IndustryWeek Best Plants Awards Winners: Lessons in Operational Excellence

While consultants and suppliers can offer all sorts of suggestions on how to improve manufacturing operations, some of the best advice typically comes from people in the field, doing the work. That's why IndustryWeek has for decades awarded companies with IW Best Plants recognition -- it's as much about offering lessons from the best as it is recongizing operational excellence.

At the IW Operations Leadership Summit in Indianapolis in June, four recent winners of that award gathered to discuss how their plants achieved excellence, how they're maintaining it and how they're hoping to set quality, efficiency and innovation standards in the future.

Speaking at this panel discussion were:

• Jill Jusko, Executive Editor of IndustryWeek and the edtor in charge of managing the annual awards program
• Tom Lego, Brand Ambassador of Toyota Material Handling, 2011 winner of the award
• Aaron Christ, Director of Operations at Intertape Polymer Group (IPG), a 2023 winner
• Tony Topencik, VP of Operations, Quality & EHS at 2022 Best Plants winner Raymond Corporation
• Ben Johnson, Production Manager at Sandvik Coromant, also a 2022 winner