Our annual Champions for Quality awards celebrate quality professionals at all levels who have made a significant impact on quality. This year, we’re shining a spotlight on those who have contributed to quality programs like layered process audits, operational excellence and Lean initiatives, and to those who have gone above and beyond including to accommodate for COVID-19 risks. What is the Champions for Quality Awards?
The new decade signals big changes for manufacturing, especially for companies using technology to advance plant floor quality and safety.
Public Categories
Congratulations to all of the winners this year in our categories that were open to the public to nominate!
Ambassador
Ambassador winners are known for fostering a culture of quality at their plants with layered process audits and other quality initiatives.
> Winner: Todd Holm – Production Supervisor – Global Steering Systems, LLC
Honorable Mentions:
Jennifer Baumgartner – Quality Manager – HBPO Canada Inc.
Germaine Reed – Quality Auditor – Webasto Convertibles USA Inc.
Influencer
Influencer winners have dedicated their careers to training leaders and influencing quality on a global scale.
> Winner: Arnie Stein – Production Supervisor - Research Electro-Optics, Inc. (A Division of Excelitas Technologies)
Leadership
Leadership winners are EASE users who are strong advocates for quality and operations programs with organization-wide benefits
> Winner: Luiz Cavacchini – Plant Quality Director, New Boston Plant – Brose North America Inc.
Trailblazer
Trailblazer winners use EASE for more than just layered process audits, leveraging the software for safety audits, 5S, and more.
> Winner: Moses Pezarkar – Manufacturing Engineer, Smart Factory – Stanley Engineered Fastening
Honorable Mentions:
Maria Butler – Quality Technician – Magna Eagle Bend Manufacturing
Kitti Borocz – Quality System Engineer – Dana Hungary Kft.
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A global automotive supplier looking to improve visibility into quality decided to replace its manual paper-based audit system with Beacon Quality software. Six months after implementation, the organization has increased audit completion rates more than 40% and created more accountability around corrective actions.
Jacobs’ Drive the Future demonstrator truck is traveling throughout North America to show off its latest technologies which lead to improved productivity, engine braking, and emissions.
Industry: Trucking
Company size: 501-1000 employees
Location: Bloomfield, CT
Software used: EASE LPAs, Safety & 5S Audits
A global automotive supplier looking to improve visibility into quality decided to replace its manual paper-based audit system with Beacon Quality software. Six months after implementation, the organization has increased audit completion rates more than 40% and created more accountability around corrective actions.
The company had conducted paper-based layered process audits (LPAs) for many years. In 2012, they launched a visual management process called Kamishibai—Japanese for “paper drama”—to structure audits using cards randomly selected from two decks. Jacobs Vehicle Systems is a leading manufacturer of advanced engine braking systems and valve activation technologies, with manufacturing locations in North America, Europe and Asia.
The team would choose a card from the first deck to determine the audit location. The card selected from the second deck indicated the process to audit, showing acceptable results on one side (colored green) and non-compliant results on the opposite side (colored red). Auditors would post results on a dry erase board, then log them in spreadsheets.
Jacobs’ Drive the Future demonstrator truck is traveling throughout North America to show off its latest technologies which lead to improved productivity, engine braking, and emissions.
This year, we added 4 new categories to our annual awards to honor EASE customers who are going above and beyond in their commitment to quality excellence! The following winners in each category were determined internally by our team and based on EASE activity data.
Plant of the Year
The winner of this award was required to be conducting a minimum of 2,500 plant floor audits per year and creating at least 500 mitigations in the same period. To choose the winner the Ease team looked at a combination of weighted audit insights including the percentage of on-time completed plant floor audits and on-time completed mitigations.
> Winner: Eaton PDSS Changzhou Plant, China – Eaton Electric Equipment Co., Ltd
Plant Manager: Polo Zhu
Recognized Auditors: Ding Jianfei; Yan Liwen; Xu Minmin; Fei Kewei
Recognized EASE Advocates: Jack Zhu; Chang Aizhen; He Ling
Auditor of the Year
A plant floor auditor is not a dedicated position within a manufacturing plant, but a role carried out by employees across the plant – including those that may not be part of quality or operations. The EASE platform includes a gamification system that awards badges to auditors based on performance. The winner of this category was required to already hold an EASE Guru badge and was chosen based on audit completion rate, the number of audits completed and audit findings with the majority of their audits being focused on quality audits such as layered process audits.
> Winner: Adam Vesztergom – Engineering Team Leader - Gear Manufacturing – Dana Hungary Kft.
Best Implementation
The EASE Customer Success Team implements EASE at hundreds of plants every year. The winner was chosen based on their engagement throughout the implementation from pilot to final deployment, their advocacy throughout the process, as well as the team’s audit activity and completion rates in the weeks and months following the go-live.
> Winner: Karmax Heavy Stamping – Magna
Implementation Champion: David Gallois - QA Manager
Quality Transformation
The winner of this award is the manufacturer that has demonstrated the most significant improvement in performance within the EASE platform over a 12-month period across all of their facilities. During this period the winner had to meet a number of minimum benchmark data points as well as have the highest percentage increase in on-time audits and mitigations.
> At this time, we are unable to disclose the name of the global automotive manufacturing company that won this award, per our confidentiality agreement.
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Six months after implementation, the organization has increased audit completion rates more than 40% and created more accountability around corrective actions. The company had conducted paper-based layered process audits (LPAs) for many years. In 2012, they launched a visual management process called Kamishibai—Japanese for “paper drama”—to structure audits using cards randomly selected from two decks.
Six months after implementation, the organization has increased audit completion rates more than 40% and created more accountability around corrective actions. The company had conducted paper-based layered process audits (LPAs) for many years. In 2012, they launched a visual management process called Kamishibai—Japanese for “paper drama”—to structure audits using cards randomly selected from two decks.
Six months after implementation, the organization has increased audit completion rates more than 40% and created more accountability around corrective actions. The company had conducted paper-based layered process audits (LPAs) for many years. In 2012, they launched a visual management process called Kamishibai—Japanese for “paper drama”—to structure audits using cards randomly selected from two decks.
Six months after implementation, the organization has increased audit completion rates more than 40% and created more accountability around corrective actions. The company had conducted paper-based layered process audits (LPAs) for many years. In 2012, they launched a visual management process called Kamishibai—Japanese for “paper drama”—to structure audits using cards randomly selected from two decks.