Three medical device manufacturers—two in Mexico and one in the United States— recently received Shingo Prizes.

Baxter Healthcare Corp.’s North Cove Plant in Marion, North Carolina; Baxter’s Cuernavaca Plant in Morelos, Mexico; and Cordis Corp. of Juarez, Mexico, received the awards, which have been dubbed the Nobel Prize of manufacturing. Nine other North American manufacturing facilities also received the awards.

Baxter Healthcare’s North Cove Plant produces treatments for hemophilia, immune disorders, kidney disease, cancer and trauma. Through its quality leadership process, the facility has reduced work-in-progress inventory by 80 percent, lost-time incident rate by 81 percent, manufacturing cycle time by 58 percent, and unplanned scrap by 38 percent. The facility received a Shingo Prize in 2000 and is the only plant to have been awarded the prize twice.

Baxter’s Morelos, Mexico plant is the leading manufacturer of products for the treatment of critical health conditions in Mexico. Within two years, it has increased inventory turnover by 50 percent, reduced the total number of days lost by 94 percent and increased overall productivity by 140 percent.

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