Johnson Controls' Athens, Tennessee Facility Receives Award
14 October 1999
Johnson Controls' Athens, Tennessee Facility Receives IndustryWeek's America's Best Plants Award
Plant is recognized as one of the 10
best manufacturing plants in North America
PLYMOUTH, Mich., Oct. 13 -- Johnson Controls'
Athens, Tenn., facility -- which manufactures automotive seat frames and
related components -- has been named one of "America's Best Plants" by
IndustryWeek magazine in recognition of its world-class manufacturing
capabilities and a plant management mindset of continuous improvement.
Johnson Controls' Athens plant was one of 10 manufacturing plants chosen
by a panel of IndustryWeek editors from more than 400 nominations.
"Receiving the title of one of 'America's Best Plants' is a great honor
for Johnson Controls and our Athens team," said Paul Pratt, plant manager for
the facility. "This award symbolizes the hard work and dedication of Johnson
Controls' Athens employees, whose intense focus on continuous improvement
provides our customers with world-class products."
"The Athens facility is a prime example of the progress and customer
commitment that Johnson Controls has made as a global market leader in
automotive systems and facility management," said Rande Somma, president,
worldwide marketing and development for Johnson Controls. "We're extremely
proud that our team in Athens has earned this distinguished award."
The plant, its operating systems and performance will be profiled in the
Oct. 18 issue of IndustryWeek.
Some of the facility's achievements include:
* a customer quality ppm (parts per million) of less than 50;
* a first-pass yield for all finished products of more than 98 percent;
* a 97 percent reduction of the in-plant defect rate over the past five
years; and
* a 64 percent reduction in product-development cycle time within the
last five years.
The 231,000-square-foot Athens facility has approximately 950 employees.
Customers of the QS-9000-certified plant include DaimlerChrysler Corp., Ford
Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.
The facility was the first Johnson Controls seating plant in North America
to receive the Ford Q-1 Quality Award. In addition, it has received two State
of Tennessee Environmental Awards and was recognized with the Johnson Controls
Gold Quality Olympics Award during the past two years.
"These plants are the finest in North America and among the best in the
world," said IndustryWeek Editor-in-Chief John R. Brandt. "Their success
stories -- tales of teamwork and achievement against long odds -- are
inspirations for managers everywhere. IndustryWeek is delighted not only to
recognize these facilities, but also to explain how their strategies can help
any firm achieve similar outstanding results."
IndustryWeek, which is the flagship publication of Penton Media, is a
management magazine that helps senior executives in manufacturing and its
supporting industries build, safeguard, and expand the wealth of their
companies. Now in its 28th year, IndustryWeek has an audience of more than
800,000 readers.
The Plymouth, Michigan-based automotive business of Johnson Controls --
which employs more than 57,000 people at 275 facilities worldwide -- achieved
US$9.3 billion in sales for the 1998 fiscal year. In model-year 1999, it will
supply interior products for more than 22 million vehicles.
Johnson Controls, Inc. is a global market leader in automotive systems and
facility management and control. In the automotive market, it is a major
supplier of seating and interior systems, and batteries. For non-residential
facilities, Johnson Controls provides building control systems and services,
energy management and integrated facility management. Johnson Controls,
founded in 1885, has headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its sales for 1998
totaled US$12.6 billion.
NOTE TO EDITORS: A profile of Johnson Controls' Athens, Tenn., plant can
be found at http://www.industryweek.com
For access to other Johnson Controls news releases and additional company
information, visit the company's site on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.johnsoncontrols.com
CONTACT: David Roznowski of Johnson Controls, Inc., 734-254-5632
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/473547.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 473547