[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 86 (Thursday, June 30, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
     GAFFNEY BEARING PLANT AWARDED SHINGO PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN 
                             MANUFACTURING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kanjorski). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentleman from South Caroline [Mr. Spratt] is recognized 
for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, the Shingo Prize for Excellence in 
Manufacturing was established in 1988 and named to honor Shigeo Shingo. 
Dr. Shingo distinguished himself in Japan and the world as cocreator of 
the Toyota production system and an expert on manufacturing processes. 
The Shingo Prize is awarded annually to a few select firms that have 
made truly outstanding achievements in manufacturing--in quality, in 
productivity, and in plain, old-fashioned customer satisfaction.
  When this award was first established, I am sure its sponsors 
expected to bestow it upon high-technology firms in places like 
California's Silicon Valley and North Carolina's Research Triangle. 
Well, Mr. Speaker, on Monday, June 27, I was in Gaffney, SC, in my 
district, to take part in a ceremony awarding the coveted Shingo Prize 
to the Gaffney Bearing Plant of the Timken Co. This plant was one of 
only seven nationwide to receive the Shingo Award this year.
  I had visited this plant, where Timken's tapered roller bearings are 
made, as recently as last summer, and had seen the improvements made 
throughout the plant, literally on every production line. In each area 
of the plant a large chart was posted to show what had been changed and 
what had been achieved. The statistics over 3 years are striking. 
Gaffney Bearing Plant has achieved: 28 percent increase in labor 
productivity; 22 percent improvement in schedule accomplishment; 46 
percent reduction in inventory days; 56 percent reduction in customer 
concerns; 24 percent reduction in the cost of nonconformance; 27 
percent reduction in average setup time; 41 percent reduction in BTU's 
consumed per component; and 47 percent reduction in defects per million 
pieces.

  When I left the Gaffney Bearing Plant last summer, I thought to 
myself, ``If only plants like this could be cloned and held out to the 
rest of our economy.'' In a way, the Shingo Prize does that; it 
spotlights this outstanding plant as a model, a shining example of how 
excellence can be attained by focusing on core manufacturing processes, 
by removing waste and reducing defects, and by striving constantly for 
a better product at a lower cost.
  In the late 1980's, as competition in bearings became more and more 
global and more intense, the Timken Co. initiated what it called the 
Vision 2000 program. The goal was nothing less than to become the best-
performing manufacturing company in the world. At the time, many may 
have considered that goal rhetorical, a bit ambitious, especially for a 
plant in Gaffney, SC. On Monday, the Gaffney Bearing Plant showed 
anyone who was skeptical just what American workers can do when they 
are encouraged and empowered. Timken has removed two layers of 
management, decentralized key functions, used coaching methods in 
supervision, and focused its associates' time for 3- to 5-day periods 
on improving specific processes. The results are impressive, and they 
are still being racked up. Even as the Shingo Prize was being 
presented, Gaffney Bearing Plant was moving ahead with the next phase, 
with its signals set on new quality and efficiency goals.

  When I spoke to Timken workers at the ceremony on the plant floor, I 
noted that although our economy was strong, the dollar was still being 
pounded in world currency markets. Fundamentally, I said, the dollar is 
falling against the yen and the mark because for too many years, we 
have imported more than we have exported. There are short-term 
solutions to the trade deficit; but in long term, I said, the real 
solution lay in their hands.
  What is heartening, and my reason for making this statement, is that 
companies like Timken are rising to the challenge; plants in places 
like Gaffney are pointing the way, proving to the world that in the 
United States, we can still manufacture goods of world-class quality 
and be efficient and competitive.
  Gaffney Bearing Plant deserves the Shingo Prize, and the Shingo Prize 
Council should be commended for selecting it. The Gaffney Plant also 
deserves our admiration for showing that American manufacturers can 
still be among the best performing companies in the world.

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