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In a
ceremony today in Washington, D.C., Vice President Dick Cheney
and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez presented four U.S.
organizations with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award,
the nation’s highest Presidential honor for performance
excellence and quality achievement.
The 2004
Baldrige Award winners are:
This
is the second time that Texas Nameplate has been named a recipient
of the Baldrige Award; the first time was in 1998.
“I
salute this year’s proud recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award for their accomplishments and thank
them for their contributions to our nation’s economy,
competitive strength and quality of life,” said Secretary
Gutierrez.
Following
a six-month evaluation process, including an on-site visit
by a team of examiners, the 2004 Baldrige Award recipients
were selected from among 60 applicants. An independent board
of examiners evaluated them in seven areas: leadership; strategic
planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis
and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management;
and results.
The Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award, managed by the Commerce Department’s
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in conjunction
with the private sector, promotes quality awareness, recognizes
performance excellence achievements of U.S. organizations,
and publicizes these organizations’ successful performance
strategies. As a non-regulatory agency, NIST develops and
promotes measurement, standards and technology to enhance
productivity, facilitate trade and improve the quality of
life.
Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award Background
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established
in 1987 to improve performance in U.S. organizations. Awards
are made to organizations that have substantially benefited
the economic or social well-being of the United States through
improvements resulting in performance excellence. Awards can
be given in five categories: manufacturing, service, small
business, education and health care.
The application process is rigorous and thorough. Applicants
for the award submit up to 50 pages of details showing processes,
improvements and results in seven areas, including leadership,
customers and markets, human resources and strategic planning.
Each applicant receives more than 400 hours of review by an
independent board of business, education and health care experts
and a detailed report citing strengths and opportunities for
improvement. Since 1988, 59 organizations have received the
Baldrige Award.
The
Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence are used worldwide
by thousands of organizations to assess and improve their
overall performance. Annually, more than 500,000 copies of
the criteria are downloaded from the Baldrige program’s
Web site and more than 50,000 copies are mailed.
Each Baldrige Award recipient receives a Steuben crystal stela
encasing a gold medallion engraved with the Presidential seal
and the words, “The Quest for Excellence.” The
award is named after Malcolm Baldrige, Secretary of Commerce
from 1981 until his death in a rodeo accident in July 1987.
Baldrige was a proponent of quality as a key to this country’s
prosperity and long-term growth and helped draft the act establishing
the award program. The act was signed into law by President
Reagan in August 1987.
Further information on the Baldrige National Quality Program
is available at www.baldrige.nist.gov.
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