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Research & Rankings

IW is known for its various rankings of manufacturing companies. Our rankings are: IW 1000, IW US 500, IW 50 Best Manufacturers and IW Best Plants.

2011 IW Best Plants Winners: The Best Never Rest
IndustryWeek's 2011 Best Plants winners pursue operational excellence with a determination that is both endless and relentless.

Each year, North American manufacturing facilities are pressured anew. They are pressured to do more with less; to provide better service, faster; to rein in costs but increase quality -- and to do it in the face of increasing competition and less-certain economic conditions. Some manufacturing facilities rise to the challenge; others do not.

IndustryWeek is proud to announce the 2011 class of IW Best Plants winners, 10 manufacturing plants that have risen to meet the challenge. Their weapon of choice: operational excellence.

Click to continue and see the class of 2011.

Research & Rankings Articles & News

Moody's Raises Ford Credit Rating to Investment Grade

'...the improvements Ford has made are likely to be lasting.'

5/22/2012

General Mills to Cut 850 Jobs in Restructuring Initiative

Food manufacturer also will write down production equipment.

5/22/2012

Steel industry experts at Siemens metals summit say low natural gas prices could revitalize manufacturing in North America with new policies.

5/22/2012

EU Food Agency Rejects France Ban on Monsanto's YieldGuard GM Maize

'Based on the documentation submitted by France, there is no specific scientific evidence, in terms of risk to human and animal health or the environment,' EFSA said.

5/21/2012

How to Turn Leaders into 'Strategists'

New book by Harvard Business School professor explores why some executive strategies fail and others succeed.

5/17/2012

Toshiba Drops Japan Television Operations

The electronics manufacturer has shifted all of its television production to factories in China, Indonesia, Egypt and Poland.

5/17/2012

Steve Jobs Film in the Works

'Social Network' writer to pen Jobs film script.

5/16/2012

Noble Energy Works to Avoid Israel Electric Shortage

Aim of the project is to avoid electricity shortages during the hot summer months.

5/16/2012

3M Dials Up Energy Efficiency

Corporate energy manager Steven Schultz shares insights on the company's energy-efficiency success.

5/16/2012

Lockheed Martin Gives Innovation New Wings

Technological developments help cut production costs in addition to new market opportunities.

5/16/2012

More From This Section...

IW 50 Best Manufacturing Companies

The IW 50 Best Manufacturing Companies is IndustryWeek's report on the 50 best publicly held U.S. manufacturing companies based on revenue.

To identify the top performing manufacturers, the IW formula factored in revenue growth and profit margin over the past three years, with 2010 results weighted most heavily. We also considered three-year performance in four other financial ratios: inventory turns, asset turnover, return on assets and return on equity.

View the alphabetical list and profiles of the IW 50 Best Manufacturing Companies.

The IW US 500 Database

Enter The List
Check out the 500 largest public manufacturing companies -- based on 2010 revenues -- in the United States via this sortable list. Sort the list by several categories including industry, ranking, and financial performance measures.

The IW 1000 Database

Enter The Database
Use this free database to view the entire 16th annual IW 1000 list of the world's largest publicly held manufacturing firms -- based on 2010 revenues. View the entire list or Sort the list by several categories including industry, country, ranking, and financial performance measures.

Events

Manufacturing Competitiveness Online Conference

5/23/2012

Preventing Manufacturing Downtime: Survey Results and Best Practices

5/31/2012

How JHP Pharmaceuticals Enabled Lean/Six Sigma by Digitizing its Quality Processes

6/7/2012

GE Healthcare Shares Best Practices for Global Supply Chain Optimization

5/10/2012