Paul Kuchuris Takes Helm at Association for Manufacturing Excellence

The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) announced on July 5 that Paul Kuchuris will serve as president of the group whose goal is pursuing continuous improvement and enterprise excellence.

Previously, Kuchuris was president and CEO of the Lincoln Foundation for Performance Excellence (LFPE), where he worked with Illinois manufacturers and other organizations to provide education and training programs focused on achieving high levels of performance to increase global economic competitiveness. During his time at LFPE, Kuchuris enhanced the Foundations awards program, modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, to help Illinois organizations distinguish themselves. He built the organization into one of the top Baldrige award programs in the country by increasing award applications and training more than 800 professionals, a 38% increase over the previous nine years.

Prior to his work at LFPE, Kuchuris held several management positions at Navistar International Corporation, originally International Harvester Corporation. During his 26-year tenure, Kuchuris launched more than 15 new products, managed a multi-million dollar training budget and built a comprehensive, company-wide training department.

Kuchuris holds a bachelors degree in business management and economics from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. In 2010, he was honored with the Lincoln Foundation Excellence in Leadership Award.