Wisconsin Simmons plant wins Tony Saliture award
Recognizes superior performance in several areas
David Perry -- Furniture Today, July 6, 2006
JANESVILLE, Wis. -- The Tony award, the highest honor bestowed on a plant by bedding major Simmons, remains with the plant that launched it.
For the second straight year, the sprawling bedding factory here is the winner of the Tony Saliture Award for Operational Excellence, which recognizes superior performance in the areas of safety, quality, customer service, cost management and productivity.The award honors Saliture, who opened the Janesville plant in 1980. He retired as general manager of the plant in 1997, but still comes in several days a week to visit with his friends and lend a helping hand.Simmons officials saluted the commitment of the employees at the Janesville plant in presenting the award this year.“The Janesville plant’s success is directly tied to its workforce’s continual drive for improvement,” said Rob Burch, executive vice president of operations at Simmons. “Although many of our plants achieved high performance levels in 2005, the Janesville plant recorded unprecedented achievements …, setting a standard that all our plants can strive to attain.”Awards are nothing new for the Janesville plant, one of the most productive bedding factories in the world. For seven straight years, the plant won the company’s old Quality Assurance Award. The scope of the award was expanded in 2001 and it was named for Saliture.In 2001 and 2002, the Simmons Phoenix plant won the Saliture award. The Simmons Charlotte, N.C., plant was the winner in 2003. But the Janesville factory brought the award home in 2004.The award features a crystal eagle on a lighted base, a design Saliture helped select. And he selected the words on the base: “People are our most valuable asset and we continually recognize and appreciate their contribution.”“I’m very pleased the Janesville plant won the Operational Excellence Award again,” Saliture said. “Building high-quality bedding products and providing excellent service to our customers have been our tradition since we opened the plant 26 years ago.”Chuck Waldhart, operations manager in Janesville, said, “The associates in Janesville work very hard day in and day out to produce the best quality product and world-class customer service to our customers. This award is a true testament to the dedication of our entire team in Janesville.”
