From a Pink Slip to Serial Acquisitions: Josh Shelton on Building Etched, a Kansas City Nameplate Manufacturer
Manufacturing Happy Hour
Josh Shelton owns Etched, a Kansas City-based company that makes metal nameplates and tags. In this conversation on Manufacturing Happy Hour, recorded live at the 2024 Midwest Manufacturers Trade Show and Conference in Branson, Missouri, Shelton explains how the company started from nothing in 2017. He also describes what the company tries to do better than established competitors, what "customer-centric" means to him in practice, and how Etched has grown through acquisitions every year since 2020. A theme runs through all of it: Shelton argues that relationships drive both the business and the regional manufacturing community.
Getting Fired After a Ten-Year Run
The host noted that Shelton had worked for a nameplate company for about a decade before founding one. Shelton said he never grew up hoping to own a nameplate manufacturing business. He had spent roughly ten years at a company making similar products, and he called it "a good run." Then the company let him go.
Shelton called the firing a "gut punch" and an "ego check." He described himself as someone who dives all in, and he had been fully committed to that job. After leaving, he did some work on his own and then took a job with another manufacturer that made high-reliability connectors. That role kept him traveling constantly, while his wife and young children stayed at home.
The host asked how he recovered. Shelton pointed to his upbringing. He was close with his parents and his twin brother, who pushed and challenged each other growing up, and he said staying down "wasn't in me." He also had a family to support. Looking back, he acknowledged that it can sound cliché, but said the firing may have been "the best thing that ever happened to me." It led to the Etched journey, which he said has brought "every challenge that you wanted to have" as a business person: starting up, getting through COVID, and reaching the company's current stage. At the time, he said, he knew the only path forward was a positive one.
A Beer at Houston Hobby Airport
The company's origin traces to a colleague named Adam, now Shelton's business partner. Both men were traveling constantly with young kids at home. They had a habit of calling each other to ask where the other was that week. On one call, Adam said he was at Houston Hobby Airport. Shelton happened to be there too, so they got a beer and talked.
In that conversation, Shelton realized he was ready to go out on his own. He felt he had enough experience. His reasoning was also personal: he was already sacrificing time away from his family, so if he was going to sacrifice, he wanted it to be for himself and his family.
On why they chose nameplates, Shelton was modest. They knew they weren't going to "reinvent the widget." They did believe they could do some things better than others in the market and take care of customers in ways competitors weren't. The start was truly from scratch. Shelton said that in 2017 they had zero customers, zero sales, and no equipment. They founded the company rather than buying an existing one.
The Dreamer and the Realist
Asked what made Adam the right co-founder, Shelton said Adam would call himself a realist and would call Shelton a dreamer. Shelton sees his own strength as getting excited about the future and setting a vision. Adam is good at executing today on that vision. Adam's career was in operations, including roles as plant manager and director of operations. Shelton's background was mostly sales. He said the combination made a great partnership, and added that you don't really know how well you'll work with someone until you start a business together and go through the hard parts.
Shelton's twin brother is also a business partner. Shelton said they knew from the start that they couldn't do it alone. The host observed that successful founding teams often pair a vision person with an execution person, and Shelton agreed that this balance had worked for them.
Why a Cheap Tag Can Shut Down a Production Line
The host framed the next question for manufacturers facing crowded markets: what did Etched see that left room for a new player?
Shelton said many companies in the industry do a very good job of making metal tags, with good quality and reliable lead times. The opportunity he identified was about how customers treat the product. Tags are not expensive, and they are not throwaway items, but they are far less important to customers than the raw materials that make up most of their spending. So customers don't watch them closely. Yet, Shelton said, running out of tags "can shut down a line."
He explained why. Customers typically must attach a tag to their product before it ships. The tag may include the manufacturer's name and contact information, a serial number, test data, and sometimes a warning required by the customer's industry. It is part of the full bill of materials. It is not a decorative logo or a hang-tag. And, Shelton noted, a manufacturer can't simply buy a replacement at Home Depot or Lowe's.
Etched therefore focused on helping customers manage nameplates inside their facilities: inventory levels, reorder points, and generally making tags easier to manage. In Shelton's account, competitors often react when a customer runs short, with an expedite or an expedite fee. Etched's goal was to fix the underlying problem so it doesn't happen again. "We live and breathe metal tags," he said, while customers are busy with other things. Etched also has measures in place for when a shortage does occur.
What Customer-Centric Actually Means
The host said they had heard Shelton described as customer-focused. They also pointed out that nearly every company now claims to be customer-centric, to the point that the claim no longer sets anyone apart. So what does it really mean?
Shelton's answer centered on the gap between saying and doing. Saying it is step one, he said; the question is what a company does day to day to make it real. He mentioned that he had just been in Oklahoma with customers the previous week and had had this same conversation. His view is that business fundamentals often get forgotten.
He tied Etched's approach to its origins. Starting with zero customers meant every customer they won was "precious." The company was forced to run itself around what its customers needed, and Shelton said growing up that way gives a useful perspective.
His concrete examples were basic on purpose: returning phone calls quickly, answering chats and emails quickly, and getting quotes and information back to customers quickly. He said these are easy to do, but also easy not to do. Many people's experience with manufacturers and companies in general, he said, is that someone promised a callback and never followed through. Shelton added that Etched is still a small company. Customers are not just what pays the bills; they are the reason the business exists. He said he hoped customers would agree with how Etched treats them, framing that as a hope rather than a certainty.
Customer Experience Starts With Employees
Shelton then broadened the idea of "customers" to include the people who work at Etched. His goal is to be the easiest and most enjoyable company for customers to work with. He said he knows what it feels like to walk into a company with that kind of culture, and he wants to build it at Etched.
His route to that goal runs through his team. He named Justin, the plant manager, and Liz, the office manager. He wants employees to know where the company is going, to see themselves staying for a long time, to feel they are on a team pulling in the same direction, and to care about the people they work with. He believes that comes through on the phone with customers. The host summarized this as "a great customer experience starts with a great employee experience." Shelton agreed: "100%."
Kansas City, Missouri, and a Spread-Out Midwest
The conversation turned to the manufacturing community. Shelton described Kansas City as having a diverse economy and a diverse manufacturing base across a wide range of industries. He praised the city's efforts to connect with students, including high school programs that help students think about career paths, and called that exciting.
At the state level, he credited Michael and the team at the Missouri Association of Manufacturers with doing "a phenomenal job" of connecting Missouri manufacturers. His reasoning was geographic. In the Midwest, population centers and manufacturing are spread out, so organizations that bring people together are "critical." His first experience with the group was at the same show a year earlier, and he said he left inspired and excited.
Shelton described the value as being part of a community where everyone is "fighting the same fight" and is willing to help each other. Members may see each other only once or twice a year and still feel connected. He said he reaches out to people in the organization when he has questions or needs help, and called that an invaluable resource. The host noted that this theme had come up unprompted in both of their conversations at the event.
The Vision: Solving Problems and Growing Through Acquisition
Asked about the dream for Etched, Shelton said the company has "a long ways to go" and is in it for the long haul. He and the team get energy from solving problems, and the focus is on continuing to bring solutions to customers. He said they want to keep an open mind about what those solutions might be. They could involve metal nameplates or possibly something else.
He explained how the growth strategy changed during COVID. Before the pandemic, Etched grew by visiting customers in person, which became impossible. So the company acquired another business in 2020 and has completed an acquisition every year since. Shelton said these deals have brought excitement, energy, new capabilities, and talented people, and that Etched plans to keep doing them.
Even so, he said the main goal is to keep Etched a great place to work. He described himself as a team person and said he believes the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. "We don't need a hero," he said. The plan is to build on the team's strengths, improve every day, and keep bringing value to the market.
How Etched Chooses Companies to Buy
The host added a final question: with an acquisition every year since 2020, how does Shelton judge whether a company will fit Etched's culture and direction?
Shelton said he tries to be genuine, and that he and customers can usually tell quickly whether they will work well together. The same applies to acquisitions. Every deal so far has involved an owner who wanted to retire, had no exit strategy, and could believe in Etched's vision for their company. Shelton stressed how personal this is for sellers. The business is "their baby," and a lot of trust is involved in deciding who will carry the legacy forward.
He described the process as mostly conversation, much like the interview itself. "It's not a checklist," he said, and he doesn't show up in a suit and tie. He talks with fellow business owners about their vision for their next phase and what Etched is trying to accomplish. If those line up, the parties are usually able to find a way to make a deal work.
The host joked that Shelton could launch a once-a-year podcast of his conversations with sellers. Shelton said the process has been fun and rewarding. Each former owner Etched has helped through a transition, he said, is willing to serve as a reference. He credited this to the team, naming Adam and Justin, and to the effort to surround themselves with good people. When they find a fellow business owner with the same outlook, he said, "sometimes it just makes sense" for everyone.
Josh, welcome to Manufacturing Happy Hour. Thank you, yeah, thanks for having me. Appreciate it. So I looked at your background before this conversation, and you own Etched, a nameplate company, the nameplate company, I should say. Yep. But you worked for a nameplate company long before this. I did. So give us a bit of a story: what inspired you to own your own nameplate company after starting, I think, for a decade with the same organization, if I remember right? Right.
Well, I could tell you right now that I didn't grow up, you know, one day hoping to become a business owner of a nameplate manufacturing company, but no. But, you know, I did, I worked for a company that was manufacturing similar products for a long time, you know, and to be completely honest with you, after that end of that 10-year run there, it was a good run, they actually, they fired me. They let me go. So, you know, gut punch, but, you know, you reset that time, right, in your life. But no, I went off and did some work, you know, on my own and for another company manufacturing other products, connectors actually, high-reliability connectors.
But I was traveling all the time, you know, had a couple young kids at home, wife at home, gone a lot, and yeah, you know, making that sacrifice, right, that we all do as we're trying to build a career. And I had a colleague of mine that I would call once in a while and say, hey, where you at? You know, where you at this week, Adam? And Adam actually happens to be my business partner currently. Okay. But yeah, he was doing the same thing, he was traveling and had young kids at home, and so sometimes we'd just reconnect. And, you know, one day I called Adam and I said, hey Adam, where you at this week? He said, well, right now I'm at Houston Hobby Airport. And, well, I'm at Houston Hobby Airport. Well, let's grab a beer, chat a little bit, right?
So we did, we talked, and, you know, it kind of boiled down to the fact that, you know, at that stage in my life I was ready to do something on my own. I feel like I had enough experience to do that. I was already making sacrifices away from my family, and I thought, hey, if I'm going to do this, you know, now's the time, for one. And two, it feels like if I'm going to sacrifice, let's make a sacrifice for myself and my family, and let's go try this thing, you know. And so, you know, really the point there and reason for starting a nameplate manufacturing company was because we knew we weren't going to reinvent the widget, but we definitely felt like there were some things out there in the market that we could kind of do better than other folks and take care of customers in ways that maybe other people weren't, and we wanted to see if we could make that work and make it happen, and we went off and did that.
So I've had three new questions pop up just in the course of that first answer. So how did you pick yourself up after you got let go of working at a company for 10 years, and what lessons have you taken with you now to help you manage your career?
Well, I mean, you know, obviously initially, so I, you know, I tend to be a person that really just dives all in. And so, you know, for me at the time, that point in my career, I was all in, you know, and to get that, you know, that pink slip, if you will, like, that was definitely a gut punch, you know, an ego check, kind of, right? But, you know, I don't know, I mean, my, you know, my parents, and I have a twin brother, so we were super close, you know, obviously growing up, and we pushed each other and challenged each other and stuff. And so it was one of these things that for me, I knew I couldn't, it wasn't in me to just stay down, right, to stay down. And I had responsibilities at home to take care of my kids and my family and everything as well.
But then at the same time, I think it was, you know, people say this and sometimes it sounds cliché, but, you know, maybe it was the best thing that ever happened to me, because we've obviously been on this journey with Etched now for, you know, since 2017, and this has been so much fun, you know, and kind of every challenge that you wanted to have as a professional and a business person, we faced it through COVID. To start from a startup through COVID to kind of where we're at now, some of the challenges and excitement we have going on now. You know, I knew, you know, the only path forward was a positive path forward for me.
Yep, I like that vibe. Now the next question is, aside from Adam being in the right place at the right time at Houston Hobby Airport, what makes him the right co-founder for your business? What are the different things you bring to the table?
So Adam's a, Adam would say he's a realist. Okay. And I'm a dreamer, right? Yeah. So, you know, you kind of start to figure out what I mean there. You know, what I feel like I'm good at is really getting excited about the future and having a future vision and, you know, where we want to go, and he's very good at, you know, executing today and executing on that vision. And he's just a great guy too. I mean, he's just a great person and great leader. But he's always had an operations background. Okay. So he was, you know, a plant manager, you know, director of operations, very much in the, like, making-it-happen type of roles in his career. I had a sales background for the most part, and so those two things kind of all made for a great partnership, really, you know.
And we do work well together. Sometimes you don't know how well you're going to work together until you start a business together like that and go through some of the trials and tribulations, but it's been a great ride. So yeah. And then my brother, I have a twin brother, like I mentioned, a business partner of ours as well. So, you know, we knew that we couldn't do it on our own, like all by ourselves. You know, when we started in 2017, we had zero customers, zero sales, no equipment, you know.
And you started this company? You didn't buy it, this was you starting it from the ground up? Okay. No, didn't, no, this was from zero. Yeah, this was from zero. So yeah. Wow. No, no, no, I mean, I like asking that question because oftentimes I do feel like the answer is, hey, there's an individual that's the dreamer, the vision person, another individual that's the operations person, the executor. I love hearing about that balance, and it certainly seems that you both have that. Yeah, it's been great.
So the other question, the final question that came up during that first initial response, was what is it that Etched does better than the rest of the market? Actually, the way I want to ask this question is, you know, for manufacturing folks out there that are like, oh well, there are already a bunch of people doing this, what are the things that you looked for to say, like, sure, there are already players in this space, but we see an opportunity where there's space for us too? Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I think there was a lot of, there's a lot of companies in our industry that do a really, really good job of making metal tags. Okay. Great quality, they're going to execute, you know, lead times and things like that, they do a great job with that. But what I've kind of started to realize and what we knew out there was that the tags are in this kind of category of product for our customers that, you know, they're not that expensive. Okay. They're not throwaway items by any stretch, but they're just not as important as maybe some raw material that's the bulk of your spend, so they don't get paid attention to that closely by our customers. Yeah. But at the same time, it can shut down a line. Okay. So how can it shut down a line?
Well, so our customers typically have to have a tag on their product before it ships out. Okay. And this tag would include information like, you know, obviously the manufacturer's name and contact information, but like a serial number, test data, potentially a warning that maybe their specific industry forces them to have on the equipment. It has to have kind of the full bill of materials before it goes out the door, including this. Okay. This isn't strictly just a, you know, kind of a hang-on throwaway tag or even just a logo, right? This is information that's critical to be on there. Yep, it's got to be on there, and you can't just go to Home Depot or Lowe's or something like that and buy them either, right? So when they're out, we know that can be a huge problem for them.
And we really wanted to tackle that problem that people had with managing these types of products, specifically nameplates, within their manufacturing facility, managing the inventory levels, reorder points, and just making it easier for them to manage their tags than they were currently, you know, experiencing. So, you know, we knew that a lot of our competition sometimes would react to those situations, meaning an expedite or an expedite fee and those sorts of things, and what we really wanted to do is go in there and try to solve that problem for the customer. Let's make sure this doesn't happen again. You know, our life, we live and breathe metal tags. You don't, you know, you're doing other things, and we want to be able to go in there and kind of find a way to see if there's a way that we can help you so you don't have that same experience again. And if you do, we obviously have things in place to help them with that as well.
Yep. And you talked about your sales background. I've heard you're a customer-focused guy in general from folks I've talked to before this conversation. I'm curious to get your take: what does customer centricity really mean in today's manufacturing environment, where everyone talks about how customer-centric they are? It's almost to the point that it's not a differentiator anymore because you hear people talk about it all the time. So what does it truly mean to be customer-centric?
So I think that one thing that I try to focus on is really not what people say, but it's what people do. And I think that, you know, when we say something, that's step one, right, is saying it. But what are you actually doing on a day-to-day basis to make that become reality? And so, you know, for us, like, I know from my experience, I was just down in Oklahoma with some customers last week, and, you know, we had this very conversation, and it was that, you know, I think sometimes the fundamentals of business and service are forgotten about, you know.
And I think that for us, number one, like I told you before, we started with zero customers and zero sales, and we knew that every customer we did get was precious, right? It was very precious, it was a precious thing. And so we kind of had, at the time we were forced to kind of manage our business based on what our customers needed, right? And so we grew up out of that, and growing up out of that gives you a nice perspective. But it's also that we know that the fundamentals are critically important, and that means things like returning a phone call quickly. Okay. Getting back to someone if they're on a chat or if they're on an email quickly. Returning a phone call or an email, getting quotes, getting information back to customers quickly is easy to do, but it's easy to not do as well. And I think that we have, you know, we have a world where I think a lot of people's experience dealing with manufacturers or just companies in general is that, boy, they said they were going to call me back and they just never did. I mean, how easy is that, right?
And so we know that that's one of the things. And we're also, you know, a small company still, so we know that our customers, you know, are not just, I don't know, what pays the bills. Okay. But they are why we have a business. And I think that the customers that we have, that we can kind of treat that way, I think they would maybe hopefully agree with me. But I also think another way to look at customer-centric here too, Chris, is that our customers are also people that work at Etched, you know.
And I think that when I think of a customer-centric or customer-focused company, what I want, I want to build an experience for our customers that they enjoy working with us, that we're the easiest and the most enjoyable company to work with. And I know what I experience when I go into a company that has a culture like that. I know what that feels like, and we want to build that for our company, for our customers. And I think the way to do that for me is that we want to have our, you know, the people that work for me, you know, whether it's Justin, our plant manager, or Liz, our office manager, that, for one, they know where the company's going, they can see themselves working here for a long time, they know we're on a team, we're working in the same direction, and they kind of have a passion for the people they work with and it's a great place to be. And I think that comes through the phone and stuff as well.
What I think I heard you say was, or part of what I heard you say was, that a great customer experience starts with a great employee experience. 100%. 100%.
So, a couple more questions as we go through this. I'm interested to shift gears to understand a bit about the manufacturing community, the manufacturing scene where you're based in Kansas City, but beyond that as well, to the state of Missouri and the greater Midwest. Tell us a little bit about that, what it's like being a part of that community.
So yeah, you know, Kansas City specifically is a very diverse economy and diverse manufacturing base, and, you know, there's obviously a wide range of industries that are supported there. But, you know, I think Kansas City, and specifically Kansas City, does a good job trying to connect with students, right, even in high school, kind of building out those programs where we're connecting with students and thinking about career paths. That's exciting for me.
And then in general, in Missouri, and what Michael's done here with the Missouri Association of Manufacturers, him and his team have done a phenomenal job of connecting manufacturers in Missouri. You know, I think in the Midwest we are a little bit more spread out, right? We have kind of population centers or manufacturing spread out a bit, and organizations like what Michael's put together here are critical. And I have to tell you, the first experience that I had with this group here was at this show a year ago, and, you know, I came away from here just inspired and excited. And, you know, I think that when you get to be part of a community that's all fighting the same fight, with people that are willing to help each other out, it's a pretty powerful and pretty amazing thing, and I really feel that here. And Michael and his team do a great job of connecting the dots for all of us together, where we might not see each other more than once or twice a year, but we still feel connected in the same community. And I do, I reach out to people within the organization if I have questions or need some help, and that's just an invaluable resource, obviously, that we have here with the Missouri Association of Manufacturers.
It's funny, that's come up unprompted in both of our conversations so far, especially around how they connect the manufacturing community in this space. So I've got one last question for you. Okay. And that's around, you mentioned you're the dreamer, you're the vision guy at Etched. So what is the dream? What is the vision for Etched? Where are you now? Where do you see it going?
Yeah, so we've got, you know, we've got a long ways to go, and we're in this thing for the long haul. But, you know, for me, and I know our team, we love to, we get energy from solving problems, and I mean that. Like, I've, you know, learned that we love that. And so, you know, one of the things that we're really, really focused on is continuing to bring solutions to our customers, and we need to be keep
an open mind about that. That could be specifically with metal nameplates, it could be with something else possibly as well. You know, one of the things that we've done, after COVID hit, we had to kind of pivot on our growth strategy, what that looked like. Before COVID, we were able to go out and see our customers and go visit, right? A lot. Well, we couldn't do that during COVID, right?
So, you know, we acquired a company in 2020, and then we've actually gone through and we've done an acquisition every year since. And so what that's brought to us is excitement and energy, new capabilities, new talented people, and we're going to continue to do that as well.
But the main goal for us is that we want to make sure that we're always staying focused on making sure this is a great place to be, a great place to work. I really think that's, like, to me, I'm a team person. I've always been kind of team-centered, and I think that there is a real thing that happens when you have, you know, the sum of the parts, you know, greater than the whole. So I think that is real, is truth. We want to be better than each individual. We don't need a hero. And so we're going to continue to build on the strengths of our team and continue to innovate, get better every single day, and continue to bring value to the market. That's our whole goal.
I lied, I have another question. Another one popped up. I'm here, man, let's go. Well, you've acquired a new company every year since 2020. What do you look for in the companies that you acquire to have the confidence that they're going to be a fit for your culture, that they're going to take you to where you want Etched to go?
Well, you don't know me very well, but maybe someday you'll know me better. This is a pretty good intro. All right, good. I feel like I want to be, you know, a really genuine person, right? And I think that even our customers, I can kind of tell, and they can probably tell, if we're going to work together or not pretty quickly.
And so the acquisitions that we've been able to get done have all been companies where the owner was looking for a way to retire, didn't have an exit strategy, but could kind of believe in our vision for what that might look like for their company. I mean, it's their baby, you know. There's a lot of trust, there's a lot of kind of, who's going to carry this legacy on for me?
And so there's just a lot of conversation like that, like we're having now. It's not a checklist, and I don't have a suit and tie on. I mean, we're just in there talking to fellow business owners about what their vision is for the next phase for them and what we're trying to get accomplished, and if those things can line up, then we're usually able to find a way to make that work. That's really what it's boiled down to for us.
Sounds like you could start a podcast that comes out once a year of your conversation with a business owner before you're buying the company. It's been so fun. It's been so fun, yeah. I mean, it's so rewarding, and each one of the people that we've been able to kind of help transition, they're all willing to say, hey, if I need a reference or something, they will do it.
And I think, really, as much as anything else, it's a testament to the guys that, you know, Adam work, Justin and I, and what we're trying to do. I think just a good team and good people, and that's what we're trying to surround ourselves with as much as possible. And when we find a fellow business owner that's kind of like that, sometimes it just makes sense. We just figure out that it makes sense for us all.
So very cool. Well, I appreciate you taking the time to jump on the show today. Thanks so much for the initial intro to your organization and for sharing a bunch of lessons with the audience today. Yeah, thank you for having me. Enjoy the show, it's going to be a great show, and hopefully you get to see what Missouri is all about here. Oh yeah, by the time this comes out I'll have gotten a good taste of it, but I've been wanting to come to this one for a while, so it's good to be back in Missouri. Sounds good. Great, appreciate it. Cheers. Thanks.
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