Boeing

The Boeing [NYSE: BA] weapons facility here has been awarded the 2004 Missouri Quality Award (MQA).

The award recognizes excellence in quality leadership. The facility applied for the award in June, underwent a site visit by a team of Excellence in Missouri Foundation (EIMF) examiners in September, and was presented the award November 18 by Lieutenant Governor Joe Maxwell at a ceremony in Osage Beach, Mo.

Boeing is one of approximately 30 organizations to be honored with an MQA since its inception in 1992. Recipients are considered role models for successful quality strategies. Criteria to earn the honor are based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

"This is a direct reflection of how we go about doing business day in and day out, and our team's unrelenting focus on business excellence and meeting our commitments," said Mike Marks, Boeing vice president and general manager for Fighter, Bomber and Weapons programs. "We do great work and receiving the Missouri Quality Award proves it."

Each organization that qualifies for a site visit receives follow-up recommendations offering opportunities for improvement.

"The team here fully intends to take advantage of these recommendations by generating and executing action plans to address them," said Larry Lauger, the group's business excellence manager." By this time next year, we will have taken another step to improve performance and provide even greater value to our customers and other stakeholders as a result of the visit by the EIMF team."