Batesville Facility Named "Best Plant" for 2006

Batesville, IN, September 25, 2006 — Batesville Casket Company’s Batesville, IN, manufacturing plant has been named one of the Top 10 manufacturing plants in North America for 2006 by IndustryWeek magazine, after thorough due diligence and site visits were completed by the magazine following the plant’s Top 25 recognition in June.

“Being awarded one of the Top 10 plants in North America is a great accomplishment and is the direct result of empowered people applying continuous improvement principles on a daily basis,” said Vice President of Operations, Doug Kunkel.  “We believe this award validates that our company is taking the necessary steps to deliver superior value to our customers and to realize our goal of remaining the preferred supplier of high quality caskets to funeral homes throughout North America.”

Each year, IndustryWeek, the only publication dedicated to helping senior management gain insight into the trends, strategies and technologies affecting the business of manufacturing, invites manufacturing companies across North America to compete in its annual Top 10 list.  Facilities are evaluated against a wide variety of criteria including quality performance, on-time delivery and productivity improvements.  In addition, judges look at management tools and strategies that help drive future results, including customer-focused organizational structures, empowered work teams, the application of new technologies, implementation of lean manufacturing concepts, and other approaches that lay the groundwork for continuous improvement.  Only after a detailed review, including on-site visits, discussions with management and a thorough analysis of financial and non-financial metrics is a plant recognized in the Top 10.

“The facilities chosen this year truly exhibit the characteristics of world-class manufacturing plants.  Their drive for continuous improvement is a testament to strong leadership, the involvement of their employees, solid supply chain management and a willingness to adopt strategic technological solutions,” said David Blanchard, IndustryWeek’s editor-in-chief.  “IndustryWeek salutes the exemplary achievements of the 2006 IW Best Plants and is proud to share their success stories.”

This is not the first time that a Batesville Casket facility has been so honored.  The Manchester, Tennessee, plant was bestowed a Top 25 plant award in 2002 and 2003, and in 2004, the facility was awarded a Top 10 plant designation.  Current rules of competition preclude the Manchester facility from entering the Best Plant competition for a period of five years.

"IndustryWeek's Best Plants competition for 2006 attracted a strong slate of candidates.  Choosing the Top 10 was no easy feat for our judges, who applaud the accomplishments of this select group of manufacturing plants," said IndustryWeek Best Plants coordinator Jill Jusko.  "The Batesville Casket Company operation in Batesville, Indiana, showed strong performance metrics in many areas, as well as a dedication to continual improvement."

The Batesville facility has also been recognized recently by the Indiana Manufacturers Association and the Association for Manufacturing Excellence with a U.S. Senate Productivity Award.  This award honors organizations that are using a particularly effective productivity improvement technique, practice or process which should be shared with other organizations to contribute to national productivity improvement.  In earning the award, the Indiana Manufacturers Association cited Batesville’s outstanding results with daily continuous improvement. 

Within the past several years, Batesville implemented a new cornerstone for quality called the Diamond Standard, which is a way to look at its products and services through the eyes of the customer.  Rigorous product reviews have been established at the end of each plant’s audit station to ensure uncompromising attention to detail and consistency in performance. 

“In today’s business environment, excellence is expected in every transaction and consumers will not settle for average quality or mediocre performance,” said Kunkel.  “Having two facilities named to the Top 10 list of manufacturers in North America in the past three years is just the beginning.  We look forward to continued improvement in our productivity, customer satisfaction and quality from this day forward at all of our manufacturing plants.”

The complete list of winners and a profile of the Batesville plant can be found at www.industryweek.com/iwbestplants.