Honoring excellence: BKD Indiana Excellence Awards for quality improvement.

PositionCover story - Company overview

THEY EXECUTED SIX Sigma initiatives and other quality improvement projects. They devised new avenues to reach customers and constituents, boosted revenues, cut costs and increased efficiencies. They made new connections via web sites and text messages. They found better ways to serve troubled kids and heal ailing Hoosiers.

The four winners and 16 other finalists in the BKD Indiana Excellence Awards competition did all of these things, and more, in their pursuit of excellence. Organizations are honored for their commitment to business excellence through the improvement of a product, service or business practice, and the positive impact it has on the organization and the state of Indiana.

The program, marking its 13th year of recognizing Indiana's most forward-thinking companies and organizations, is presented by Indiana Business magazine, title sponsor BKD LLP, and National City Bank. The BKD Indiana Excellence Awards are bestowed in four categories, and one of the four category honorees is then chosen as the overall winner.

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MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION

"Business excellence is a way of life at Heraeus Electro-Nite. Our core values are the basis of everyone's behavior in daily business, leading to continuous improvement and employee satisfaction," says Jim Myers, plant manager at Heraeus Electro-Nite in Peru, which designs and manufactures metallurgical sensors.

Continuous improvement is baked into the company's way of doing business, paving the way for its selection as the manufacturing and distribution winner at the BKD Indiana Excellence Awards. It's been an important part of the company's culture to follow ISO standards--Heraeus Electro-Nite has been recertified to ISO quality standards and has added ISO 14001 environmental certification.

Its ongoing pursuit of excellence takes many forms, from employee training to continuous goal setting and benchmarking to support of local and state causes and organizations. And that's good for everyone--since opening in Peru in 1990, the company has increased sales and employment, added more than 20 new product lines, reduced costs, boosted on-time deliveries, cut scrap and reduced defects.

"With excellence comes the ability to stay profitable," Myers says. "To be able to continually improve and increase sales every year, you have to continually reduce your own costs as well as help customers reduce their costs." Besides winning the BKD honor, the company was a 2008 finalist for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce's Small Business of the Year honors.

Other manufacturing and distribution finalists included:

* CIM Audio Visual in Columbus, which since 1983 has focused on the A/V needs of Indiana schools and colleges, as well as businesses and churches. In a relatively short period of time, the company has doubled its annual sales volume as well...

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