IndustryWeek.com
Connecting Manufacturing's Leaders
IW Home Leadership & Strategy Operations Economics & Public Policy Technology & Innovation Rankings
Current Print Issue
Get a Free Subscription
eNewsletters
Daily News
Opinion
Forums/Blogs
Web Events
In Person Events
Research
Benchmarking Tools
Associations
Archive
Manufacturing 101
NAM/IW Mfg Index
Sponsored White Papers
Permissions/Reprints
Advertising Info
About IW
Contact Us
Related Knowledge IW RSS Feeds


Online Poll
Do you agree with NAM that the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill will double the price of natural gas and cause great harm to the manufacturing industry?




After you have voted, comment in the IW Forums.
Home : Rankings : IW Best Plants

IW Best Plants

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.

Download a 2008 Application


IW Best Plants 2007 -- Models of Success
IndustryWeek's 2007 Best Plants deliver many routes to operational excellence.

The IndustryWeek Best Plants program is an annual celebration of world-class manufacturing and continuous improvement practices within North American companies. All well and good, but when it comes to determining which 10 factories are truly the "best plants," perhaps the most important distinction is their effectiveness.

Read on to see the 2007 winners.


IW Best Plants Articles & News

Highlights From The 2008 IW Best Plants Conference
A visual and audio wrap-up of the 2008 gathering to celebrate the IW Best Plants winners and create a culture of continuous improvement.

Jamie Flinchbaugh on Sustaining the Gains of Lean
It's not just about choosing the right lean tools.

Plant Tours Provide Great Benchmarking Opportunities
Recollections from IW's annual Best Plants conference.

IW Best Plants Program: In Search of Excellence
Nominate your plant now!

Cargill Corn Milling -- Team Wahpeton: IW Best Plants Profile 2007
Performance by Design. Cargill's Team Wahpeton earns accolades for its combination of proficiency, productivity and team-based excellence.

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control at Ocala: IW Best Plants Profile 2007
Portrait of a Talent Pipeline: Exemplary employee education and engagement is the rule for Lockheed Ocala's feeder facility.

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control at Orlando: IW Best Plants Profile 2007
In Service of the "Ruby Gods": Extremely precise tolerances drive innovation and standard work at Lockheed Orlando.

Blue Bird North Georgia: IW Best Plants Profile 2007
Lean in for a Smooth Ride. "Doing it right the first time" transforms bus maker Blue Bird North Georgia.

General Cable - Indianapolis Compounds: IW Best Plants Profile 2007
Continuing A Winning Culture: General Cable's achievements derive from a workplace culture bent on maximizing Six Sigma and lean.

Rieter Automotive Canadian Carpet: IW Best Plants Profile 2007
Carpet King: Rieter's automotive carpet plant in London, Ont., leads the industry where it counts, which is keeping its customers happy.

More From This Section...



IW Best Plants Winners

Scan records for all winners, from 1990-2007 or view a complete list of all IW Best Plants winners.

Best Plants Video

Lockheed Martin MFC Orlando Fire Control Factory Reconfiguration Video
Defense contractor does double-time reconfiguration of factory floor (time-lapse video).

2008 IW Best Plants Competition

Competition Guidelines
View general information about North America's Best Plants program, such as eligibility requirements, the competition timetable and the selection process.

2008 IW Best Plants Application
Click here to download a 2008 IW Best Plants competition application.

2008 IW Best Plants Conference

Join hundreds of plant managers and other manufacturing decision-makers at the 6th annual IW Best Plants Conference to learn proven strategies, best practices and tools from the IW Best Plants winners and nearly 50 other continuous-improvement experts. This event will be held April 1-3, 2008, in Milwaukee. Please see the IW Best Plants Conference site for more information.

Best Practices from IndustryWeek's Best Plants

Continuous Improvement E-Newsletter
Pick up pointers from the top manufacturers in North America, and identify action steps that can make your facility shine. The Continuous Improvement e-newsletter will give you previously unpublished best practices, benchmarking charts, and lessons learned -- straight from the winners and finalists of IndustryWeek's annual Best Plants competition.

Subscribe today.



Events

The Demand-Driven Value Chain: Helping Manufacturers Boost Working Capital and Free Cash Flow

A tidal wave of manufacturers are looking inside their businesses to extract working capital and improve free cash flow. The days of "pilot" Lean initiatives, subpar attempts at the nebulous visions of "waste reduction" and "improved efficiency" have left stale tastes in some executive suites, because free cash flow often sees little change. Learn how manufacturers are changing the way they look at their improvement efforts.

Corporate Social Responsibility: How To Get Green with IT

In the next two years, 82% of companies will select suppliers according to their environmental stance -- and 41% already do. Learn how technology can help enable lean manufacturing in support of a more environmentally conscious marketplace. By attending this webcast, you'll learn how to make your company more socially responsible and profitable.

How Can Your Company Prepare to Manage Carbon as an Asset?

Climate change is no longer just an environmental issue, but is increasingly a financial, compliance, operational, reputational and strategic issue for manufacturers. Proposed greenhouse gas cap-and-trade systems, if adopted, will have a significant impact on manufacturers in the near future. Learn about the implications of carbon emissions trading, and the business opportunities climate change can represent.

Managing Quality in an Outsourced World

Managing and monitoring your supplier's quality processes can be the difference between generating profits and generating negative headline news. The dynamic world of outsourced suppliers requires rapid on-boarding for suppliers into the quality processes. Learn how mobility can help your team achieve high quality across your supplier base.

Manufacturing Competitiveness Online Conference

With price pressure from China and other low-cost countries, plus fierce competition in domestic markets, your company needs to become more competitive to keep pace. Better processes, better intelligence, and better technology can all help your company boost its competitiveness. But how do you find out which strategies are worth adopting?

This free online conference will bring you practical operations advice from industry experts, plus real-world best practices from other manufacturers. It's 10 sessions over two days -- attend as many sessions as you'd like.







Site Tools
Send to a friend
Forums
eNewsletters Get a free subscription


IW Marketplace

Lean Manufacturing: Self Assessment Checklist
Lean Manufacturing 16 page self audit checklist by R. Michael Donovan will help you assess "how does your company measure up?". It will help jumpstart a new or reinvigorate a current lean effort.

Managing MRO & Tools with RFID -- A 6 Month ROI
The average ROI that is reported from CribMaster RFID users is 6 months or less. With CribMaster you gain control of indirect material of all kinds with robust software, vending or RFID.

Harley-Davidson's System of Success: Free Video
Learn the leadership strategies and manufacturing practices that have made Harley-Davidson an institution of American manufacturing. Watch this free video of Harley-Davidson President & COO James McCaslin.

Cut Your Costs and Reap More Profits
Enhance your operations, reduce waste, and streamline your activities by learning from the best. Using IW's Best Plants Benchmarking Database, find out how top plants have achieved their success.

The Next Evolution in Supply-Chain Technology
Learn how ARIA (Adaptive Recognition and Information Assurance) based technologies and solutions significantly improve the flexibility, visibility and adaptability of your supply-chain processes via converged technologies.

IW Marketplace

Leadership & Strategy | Operations | Economics & Public Policy
Technology & Innovation | Rankings

Subscription Services | Advertising | Terms of Use | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Penton Media
Copyright© 1998-2008 Penton Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Technical questions or bug reports? E-mail webmaster@industryweek.com

Site Tools
type size:
Send to a friend
Forums
eNewsletters
Get a free subscription