The LaFayette, Ga. facility of Blue Bird, a manufacturer of school buses, was recognized Wednesday, May 7, with the Shingo Bronze Medallion for Operational Excellence at a conference in Atlanta hosted by Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. In 20 years of the award, Blue Bird is only the fifth Georgia manufacturing facility to be honored with the coveted Shingo Prize or Shingo Medallion. Next year, the company will be recognized at the International Shingo Prize Conference in San Diego.

“Although the recognition is certainly welcome and serves as a positive motivator to our workforce, it is truly about the journey, not the prize,” said Steve Clark, director of quality and risk management at Blue Bird North Georgia. “Earned prizes like this one are a way to be guided by the criteria to discover world class processes and expectations.”

To be considered for the award, Blue Bird submitted a 75-page achievement report that documented the company’s performance in relation to the Shingo Prize guidelines. A team of Shingo examiners – including lean experts from Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute – reviewed and scored the report. In March, a team of five Shingo examiners visited the LaFayette facility to meet with employees at all levels and examine the facility. Based on the team’s composite score, Blue Bird merited the Shingo Bronze Medallion.

“Blue Bird North Georgia excelled in a number of areas, including its comprehensive training and education programs, high degree of teamwork, commitment to continuous improvement and problem-solving, a clear focus on safety, quality and productivity, and a good use of lean tools and principles to improve the business,” noted Tim Israel, the Enterprise Innovation Institute’s program manager for lean and quality services. “We congratulate Blue Bird on creating a culture of continuous improvement and empowering their workforce to see improvement opportunities more clearly.”

The Blue Bird North Georgia facility in LaFayette employs 455 people and manufactures 25 conventional style school buses daily. The company is headquartered in Fort Valley, Ga.

“We have discovered that to succeed there must be continuous improvement, and we must always be aware that we still have further to go,” Clark said. “As we were preparing the achievement report and judging ourselves against the criteria, we learned a great deal. Much of that was reinforced by the excellent site visit we received. We have been very actively involved in the discovery of what is on course and what needs correction.”