If you ever get a chance to watch an aircraft being built, take it. Walking through the aircraft hangar at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, CA, facility, you will see two unmanned aircraft, each with a 130-foot wingspan, parked behind yellow tape. The scale of the aircraft and the desert setting make it feel like a movie set.

Greg Mann doesn’t want to brag. Although he’s proud of the company’s work, he isn’t satisfied. “We’re just getting started,” says Mann, the operations manager at Accurate Gauge & Manufacturing (Rochester Hills, MI). 

If you aren’t excited about manufacturing today, you might need to visit Mississippi. There you’ll find the PACCAR Engine Company (PEC) plant, where process improvement has been a constant since its launch in June 2010.

We have a tendency to overuse certain words. I know this because on an annual basis many media outlets publish lists of the most overused words of the year. It usually happens in December to commemorate the end of the year. 

Winona PVD Coatings takes quality so seriously that out of the almost 1.5 million wheels shipped in the past ten years, the company has seen the number of returns in the single digits. 

Karen Spencer had never before considered applying for the Plant of the Year award. But, one Saturday afternoon last year, she came across an application in the magazine, and felt compelled to apply.

I’ve never been a fan of awards shows. Whether the Emmys, Oscars, or Grammys, I’ve never found myself tuning in.

Collaboration with customers, aggressive miniaturization, and advanced part qualification have earned this micro stamping component supplier the title of 2013 Quality Plant of Year.

While weather might not be a good reason to visit Minneapolis in January, I recently went to Minnesota to visit Top Tool Co., our 2013 Quality Plant of the Year.