President George W. Bush and Commerce Secretary Don Evans recently announced four winners of the 2004 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The winners are The Bama Co., in the manufacturing category; Texas Nameplate Co. Inc., in the small business category; Kenneth W. Monfort College of Business, in the education category; and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, in the health care category.

This year’s crop of winners spans several industries, representing the different forms quality can take. The Bama Co. of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a family-owned manufacturer of frozen, ready-to-use food products for the quick service food market. Its main products are hand-held pies, biscuits and pizza crusts. The company has experienced substantial growth in recent years, with total revenue growing from $120 million in 1999 to more than $200 million in 2004—a time period in which sales for the overall frozen baked goods industry remained flat. The company uses financial incentives to encourage employees to meet production goals and has paid bonuses of $5,000 per year for each employee since 2001. Its Six Sigma implementation saved the company $17.3 million since 2002, increased efficiency on the frozen dough production line from 70 percent to 84 percent and decreased changeover time from three hours to one hour.

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