Celebrating Top Shops

My editorial columns of late have mostly covered the return of events. It’s been a big aspect of what’s on my mind. At Products Finishing, we’ve been planning events, lining up awards, putting together presentations – it’s kind of like getting ready for a big family holiday. Trade shows and conferences that normally would have occurred earlier in the year have been stacked up in the third and fourth quarters of the year. It’s made for an incredibly busy time for everyone, but it’s also been invigorating to connect with the finishing community in person.

I recently had the opportunity to attend the NASF Palmetto Chapter Annual Conference and as I write this, we’re finishing up the inaugural Top Shops Expo and Conference in Gardner Business Media’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. It’s been fun to play host to the Top Shops honorees and recognize the hard work of some of the best finishing operations in North America. This year the Top Shops awards seem even more important to call attention to and reflect on what it means to be a Top Shop.

Launched in 2015, PF’s Top Shops Benchmarking Survey helps finishers identify optimal shopfloor practices and improve business operations and procedures. Hundreds of coating and finishing shops participate in Top Shops annually, resulting in a wealth of data and statistics that prove invaluable for discovering and assessing areas for growth and improvement, including finishing technology, performance and practices, business strategy and human resources. This information is designed to aid finishing shops in measuring their key operating metrics against others in the industry. It also affords PF the opportunity to recognize the shops that have met a range of criteria.

2021 feels like an appropriate time to put some additional emphasis on finishing operations that have qualified for this elite status. To say the last couple of years have been difficult would be an understatement. Excelling at business in the best of times is commendable but doing so when faced with the challenges the past year and a half has presented is nothing short of extraordinary.

Talking with shop owners, we hear about the challenges they’ve been dealing with for almost two years. Supply chain woes caused by pandemic-related disruptions have added to the hurdles that finishers face day in and day out. Labor shortages, which have long been a problem for the industry, have been exacerbated by the events of the past 19 months.

In the midst of this adversity, it is especially encouraging to see these Top Shops rise to the occasion. Every Top Shop I’ve spoken to acknowledges the hard work of their competitors and others working in the finishing community. Many of them are surprised at their Top Shops status, because they recognize the great work of so many in the industry. That sentiment says a lot about not just the Top Shops, but all of the finishing operations out there working to keep their doors open, their lines running, their employees working. The finishing community is a close-knit one that cares about its people. When asked or when receiving an award almost every Top Shop will credit its team — those who aren’t on stage to receive the award because they’re on the shop floor, working on the line or out in the field, manning the phones and continuing to do everything they can do to deliver quality finishes for their customers. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about — doing good work, serving your customers the best way you can every day. We hope you’ll participate in PF’s Top Shops Benchmarking Survey and that it serves as a tool for the continuous improvement of your operations. But the real way to be a Top Shop? Take care of your customers and your team. It’s really as simple as that.