Michigan Quality Council (MQC) Announces 2000 State Quality Award Recipients To be Honored at a Banquet Nov. 16 in Grand Rapids
30 October 2000
Michigan Quality Council (MQC) Announces 2000 State Quality Award Recipients To be Honored at a Banquet Nov. 16 in Grand Rapids
ROCHESTER, Mich., Oct. 30 The Michigan Quality Council
(MQC) announces Spicer Heavy Axle and Brake Division (SHABD) of the Dana
Corporation as the 2000 Quality Leadership Award recipient. The Dana division
will be recognized at the seventh annual Michigan Quality Leadership Award
(MQLA) Banquet at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, Mich. on
November 16, 2000.
The MQLA is the state's highest honor for outstanding quality and customer
service. "SHABD has worked very hard over the years and can be proud of their
achievement," said Bill Kalmar, director, Michigan Quality Council. "They
have made an important mark for Dana as a whole and companies around Michigan
will look to Spicer as a role model of success."
SHABD is a supplier of medium and heavy-duty front and rear axles, air
brakes and advanced chassis control systems to the commercial truck and
specialty original equipment manufacturer (OEM) markets in addition to their
respective service sales organizations. The division has nine North American
facilities with senior staff located in Kalamazoo, Mich.
"As a company, Dana is continuously committed to pursuing and achieving
quality," said Al Spisak, director, business excellence, Spicer Heavy Axle and
Brake Division, Dana Corporation. "This commitment can be seen through the
Dana Quality Leadership Process Award. Distributed annually, the Spicer
division has achieved the highest honor given for the past two years in a
row."
Currently, SHABD has long term and contractual agreements with companies
including Navistar, Mack, General Motors (GM), Western Star, Peterbuilt and
Kenworth.
Also being recognized for outstanding quality from the MQC are Honor Roll
recipients Dana - Wix Filtration's Flexon Plant, Ferndale; Montabella Middle
School, Edmore; and, Kelly Services, Troy. The Honor Roll award is presented
to organizations that have made significant progress in improving quality and
operations performance.
Dana - Wix Filtration's Flexon Plant designs and manufactures top quality
automotive, agricultural, industrial fuel and emission filters found in
applications such as passenger cars, light trucks and industrial machinery.
With a total of 140 employees, the facility generates approximately $14
million in sales and received the MQC's Navigator award in 1999.
Montabella Middle School is a rural school that serves approximately 250
students from Isabella, Montcalm and Mecosta counties. Montabella also
received the Honor Roll award in 1999.
Kelly Services is a global provider of staffing services, offering
employees skilled in office, accounting, engineering, information technology,
law, science, marketing, light industrial, education and home care services.
In addition to receiving the Honor Roll award this year, Kelly Services has
received a variety of quality awards in the past, including the
DaimlerChrysler Gold Award (1997-2000), Ford Q1 Award and the Xerox Certified
Supplier award.
"MQC is delighted to recognize 31 educational institutions this year and
23 health care facilities," said Pat Wightman, assistant director, Michigan
Quality Council. "Education and health care are realizing the results that
are possible from using the Baldrige Criteria as a framework for continuous
improvement."
A third award, the Navigator, recognizes organizations that complete a
self-assessment using the seven-categories and item levels of the MQLA
criteria. Twenty organizations will receive the Navigator award in 2000. The
final award, Lighthouse, recognizes a number of Michigan organizations that
completed the MQC Starter Guide Self-Assessment, including an action plan for
continuous improvement. Forty nine organizations will receive the Lighthouse
award in 2000.
The MQLA banquet will begin with a champagne reception at 6 p.m., followed
by the awards ceremony at 8:30 p.m. Keynote speaker is Jerry Rose, president
of Sunny Fresh Foods, recipient of the 1999 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award. Tickets for this annual sell-out event are $125 each and can be
purchased by calling the MQC at 248-370-4552.
The MQC was created in 1993 by business leaders and is supported by Gov.
John Engler to promote the Total Quality Management (TQM) practices in
business, educational institutions and organizations throughout Michigan. One
of the Council's primary functions is to oversee the Michigan Quality
Leadership Award given each November to recognize organizations for
outstanding quality management.
Membership in the MQC includes business, education, government and
organization leaders from the public and private sector. MQC can be found on
the World Wide Web at http://www.michiganquality.org .