Herman (Herm) G. Haffner graduated from Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana in 1977, with a Bachelor of Arts (BA), majoring in Speech and minoring in Education.

Hafflner went to work with Nor-Cote International, Inc., an Indiana-based manufacturer of UV screen printing inks. He played an instrumental role in ultraviolet curing, devoting much of his career to increasing printers’ acceptance and success with UV inks and radiation curing. Haffner (with fellow Who’s Who member Joe Raymond) advanced early research using IR heat to accelerate and improve UV curing.

As Vice President of Marketing and Sales he helped drive Nor-Cote’s domestic sales from zero in 1979 to over US$13 million in 1993. Internationally, he oversaw the establishment of a United Kingdom division, where the team negotiated a European licensing agreement and established a network of distributors in the Pacific Rim through the company’s Singapore offices. Nor-Cote provided High-Tech (UV curable), environmentally friendly inks to the compact disc, DVD, plastic bottle, label, membrane switch, graphic overlay, and loose leaf industries.

In 1993, he left Nor-Cote, to start a consulting business, SalesMark along with his wife Kitty Haffner. They helped businesses and individuals in the areas  of business development,  planning and strategic marketing, ongoing sales and customer service training, and pre-employment screening and employee/job match assessments.

By the early 2000’s, Nor-Cote’s sales were down from the US$13 million to US7.5 million and faced a declining sales trend. In 2003, Nor-Cote brought Haffner back as the company’s CEO. In 3.5 years, he drove sales to over $13 million and profitability. As CEO, Haffner revamped Nor-Cote’s marketing strategy, purchased and integrated another ink company into Nor-Cote’s US operations, opened up Mexico and Central America, as well as led a team to negotiate a Japanese license agreement and technology transfer. Haffner was vital in a patent license agreement to manufacture and sell a revolutionary line of UV-curable conductive inks to produce membrane switches, electro-luminescent lamps, and radio frequency identification labeling systems. The inks were instrumental in improving manufacturing efficiencies, increasing productivity and improving space utilization, and cutting expenses by reducing energy consumption, controlling emissions, and reducing scrap and part failure due to silver migration. Haffner also spearheaded an effort to produce and market the 100 percent UV curable membrane switch and overlay and the 100 percent UV curable electroluminescent lamp.

In 2005, Haffner was inducted into the Academy of Screen and Digital Print Technologies (ASDPT).

In December, 2006, Haffner left Nor-Cote to reestablish his executive coaching and sale training business as Total Solutions. Today, Total Solutions, consults and coaches with companies and individuals focusing on business profitability and personal effectiveness. They work one on one with their clients to achieve their vision and reach high levels of performance both professionally and personally.

Services include:

 

https://www.whytotalsolutions.net/