Original Date: 06/29/1995
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Wainwright has a Mission Control Room which is the center for all continuous improvement efforts. Quality trends and performance indicators are displayed as well as monthly customer satisfaction index scores. Training sessions, staff meetings, and presentations to customers and suppliers are held in the Mission Control Room to keep the indicators visible. A green flag/red flag system is used to illustrate if Wainwright is on track to meet customer goals, and a green flag indicates that the company is on track. A red flag indicates a problem. If a red flag is displayed, an action team is formed to work with the customer, study the problem, and identify and implement corrective action. A customer champion is assigned for each customer.

Five key indicators, ranked according to priority, are tracked and include safety, internal customer satisfaction, external customer satisfaction, six sigma quality, and business performance. The priority was determined based on a survey of the associates and what was important to them. The order was exactly opposite from the company's previous order. By accepting the results of the associate’s survey, management was demonstrating the importance it places on the employees. The company had trust in the associates and acted on that trust to change the way Wainwright approached its business.

By highlighting the five key indicators and applying corrective actions to any problems, on-time delivery rates are approaching 100%, and there has been a 35% reduction in product cost. Overall customer satisfaction has improved to 97.5%. Process re-engineering and simplification have resulted in the lead time for one product decreasing from 8.75 days to 15 minutes, while decreasing defect rates by a factor of ten.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.