At a time when Lockheed Martin Corp. (IW 500/30) has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons lately, the company got some good news this week.
The U.S. Department of Commerce on Wednesday announced that Lockheed Martin's Missiles and Fire Control division is one of four recipients of the 2012 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for performance excellence.
The Missiles and Fire Control unit, which makes advanced-combat, missile, rocket and sensor systems, won in the manufacturing category.
Among the reasons why the National Institute of Standards and Technology chose Lockheed Martin's Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) unit, the agency noted that MFC has:
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Achieved 99.4% on-time delivery despite a 1,000% increase in the number of annual deliveries over the past 11 years.
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Cut $225 million in annual costs through time-reduction process- and performance-improvement programs.
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Grown its return on investment at a compound annual rate of 23%.
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Improved its customer-loyalty ratings by 18% since 2007. Its current ratings are best-in-class, according to NIST, with 100% of customers indicating that they "definitely or probably would select MFC for future business."
Perhaps most impressively, MFC scores high marks for employee satisfaction, with nearly 85% of workers saying they were proud to work for MFC in 2011.
"Receiving the Malcolm Baldrige Award is a tremendous honor for Missiles and Fire Control," said James Berry, president of Lockheed Martin's Missiles and Fire Control business. "It represents the culmination of a 15-year journey focused on performance excellence, which has been ingrained in all we do. It is a testament to our employees' dedication to excel in every aspect of our business and deliver unmatched value to our customers."
I should note that Lockheed Martin's MFC unit is no stranger to accolades. In 2011, MFC's Lufkin, Texas, operations received an IndustryWeek Best Plants award.
Congratulations to everyone at Lockheed Martin.
