chief Cybersecurity Evangelist, Jacob Horne, to unpack what CMMC actually means now that it's here (as of November 10th, 2025, the DoD can start putting CMMC requirements into contracts) and what the real upside looks like for defense suppliers.

Jacob spends his days translating DFARS, NIST, CMMC, and all the regulatory alphabet soup into plain English for...

In Episode 4 of Cutting Through the Noise, Jason and Strategic Account Director Estephen Saliba to dig into one of the most defining trends in manufacturing right now: acquisition.

Estephen works closely with private equity firms and multisite manufacturers and sees a broad spectrum of challenges in his role every day, from ERP headaches and change management to cultural friction and brand dilution.

Whether your shop has alread...

In Episode 3 of Cutting Through the Noise, Jason Ray sits down with Jay Jacobs, co-founder of Paperless Parts and former owner of Rapid Manufacturing, to break down what it really takes for a job shop to make the leap into production work. Using a real-world scenario from a fast-growing shop, they dig into what works, what doesn't, and how to scale smarter. They cover:

- How to strategically add shifts without overextending your ...

Why is it so hard to turn a computer-designed product into something a supplier can actually make correctly and efficiently? While design software has come a long way over the years, different companies use different systems that don't always work well together. Instead of smoothly sharing 3D models, many still rely on old-school 2D PDFs because they're the only files everyone can open—even though they lack critical informati...

We're excited to launch Cutting Through the Noise, a new video series with Paperless Parts' Co-Founder & CEO Jason Ray. With so much information (and misinformation) out there about manufacturing, we're getting straight to the point when breaking down macro trends and hot industry topics—all in short, digestible videos. In our first episode, Jason sits down with Paperless Parts' Co-Founder & Chief Scientist Scott Sawy...