American Finishing Resources
476 Clay St.
Chilton, WI 53014 US
800-657-0710 | 920-849-7738
afrnow.com
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As Seen On Products Finishing
American Finishing Resources Supplies the Following Products
- Clamps, Anodizing, Plating & Powder Coating
- Clamps, Anodizing, Plating & Powder Coating
- Conveyor Loading/Unloading Equipment, Automatic
- Conveyor Loading/Unloading Equipment, Automatic
- Conveyor Loading/Unloading Equipment, Automatic
- Conveyor Loading/Unloading Equipment, Automatic
- Magnetic Paint Racks
- Paint & Rust Stripping Services
- Paint Stripping Equipment, Burn Off
- Rack Trucks
- Rack Trucks
- Rack Trucks
- Rack Trucks
- Racking/Unracking Machines
- Racking/Unracking Machines
- Racking/Unracking Machines
- Racking/Unracking Machines
- Racks, Plating, Painting & Anodizing
- Racks, Plating, Painting & Anodizing
- Racks, Plating, Painting & Anodizing
- Racks, Plating, Painting & Anodizing
Editorial, News, and Products
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A Good Ground Starts at the Top
Transfer efficiency isn't just a technical term, it's a management issue.
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DuBois Chemicals Acquires American Finishing Resources
Acquisition combines DuBois paint pre-treatment expertise with AFR’s coating line fixtures, material handling and coating removal solutions.
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‘Acceleration!’
What’s Your One Thing, If Done Well, Could Create Quantum Improvement In Your Business? That’s Acceleration!
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A Psychoanalytical Tour of Finishing Industry Personalities
Dealing with challenging personalities comes with the territory, and handling them appropriately is key to success.
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Direct Margin Is Where It’s At
Why cost accounting is just plain silly.
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A Procurement Fable
What finishers can learn from a beekeeping squirrel.
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The Marketing Process
Just like finishing, growing your brand is a process.
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Advice from the Grave
A lesson in humility from Ettore Barbatelli.
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Want to Communicate More? Communicate Less
Amazon teaches a lesson in counter-intuitive thinking.
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Ten Ways to Kill a Sales Call
Little things salespeople do wrong that make a big impact on the customer relationship. Matt explains 10 things you should avoid.
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Qualifive! The Five Answers Needed to Qualify Any Finishing Account
Often the exuberance that follows the identification of a potentially great lead eclipses the need to confirm that the prospect is a good fit for the coater and vice-versa. Thus the need to aggressively qualify new sales leads by securing the answers to five key questions as early in the sales process as possible. I call this group of five qualification questions “Qualifive.”
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What’s Trending in Manufacturing?
A look at trends in process improvement, purchasing and technology as we head into the new year.
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Killing the Call Report
Is there an alternative to the painful call report process that so often results in unproductive conflict?
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Lean on the Coater
Generally, the most practical starting line for improving product flow is at the end-user of a manufacturer’s products—understanding final customer demand and preferences and then arranging the supply chain in a fashion that delivers on these factors.
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Bridging the Sales-Operations Divide
Matt Kirchner recently assembled a group of manufacturing industry sales and operations professionals to define "Rules of Engagement," a group comprised of seven individuals with combined experience exceeding 120 years. Here's what they came up with.
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Two Hours a Day in the “Gemba”
Spending time on the shop floor can save your job and your business. Gemba is a Japanese word meaning “real place.” In business, the gemba is the place where value is created. In manufacturing, the gemba is the shop floor.
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Business Pet Peeves
Little inconsiderations can have a big impact on your business, your team and your perception in the industry. Sweat this small stuff.
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Is Yours a Blame Game Culture?
Management expert Matt Kirchner says pointing the finger at someone else doesn’t solve the problem
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Kirchner's "Scoreboard" Finds Its Way On Shop Walls
Max Coatings owner "borrows" Kirchner's "Plant Performance Goals" scoresheet
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‘They Never Call Me Back.’ No Kidding.
Get creative to set yourself apart and get prospective customers to hear you out.
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KIRCHNER: Must-See TV: “Finishing: Impossible”
Columnist Matt Kirchner tells us what reality TV can teach us about transforming your finishing shop.
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Like the Farmer, God Created the Finisher, Too
A recent Super Bowl commercial reminded us of Paul Harvey’s adage that on the eighth day, God created the farmer. But the ninth day was productive as well.
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Ensuring Your Next Kaizen Event is a Colossal Failure
Finishers all over the United States are using Kaizen events to improve efficiency and better respond to the voice of the customer. Though some are achieving their goals, many — if not most — are failing.
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MATT KIRCHNER: Make it a Happy New Year
Plan around what you can expect from each month of the year.
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To PO or Not to PO . . . that is the Question
They may be a hassle, but purchase orders save countless mistakes and unnecessary costs.
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Quarterbacks, Power Forwards, Olympians and Benchmarking
What if there was a way to determine how we are performing financially compared with companies similar to our own? What if we could compare our results with theirs on an even playing field? What if we could determine where others are outperforming us and then take steps to improve in those areas?
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Matt Kirchner: Porter’s Five Forces in the Finishing Industry
Higher barriers to entry, minimal competitive rivalry, fewer substitutes and less powerful customers and suppliers—pay heed to Porter’s Five Forces and your next expansion will more likely be a lucrative one.
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A Fight for the Future of Finishing Shops
The driving force of changes is often a generational battle, too.
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The Keys To World-Class Finishing
What underperforming finishers don’t know (that good ones do)
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Redneck Jokes and Finishing
At the ECOAT 2012 Conference in Orlando, Fla., last month, we addressed the topic “What Underperforming Finishers Don’t Know (That Good Ones Do).”
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KIRCHNER: 5 Trends In Surface Finishing
Consider the following finishing industry trends and the opportunities they create in our markets
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Taking It to the Max: Throughput changes that amount to 300% finishing improvement.
When it comes to getting maximum throughput and optimal first pass yield from their finishing departments, Metalcraft of Mayville has quite a story to tell.
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MATT KIRCHNER: "The Number One Problem Facing Surface Finishers Today"
Matt writes: With nearly one in five American workers either unemployed or underemployed it seems inconceivable that coaters and manufacturers alike would have such a difficult time finding the right people.
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KIRCHNER: 'And you can quote me on that!'
Eight memorable quotes to run your business by.