Columns – Profit360

Below are links to Kirchner's Never Finished Management Columns as published in Products Finishing magazine.

2019

May – Is it Okay to Dislike a Customer?
April – The Expense of Frugality
March – We Need to Start Trusting Our People
February – Questions That Will Change Your Finishing Business and Life
January – It’s Time to Learn How to Win Again

2018

December – Industry 4.0 Elicits Careers of the Future
November – The Reluctant Award Winner
October – The Faster You Go, the More Balance You Get
September – Rip Van Meeting
August – Welcome to Your 1st Day in Finishing
July – Parts Unknown
June – May the Fourth Be With You
May – How Do You Run a Contract Finishing Business? Ask Your Dry Cleaner
April – Revenge is Best Served Not at All
March – Shoeless Joe, Iowa Cornfields and Surface Finishing Hyper-Growth
February – Turning Business Travel into an Adventure
January – How Not To Quit Your Job

2017

December – The 55 Most Important Words in Sales
November – Few Things More Precious Than Time
October – When Will It Ever Be Good Enough?
September – After Two Minutes . . . Just Shut Up!
August – Top Sales Trait Might Not Be What You Think
July – The Robots Are Coming – Will Your Job Be Next?
June – Greatness Begins with a V1 Moment
May – Is Your Team Ready for IIoT?
April – Who Is Defining Your Shop’s Brand?
March – Settling for Soft Skills? You’re Part of the Problem
February – Don’t Tell People How to Do Things
January – Dear Sales Professional

2016

December – Stand and Deliver on Valuating Your Services
November – The Making of a World Class Manufacturer … A Long-Term View
October – Value Proposition When Asking for a Raise
September – Cleaning Up Misconceptions in Job Titles
August – IoT and Industry 4.0 for Finishers. Are You Ready?
July – Conspiracy Theories and Ascribing Intentions
June – Excuses from Naysayers
May – Find Five Ways To Solve Problems
April – Lay Off the Layoffs
March – The Intelligence Matrix and People Who Don’t Know Where They Fit
February – Beware “Hit-Rate Guy”
January – Are You Leaving Money on the Table?

2015

December – The “Skills Gap” is Your Fault!
November – Does Money Trump Freedom? A Philosophy of Business and Life
October – That Which Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong
September – Three Keys to a Winning Culture
August – The 13 Unlucky Signs Your Customer is Looking Elsewhere
July – There are No Such Thing as Weaknesses, Only Weak Leaders
June – Wrestling With Double Standards
May – Creative Recruiting
April – Fortunately, Unfortunately
March – The Folly of the Working Supervisor
February – Another Month, Another “Important, Not Urgent” Issue
January – Of Jazz Musicians, Energy Bars, Welders and Employee Empowerment

2014

November – ‘Acceleration!’
October – A Psychoanalytical Tour of Finishing Industry Personalities
September – Direct Margin Is Where It’s At
August – A Procurement Fable
July – The Marketing Process
June – Advice from the Grave
May – Want to Communicate More? Communicate Less
April – Muda, Mura, Poka-Yoke and Other Four-Letter Words?
March – Ten Ways to Kill a Sales Call
February – Qualifive!
January – What’s Trending in Manufacturing?

2013

November – Lean on the Coater
September – Two Hours a Day in the “Gemba”
August – Business Pet Peeves
July – Is Yours a Blame Game Culture?
June – ‘They Never Call Me Back.’ No Kidding.
May – Must-See TV: “Finishing: Impossible”
April – Like the Farmer, God Created the Finisher, Too
March – Ensuring Your Next Kaizen Event is a Colossal Failure
February – Bridging the Millennial Divide
January – Make it a Happy New Year

2012

November – Quarterbacks, Power Forwards, Olympians & Benchmarking
October – A Coatings Rework Nightmare
August – Time to Add Capacity?
July – A Fight for the Future
June – Keys to World Class Finishing
May – Redneck Jokes & Finishing
March – Predictive Analytics
February – Apple Coatings?
January – #1 Problem Facing Finishers

2011

2010

November – Keepin’ it Kaizen
October – Just In Case Leadership
September – A $5 Lean Manufacturing Primer
August – Lessons of the Great Recession
July – Wasted Energy Equals Lost Profits
June – For Father’s Day..A Paint Defect
May – If Your Customer Was Always Watching
April – Winning Month by Month
March – An Awesome Business Speech
February – Help Wanted
January – The Moscow Rules

2009

December – Temporary Solutions
November – Registering Quality
October – The FrontLine
September – New Employee Orientation
August – Matt’s Trip to the Eye Doctor
June – Breaking Up is Hard to Do
May – World-Wide Biggest Loser Sales Person of All Time
April – Whatever it Takes
March – What are Your Weaknesses?
February – “A ‘Five Why’ for Sales? Why Not?”
January – I’ll Scratch Your Back…

2008

December – Manna from Heaven
November – Good Luck, Chuck
October – Seven Deadly Wastes
September – One Hour a Day
August – Who Has the Best Job in the World?
July – Surface Finishing in the “Exponential Economy”
June – The Soft Cost of In-house Rework
May – If Walt Disney Were a Surface Finisher
April – 50 Ways to Grow Your Coating Operation
February – Then Came the Plant Tour

2007

December – Profitability is a Result
October – Must-read Books for Surface Finishers
August – A Hunt for the Elusive Surface Finishing Economic Forecast
June – What’s the Good Word
April – Confessions of a Core Values Convert
February – Charlie Sheen, Elephants and Really Big Finishing Deals

2006

December – Captive Operation or Outsource? That is the Question
October – Surface Finishing Management Myths
August – Think You’re in the Finishing Business? Think Again…
June – Key Characteristics of Successful Managers
April – It’s Time for a CUSTOMER Scorecard
February – Manage Five Items and Ensure Success in Surface Finishing

2005

December – Eight Mistakes That Will Kill Your Metal Finishing Business
October – Dealing with Tough Customers
August – Career Advancement
June – Do You Consider Your Metal Finishing Operation to be “World Class?”
February – A Recipe for Sales Growth