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Industry Week
October 2002, pp. 33-70
Industry Week has announced the winners of its annual “Best Plants” awards. Facilities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are eligible. Over the past three years, the 2002 winners improved quality by an average of 34%, decreased inventory by 25%, improved productivity by 21% and reduced customer lead time by 46%. “Such figures are doubly impressive considering the difficult economic conditions in some of the markets served by these manufacturers.”
This year’s winners are:
(1) Boeing’s C-17 Production Complex (military transport aircraft; Long Beach, CA);
(2) Collins & Aikman (automotive OEM exterior trim, primarily injection molded, molded-in-color and painted fascia; Americus, GA);
(3) Collins & Aikman (automotive interior trim including instrument panels, door panels, consoles, and other plastic trim; Athens, GA);
(4) Collins & Aikman (automotive instrument panels and plastic interior and exterior trim; Rantoul, IL);
(5) Dana Corp. (full-perimeter frames for pickup trucks; Stockton, CA);
(6) DST Output (prints and mails billing statements for client firms; El Dorado Hills, CA);
(7) Honeywell Controls (electromechanical snap-action switches; Warren, IL);
(8) International Specialty Products (specialty chemicals for personal-care and pharmaceutical products; Calvert City, KY);
(9) Medtronic Xomed (medical devices for ear, nose and throat surgery; and for opthamology; Jacksonville, FL); and
(10) Webster Plastics (custom injection-molded parts; Fairport, NY).
The last few pages of this long article contain comparison data for Industry Week’s Best Plants vs. normative data from Industry Week’s Census of Manufacturers.
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