This is your best blog to date. I'm glad you went to this, professional development is huge for an outfit like you guys.
I've got to figure this blogging thing out as it is getting where I have a few things to say that don't fit in a paragraph or two.
The whole micro-factory thing is dead on. I started with a Kickstarter handibot and now have a V2 handibot with a fourth axis and the extended Y-axis, a 3d printer, and a laser cutter/engraver as well as having added a bandsaw and several other dumb tools to my mix.
At this point, my biggest hold back is my own ability to design what I want and to do it quickly enough to do it for others. I am getting better and better with Fusion 360 but it is like music. You don't pick up a set of drumsticks and become Neal Pert in a few months.