-------------------------------------------------
Quality Award Paper IndustryWeek Best Plants Award
Keller Graduate School of Management
Spring Semester, May 2010 Session
GM588: Managing Quality (online)
Instructor: Robert Lee
14 May 2010
Table of Contents
I. Purpose and Background 4
Penton Media’s IndustryWeek Publication 4
Quality Award 5
Award Background 6
Award Principles 6
Award Details 7
Entering the Competition 7
Application Process 7
Selection of Finalists and Winners 8
Timetable for 2010 Award Application 8
II. Award Criteria 9
Award Background 9
Award Application and Selection 9
Important Criteria for Award 10
III. Benefits of the Award 12
Individual Company Benefit 12
IndustryWeek Best Plant Award Applicant’s Intrinsic Benefits 13
Application Fee and Preparation Costs 14
Marketing Benefits 14
Challenges in Receiving the Award 15
IV. Past Winners 16
Strategies and Competencies of IndustryWeek’s Best Plant Winners 16
Core Strategies 16
Supporting Competencies 16
IndustryWeek’s Best Plants Winners (2007-2009) 16
2009 Award Year Winners 16
2008 Award Year Winners 17
2007 Award Year Winners 17
Top Three Winners from 2009 Award Year 18
Batesville Casket Co., Manchester, TN 18
Carrier - Carlyle Compressor Facility, Stone Mountain, GA 19
E-Z-GO, A Textron Company, Augusta, GA 21
V. Conclusion 23
Personal Thoughts 23
References 25
Purpose and Background * Penton Media’s IndustryWeek Publication
Since January 1970, IndustryWeek/IW has been printed and mailed throughout North America and the rest of the modern World. IW is produced and mailed directly from Overland Park, Kansas, by media company Penton Media. Additionally IW is heavily covered online at their website location www.industryweek.com. http://www.pentonmsc.com/audience_digitaloverview.php?brand=IndustryWeek IW provides its subscriber base of manufacturing executives and key decision-makers with a platform from which to gain additional knowledge on the trends in the manufacturing industry, in addition to news and other important knowledge sharing advice from fellow peers and experts in specific manufacturing areas. IW serves its readership by providing a universal reference medium for engineers, product research, design and development teams, manufacturing supervisors and leaders, as well as purchasing and executive management with a reference source for establishing new production initiatives and setting goals for new, better or more efficient production methods. IW provides a community for knowledge share that works to progress the manufacturing productions industry.
The mission of IW has been since its inception, “to produce a publication that its readers would find both insightful and useful—and, perhaps, something more than that.” (Kinni, “America’s Best: IndustryWeek’s Guide to World Class Manufacturing Plants,” Introduction section pg. x)
Industries using IndustryWeek.com http://www.pentonmsc.com/audience_digitaloverview.php?brand=IndustryWeek
The publication focuses on new quality initiatives implemented and being explored in manufacturing and production across multiple industries. Within that realm such revisions to quality processes and innovations have been emphasized and detailed including just-in-time manufacturing methods, Total Quality management enterprise, the power of empowering employees and their perception of quality, and the focus on the customer, among many other topics of interest that have arisen through the past 40 years. * Quality Award
Each year IW acknowledges manufacturing production companies that are excelling and setting new precedents in their respective areas of expertise. Cutting edge technologies, cost-saving efforts, new processes and procedures, green-technology implementations and multiple other enhancements that better service the customer, as well as the organization, are recognized with an award. The prestigious IndustryWeek Best Plants award distinguishes those organizations that are trend-setting and commendable for their outstanding efforts.
The goal of IW's Best Plants award program is to recognize plants, located in North America, that are on the leading edge of efforts to increase competitiveness, enhance customer satisfaction and create stimulating and rewarding work environments.
– IW Best Plants Award Statement http://www.industryweek.com/section.aspx?sectionid=43 * Award Background
The IW Best Plants award was established in1990 and has continued to recognize manufacturing excellence annually for 20 years. Those businesses that have been recognized have continued to show their commitment to quality, excellence in business and constant product and service innovations to satisfy both the customer and to protect and to advance the manufacturing industry.
At its inception, the IW award was setup “to encourage widespread adoption of world-class manufacturing principles and management practices than to illustrate how they have spurred success in real-world situations,” in-part established by the publication editor at the time Mr. Chuck Day. (Kinni, “America’s Best: IndustryWeek’s Guide to World Class Manufacturing Plants,” Introduction, pg. xii)
First identified as an awards program for manufacturing excellence, it rapidly evolved into an award of prestige for the industry. Beginning as a “side” project assigned to the publication’s editors to take care in their spare time for the October 1990 issue, the budget was a meek $600 to purchase simple plaques for the award winners selected by the editors. The award has since grown to include annual awards presented to ten organizations in North America whom exhibit excellence in manufacturing.
Winners of the award cite both the recognition benefits as well as the impact the award has on company employee morale and pride in the work that they perform. * Award Principles * To recognize plants that are on the leading edge of efforts to increase competitiveness, enhance customer satisfaction, and create stimulating and rewarding work environments. * To encourage other manufacturing managers and work teams to emulate the honorees by adopting world-class practices, technologies, and improvement strategies. http://www.industryweek.com/research/bestplants/guidelines.aspx * Award Details
Entering the Competition
Companies must meet the following conditions to enter the IW Best Plants competition. * Be a single manufacturing plant or a combination of related facilities within a specific geographic location (not to exceed a 25-mile distance from plant to plant) and under the direction of a single management team. To qualify as a manufacturing facility, the plant's output should be a physical product representing value-added benefit. * Have completed at least three years of operation as of 1 January 1 2010. * Plant startup on or before 1 January 2007. * Be located within the United States or its territories, Mexico, or Canada. Eligibility is not limited to plants owned by U.S.-based parent companies. * Not have been honored as an IW Best Plants in the previous two years. http://www.industryweek.com/research/bestplants/guidelines.aspx Application Process
Companies wishing to enter the IW Best Plants competition must submit their application by June of the year in which they are applying. The cost for entering their operations in the running for the prestigious award is $1,000 for small companies, those with fewer than 500 full-time and equivalent hourly and salaried employees, and $1,500 for medium to large companies, with 500 or more employees. Discounts on the application fees are available for organizations submitting three or more of their individual manufacturing plants to be judged in the competition.
Selection of Finalists and Winners
A panel of judges, including IndustryWeek editors, reviews the list of applicants. Experts in the manufacturing industry and other independent professionals are solicited for their feedback and knowledge.
2009 IW Best Plants finalists and winners were judged by a team of outside experts, including: Sherrie Ford, principal, Change Partners LLC; Robert Hall of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence; Kenneth McGuire of the Management Excellence Action Coalition; and Larry Fast, founder and president of Pathways to Manufacturing Excellence.
Towards the end of July of the application year, a collection of finalists is identified. Those finalists are asked series of follow-up questions, with their responses to be returned by September. In the January of the year following the award year, the Top 10 Winners are announced and are honored at a special banquet and conference held in April. * Timetable for 2010 Award Application Timeline | Paperwork Due | February 2010 | 2010 Applications available | 16 June 2010 | Deadline for return of completed entry forms with supporting statements | On or about 30 July 2010 | Selection of finalists | On or about 6 August 2010 | Second-round questionnaires mailed to finalists | 3 September 2010 | Deadline for return of second-round questionnaires and supplementary information | January 2011 issue | Top 10 Winners announced | http://www.industryweek.com/research/bestplants/guidelines.aspx Award Criteria * Award Background
The IW Best Plant award was conceived in 1990 by the editors of the IndustryWeek publication. “America’s Best Plants” was first printed in the 15 October 1990 edition of IndustryWeek.
The IW Best Plant award was modeled-after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program (America’s Best, pg. xiii). The initiative to create a “Best Plants” award was at first a “spare” time project of the editors of IndustryWeek. While they did not have the luxury of a large budget (a mere $600) from which to work from, it’s initial planning and development involved procuring the input and opinions from experts in the manufacturing industry. http://www.nist.gov/baldrige/award_recipients/index.cfm
Differing from the Malcolm Baldrige award, the IW Best Plants award is self-funded by the publication, whereas the Baldrige award is funded through a Congressional appropriation (approximately $8 million annually). The Baldrige award is subdivided into multiple divisions, including Education, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Nonprofit/Government, and Service and Small Business. The IW Best Plants award is more manufacturing industry focused. The Baldrige award focuses on recognizing and highlighting the efforts of America’s businesses “to improve performance and its competitive standing in the world.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Baldrige_National_Quality_Award * Award Application and Selection
Applicants must complete an official application and include a fee payable to IndustryWeek ($1,000 for small companies, $1,500 for medium and large companies). Applications are reviewed and organized by using a weighted scoring system. The panel of judges rates each individual applicant using a composite ratings system to determine the finalists. Selected finalists are contacted with follow-up questions to determine the Top 10 winners. The Top 10 winners are publically recognized through the IndustryWeek publication, additional industry press releases, website promotions, and at the annual conference held in April each year where they a presented with a plaque recognizing their achievement. * Important Criteria for Award
Applicants for the IW Best Plant award must exhibit the following characteristics in their manufacturing business operations.
Benefits of the Award * Individual Company Benefit
Applying for and receiving the IW Best Plant award has a plethora of benefits to the recipient organization. Applicants and winners alike can benefit from the retrospective experience that comes with gathering the necessary data and completing the application. Using the application process requirements and timeframe as a time for an annual review of how the company has progressed in its manufacturing operations since the prior years can be another benefit to completing the application for the award.
IW Best Plant winners are the trendsetters in the manufacturing industry—setting the bar from which other companies can aspire to build their operations to match. Award winning companies are considered innovative and trendsetting in their respective areas of expertise and are looked-up to by their peers.
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, upon which the IW Best Plants Award is loosely based, has become one of the most influential instruments in quality awareness in U.S. Manufacturing Facilities. (Managing for Quality and Performance Excellence, pg. 9) “The award’s Criteria for Performance Excellence establishes a framework for integrating total quality principles and practices in any organization.” (Managing for Quality and Performance Excellence, pg. 114)
In addition to industry clout and recognition, the award provides a sense of “teammanship” for the employees that work hard every day to ensure their company produces the best possible products at the least amount of cost through improved efficiencies. High employee morale is the result of knowing that they work for a company that is focused on building the business and that it cares about its workers and shares a common goal of commitment to the customer.
Ray Moncini, senior vice president, Carrier Operations, winner of a 2009 IW Best Plants Award, said in a company press release dated 11 January 2010, “It is a tremendous honor to receive this acknowledgement. It confirms our teams’ commitment to excellence in continued improvement in manufacturing and exceeding customer expectations.” * IndustryWeek Best Plant Award Applicant’s Intrinsic Benefits
Companies that apply for the IW Best Plant Award receive the following: * Customized benchmark report * Complimentary access to the dynamic online IW Best Plants Benchmarking Database * IW Best Plants Statistical Profile * Reduced or complimentary registration to the IW Best Plants conference http://www.industryweek.com/research/bestplants/guidelines.aspx Additional benefits to applicants and/or award winners include: * IndustryWeek spotlights the winners and their strategies for success in the IW Best Plants Signature issue, which mails each year in January. Gain national recognition and give your employees a public pat on the back for their hard work. * Winners receive two years of access to the IW Best Plants Online Database, as well as two complimentary registrations to the annual IW Best Plants conference. * Finalists receive one-year access to the IW Best Plants Online Database and one complimentary registration to the annual IW Best Plants conference. * Applicants that do not qualify as a winner or finalist receive one-year access to the IW Best Plants Online Database and 50% off one registration for the annual IW Best Plants conference. * All applicants also receive customized benchmarking reports that show how their metrics compare with all other applicants (in the aggregate). In addition, all participants receive an IW Statistical Profile that provides benchmarking data from five years of Best Plants winners and finalists. http://www.industryweek.com/research/bestplants/guidelines.aspx * Application Fee and Preparation Costs
Applying for the IW Best Plants award requires a fee to be submitted with the application—$1,000 for small companies and $1,500 for medium and large companies * Small companies: Independent corporations with fewer than 500 full-time and equivalent hourly and salaried employees. * Medium and large companies: Corporations with 500 or more full-time and equivalent hourly and salaried employees.*
*20% discount available to corporations with three or more plant applications.
Additional costs incurred by the company would be any costs associated with running reports, monitoring manufacturing efficiencies, making changes to the operations and documenting those changes for future reference in applying for awards or grants. Most of these costs would be incurred as overhead costs in the organization even if the IW Best Plants award application were not completed. Generally speaking the cost of application is someone’s time to put together the necessary paperwork and submit it for judging. * Marketing Benefits
The honor of winning the IW Best Plants award is beneficial to the organization from a marketing or business awareness and quality reputation stance in addition to other benefits. Most notable is the spotlight feature in the magazine publication, read industry wide by top professionals. This recognition provides a solid reference point to the stability and quality of the organization as a whole—especially the manufacturing operations.
The organization’s marketing also benefits from the positive public relations and marketing materials references to a highly regarded publication and subscribed expert in the field of manufacturing quality.
An additional benefit to winning the award is the access to the IW Best Plants Online Database. The marketing and sales teams, as well as quality, product development and manufacturing operations can use the reference in benchmarking progress, planning for future organizational structural changes, facility upgrades, product development planning, and many other reference points. * Challenges in Receiving the Award
Being selected as a winner of the IW Best Plant Award can put the organization in the spotlight within their industry as well with their customer base. The level of expectations required from the company can increase resulting in the challenging task of meeting that level of quality assumed.
Additionally, the challenge of continuing to beat its best or high levels of excellence can be difficult. Achieving a higher level of excellence when an organization has room for improvement is a challenge in itself. Consider once that higher level is achieved and the level of commitment and planning required continuing with a level of continuous improvement. This can result in costly changes for the organization to keep up with expectations.
Past Winners * Strategies and Competencies of IndustryWeek’s Best Plant Winners
IW’s Best Plants past winners come from a diversity of backgrounds and industries. Each features its own unique characteristics and qualities. While each company is distinct in their focuses and what makes them successful in their operational efficiencies and customer satisfaction, they all share some common core strategies and core competencies to realize those strategies.
Core Strategies 1. Customer focus 2. Quality 3. Agility
Supporting Competencies 1. Employee Involvement 2. Supply Management 3. Technology 4. Product Development 5. Environmental Stewardship and Workplace Safety 6. Corporate Citizenship
Kinni, “America’s Best: IndustryWeek’s Guide to World Class Manufacturing Plants,” Becoming a Best Plant, pg. 18-19. * IndustryWeek’s Best Plants Winners (2007-2009)
The below lists outline the Top 10 Winners from years 2007 through 2009.
2009 Award Year Winners 1. Batesville Casket Co., Manchester, TN 2. Carrier - Carlyle Compressor Facility, Stone Mountain, GA 3. E-Z-GO, Augusta, GA 4. General Cable Corp - Altoona Plant, Altoona, PA 5. General de Cable de Mexico del Norte S.A. de C.V., Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico 6. Masco Builder Cabinet Group Culpeper Assembly Plant, Culpeper, VA 7. Nordson Corp., Dawsonville, GA 8. Philips Professional Luminaires, Sparta, TN 9. Philips Respironics Murrysville Plant, Murrysville, PA 10. Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems Advanced Products Center, Dallas, TX http://www.industryweek.com/articles/2009_iw_best_plants_winners_focused_on_excellence_20623.aspx?SectionID=43 2008 Award Year Winners 1. Baldor Electric Co., Weaverville, NC 2. Baxter Mexico S.A. de C.V.,Jiutepec, Morelos, Mexico 3. Cordis LLC,San German, Puerto Rico 4. DST Output East LLC, South Windsor, CN 5. General Cable -- Manchester Plant, Manchester, NH 6. Greatbatch, Alden, NY 7. Lockheed Martin MS2 -- Tactical Systems, Clearwater Operations, Oldsmar, FL 8. Nordson Corp. -- Swainsboro Assembly Facility, Swainsboro, GA 9. Thermo Fisher Scientific LLC, Marietta, OH 10. UT Electronic Controls (UTEC), a unit of Carrier Corp., Huntington, IN http://www.industryweek.com/articles/2008_iw_best_plants_winners_winning_ways_18027.aspx?Page=3 2007 Award Year Winners 1. Autoliv North America - Tremonton Initiator Facility, Tremonton, UT 2. Batesville Casket Co. -- Vicksburg Operations, Vicksburg, MS 3. Blue Bird North Georgia, Fort Valley, GA 4. Cargill Corn Milling -- Team Wahpeton, Wahpeton, ND 5. DST Output of California, LLC, Eldorado Hills, CA 6. General Cable - Indianapolis Compounds, Indianapolis,IN 7. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control at Ocala, Ocala, FL 8. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control at Orlando, Orlando, FL 9. Medrad Inc., Heilman Center Plant, Indianola, PA 10. Rieter Automotive Canadian Carpet, London, Ontario, Canada http://www.iwbestplants.com/2007conference.asp * Top Three Winners from 2009 Award Year
“Despite possibly the roughest economic conditions many have faced, this year's winners continued to pursue excellence in manufacturing that results from strong leadership, an engaged workforce and outstanding operational and improvement strategies,” declared Jill Jusko, IndustryWeek Best Plants director. “Their leading-edge efforts to increase competitiveness, enhance customer satisfaction, and create stimulating work environments are to be applauded.” (PR Newswire)
Batesville Casket Co., Manchester, TN
Batesville Casket Company, a subsidiary company of Hillenbrand Industries, headquartered in Batesville, Indiana, was recognized for their efforts in streamlining operations by implementing Lean manufacturing techniques into their productions at their Manchester, Tennessee facility.
Batesville Casket Co. is a premier manufacturer and supplier of burial caskets, Options® cremation products and related funeral services. The Manchester facility’s focus is on metal stamping, fabrication and plastic injection molding; producing 98% of the parts the make up their 27 different casket designs.
Batesville employs 375 union workers, making them what is considered a “small” manufacturing company according to the IW’s scale. They began productions in 1970, and at present their total manufacturing space is 430,000 square feet.
In addition to their 2009 IW award recognition, Batesville was awarded the IW Best Manufacturing Facilities award in 2004. The Manchester facility’s emphasis on self-improvement through Lean techniques and continuous improvement earned them the esteemed IW award in 2009.
Throughout the past 14 years, Batesville has emphasized cost and efficiency through a holistic approach to quality-driven efforts, reducing floor space and cost per unit since 1995. Batesville’s focus has been recognizing issues, remedying those problems and implementing new processes for future improvements and organized approaches. “In just the last three years, Batesville Manchester has reduced its costs by 3% above inflation.” (http://www.industryweek.com/articles/batesville_casket_co-_iw_best_plants_profile_2009_20624.aspx)
Achievements have included a 7.2% reduction in total manufacturing hours per unit produced since 2006 and 45% improvement in recordable incidence rates from 2007 to 2008.
Further innovation and focus was put on automation; restructuring processes to make it more efficient through a better layout to simplify the operations and make it less taxing on the workers and the machines. Process improvement was a focus of the number of teams coming together for a common goal, including engineering, manufacturing and management. Batesville continues to looking at production efficiencies and application of new Lean and other quality principles in their daily operations.
Carrier - Carlyle Compressor Facility, Stone Mountain, GA
The Carrier Corporation is a division of United Technologies Corporation, based out of Hartford, Connecticut. The Carrier Corporation is headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut, with operations facilities throughout the world. The Carlyle facility in Stone Mountain, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta), recipient of the 2009 IW best plants award, manufactures reciprocating and screw compressors for refrigeration, both for commercial and consumer products.
Since its construction in 2001, the Carlyle facility had grown to employ 254 non-union workers at their 293,000 square feet manufacturing production facility.
Carlyle was awarded the 2009 IW Best Plants award for their focus on the customer through on-time delivery, product safety, reliability and quality. Focus on reduction in lead times was an emphasis of the productions department improvement throughout the past year. Reduction in cost was also an emphasis with a 55% reduction in scrap/rework cost and a 58% reduction in raw materials inventory over the prior three years. Carlyle is also pleased with its decline in customer product reduction rates as well as reported injuries.
The company continues to revise and further advance its customer service processes and customer feedback practices—focusing on the customer’s needs. Carlyle’s Customer Service Mission Statement: “Our mutual objective is to exceed the expectations of our customers in every area of our business. We will achieve our goals with a spirit of open communications and cooperation.” http://www.carlylecompressor.com/
Carlyle also services their customers through their “Build Your Reputation on Our Reliability” promise. Providing their customers with a “Reliability Savings Calculator,” customers are able to cross compare savings and determine their green efficiencies through lifespan, reliability and savings through a “head-to-head” durability comparison. http://www.carlylecompressor.com/corp/details/0,2938,CLI1_DIV24_ETI11584,00.html
E-Z-GO, A Textron Company, Augusta, GA
E-Z-GO, a subsidiary company of Textron, Inc., headquartered in Augusta, Georgia, was named a finalist for IW Best Plant award in both 2008 and 2009, securing the award in 2009. E-Z-GO is a premier producer of golf cars and utility vehicles. Their products are sold through factory branch locations and independent distributors worldwide. The company is known in the golf and resort industry as the elite provider through their ingenuity and craftsmanship.
Established in 1954, E-Z-GO’s production operations in Augusta, Georgia employ 608 non-union workers under a 664,000 square foot manufacturing facility. The facility makes use of “smart tools,” employing ergonomic workstations to increase worker and production equipment efficiencies, green lighting practices with natural light sources to conserve energy and reduce electrical costs, and investments in technology to improve product development and quality.
E-Z-GO was awarded the IW Best Plant’s award based on their increase in plant-level profitability over the prior three years, with a 90% increase, improvements in inventory turn-around by 30% and over one million production hours without a reported lost in time due to injury.
In a company press release dated 16 December 2009, company president, Kevin P. Hollersan, commented “In the face of challenging economic conditions, E-Z-GO has maintained a Lean corporate culture and has relentlessly pursued improvement and progress toward key company goals. I couldn’t be prouder of our employees, whose energy, enthusiasm and diligence in driving E-Z-GO on its journey of continuous improvement are the reasons why the company has achieved this important distinction today.”
According to the company’s website they continue to use knowledge-sharing from their family of Textron-owned companies, with sharing resources, technology advancements and other quality processes and procedures that work to the benefit of all parties. Other companies owned by the Textron Corporation include Cessna Aircraft Co., Bell Helicopter and Textron Financial Corp.
Conclusion * Personal Thoughts
After much research into the IW Excellence in Manufacturing awards and conference I found this to be a relatively simple application process for what is reported to be an award held in high esteem in the manufacturing industry.
The philosophy behind the award is simple, to recognize leaders in manufacturing operations who exhibit the skills and show leadership in improving quality through innovation, process improvements and further investment into their businesses.
Quality systems are essential to the success of any organization. Meeting the customer’s expectations in providing a valuable product or providing excellent service that matches or exceeds the promised level of service quality helps to ensure successes for the future of the organization. The focus of quality is on improving productions, saving costs, maximizing profitability and of course satisfying the customer’s needs. The IW Best Plants award seeks to reward businesses that institute these quality systems in their operations.
The overall cost and benefit of applying for and hopefully securing the honor of being recognized as an IW Best Plant, is in my opinion, worth the minimal upfront investment. Considering the minimal cash outlay and the benefits the award brings through recognition and brand image building, I cannot imagine why an organization with significant operational changes or improvements in operations would not apply for the award.
With my company’s recent operations manufacturing move to a new production facility, the purchase of new equipment, and the hiring of new productions advisors and quality management personnel, I can honestly see us applying for this award next year. Plans are in place to institute a plant-wide green initiative with recycled heat from the paint ovens for use in heating the plant in the winter months. Additional plans are set for a metal fabrication recycling and a reuse policy and process. Recycling of metal components from larger machines for use on smaller machines will save our organization millions of dollars each year in scrap metal overhead costs, storage and reorder and restocking of raw materials.
Furthermore the move to a new facility afforded my company the luxury of reorganizing the plant operations for more efficient flow of goods from raw metal materials, to pre-fabrication, fabrication, paint line, assembly and packaging to inventory. Previous to the move and reorganization multiple different operations in the chain were scattered about three different facilities. These inefficiencies often left us scrambling to get orders out rushed last minute and very costly. The new production line will not only save us on costs and limit further headache, it also sets up the facility to take on additional work with improved timelines for product completion.
The IW Excellence in Manufacturing Awards are highly regarded in the industry and I certainly am without hesitation to approach our management team to consider applying next year.
