Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award overview

Malcolm Baldrige Award

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is a U.S. national award, which was created by Public Law 100-107, which became a law on August 20, 1987. The Award Program is a part of Public Law 100-107, and aims to create a public-private partnership. The main support for the program is from the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which was established in 1988. The Award is named after Malcolm Baldrige, who was the Secretary of Commerce from 1981 until his tragic death in a rodeo accident in 1987. His managerial excellence has led to a long-term improvement in efficiency and effectiveness of government. (The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 - Public Law 100-107)

Analysis:

The national quality award program in the United States, named after Malcolm Baldrige is expected to help improve quality and productivity by: enabling to stimulate American companies to improve the quality and productivity as they will be proud of recognition and at the same time obtain a competitive edge by means of increased profits; accept the achievements of companies which improve the quality of their goods and services and provide an example to other companies; establish guidelines and criterion for performance which can be used by business, industrial, governmental, and other organizations so that they can evaluate their own quality improvement activities; and provide particular guidance for American organizations as to how to manage for high quality through making detailed information to be available with regard to the methods used by these winning organizations to change their cultures and attain excellence. (The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987 - Public Law 100-107)

In 2002, the award was given to Branch-Smith Printing Division, centered in Fort Worth, Texas. This is one of two divisions of Branch-Smith, Inc., which is a fourth-generation, family-owned business. Aaron Smith founded this organization in the year 1910. Aaron was born with no arms, but learnt to write and type with his toes. Today the organization employs 68 full-time employees, and specializes in a wide variety of turnkey services to its customers which include designing, printing, binding, and mailing. All activities are related to sheet-fed printing of multi-page bound materials. Their products are inclusive of publications, magazines, catalogs, directories, and books. In 2001, sales turnover of Branch-Smith Printing was exceeding $10 million. (Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award 2002 Award Recipient, Small Business Category: Branch-Smith Printing Division)

Management: Leadership

The Company uses the modern method of comprehensive strategic planning process and this includes continuous improvement processes throughout the entire organization. The active Management Review Team -- MRT of Branch Smith establishes and assesses direction of the organization, regularly reviews important measures and takes appropriate corrective acts, and also reviews the progress made by the Action Plans and Quality Improvement Process teams. They also review all suggestions that come for improvement, instances of customer complaints, and non-conformance submissions made by supplier and internal groups so as to decide the best approaches for improvement. All these activities ensure review of outcomes in time and encourage communication, involvement, and accountability from the lowest level of workers to that of the top leadership. (Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award 2002 Award Recipient, Small Business Category: Branch-Smith Printing Division)

Strategic Planning:

It is well-known that the printing industry is very highly competitive, and there are more than 45,000 companies throughout the country and over 1,000 even in the Dallas/Fort Worth area trying for business. In order to make sure that it gets enough business, Branch-Smith Printing has used research, and that includes the McKinsey landmark study on the printing industry. The aim of the organization was to understand its primary customer base. This was found to be a select niche market whose printing needs are too small for a large competitor but are in perfect fit with the core competence of Branch-Smith Printing. For this select group of customers, Branch-Smith Printing promotes expert solutions through use of cost advantages normally associated with web press operations, as also taking advantage of its specialized sheet-fed printing capabilities. (Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award 2002 Award Recipient, Small Business Category: Branch-Smith Printing Division)

Customer and market place focus:

Now Branch-Smith Printing has over 160 customers with a growth from 91 in the year 1998. About 85% of customers are located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The company is alone among its competitors due to its special efforts for customer care and this is achieved through a systematic method of customer complaint process, using customer satisfaction surveys, regular meetings with the important customers, plans for individual customer, and an online Gold Mine database which is used to understand and satisfy customers' particular requirements. The company has created processes regarding its supplier partnerships that are beneficial to suppliers, customers, and Branch-Smith Printing while reducing costs and taking advantage of resources. The company also tries to be aware of industry trends and remain a leader in the market, through active participation in industry associations. (Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award 2002 Award Recipient, Small Business Category: Branch-Smith Printing Division)

Measurement, analysis and knowledge management:

Branch-Smith Printing makes high use of databases and software for improvement of its processes. This is not usual for small businesses but is an important part of its strategy for providing excellent customer service at the lowest cost. To this purpose, the company has invested in developing databases and purchase of software so that it can gather critical data about various processes, which have an impact on customer service, production, constant improvement, and decision-making. As an example, one can think of its development of Quality Information Database. This is a relational database that integrates various kinds of key data concerning facilities for improvement, complaints of the customer, and supplier and internal non-conformance into a prime location. The data from this tool is regularly used to document and track progress. (Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award 2002 Award Recipient, Small Business Category: Branch-Smith Printing Division)

Human Resources:

It is very important to keep employees satisfied and to achieve this, which will help to encourage employee satisfaction and identify areas of employee concern and concentration; the company conducts an annual employee satisfaction survey. The survey results show that activities to improve the work atmosphere within the organization are showing positive trends. Overall employee satisfaction, which was 67% in 1996, has now increased to 86% in the year 2001. This is close to the 87% level of its aim, which was achieved earlier by a Baldrige Award recipient in the small business category. Due to employee satisfaction, recorded accidents show an overall positive trend for the last 7 years, and have come down from 16 per 100 employees in 1996 to a rate of 2.71 in the year 2002. Due to this focus on employee satisfaction, Branch-Smith Printing has reduced the voluntary turnover level of employees during the last 7 years from a high rate of 43.7% in the year 1996 to a present percentage of 7.75 in the year 2002. (Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award 2002 Award Recipient, Small Business Category: Branch-Smith Printing Division)

Process Management: