H.C. Starck's Newton Facility Awarded Industry Week's 2013 Best Plants

NEWTON, Mass., Jan. 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- H.C. Starck's Newton, MA site has been awarded Industry Week's 2013 Best Plants. The award demonstrates H.C. Starck's manufacturing excellence and its outstanding team who delivered extraordinary results in the face of strong global competition, cost reduction directives and increased customer demand.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090625/NE38551LOGO)

The implementation of a world-class manufacturing program with 5S, Six Sigma and Lean techniques yielded significant improvements in Newton's manufacturing operations. Through these programs the facility hit the bulls-eye with its operational strategy, improved production practices and performance. Major gains were seen in customer satisfaction, product quality, and on-time delivery.

"I am extremely proud of our team for winning such a prestigious award and must admit it is quite rewarding to witness such an intense cultural transformation. The Newton Team has embraced the tools and techniques of continuous improvement and adopted this approach as their way of doing business," said Mark Confroy, Chief Operating Officer of H.C. Starck's Fabricated Products Business Unit.

H.C. Starck Newton was able to reduce waste, optimize productivity, streamline processes, improve efficiencies and reduce cost to become more competitive and maintain its lead as a global supplier of technology metals. Continuous Improvement has become the gold standard throughout H.C. Starck's global footprint with sites in Asia, Europe and North America.

"I want to congratulate our Newton's team on this award. In today's global market, each of our sites has to walk the path of continuous improvement. We at H.C. Stack consider this a critical component of our strategy, to remain competitive and to build a lasting business," said Dmitry Shashkov, Member of H.C. Starck's Executive Board and Head of the Business Unit Fabricated Products.  

H.C. Starck will receive the award at the 2014 IW Best Plants Conference in May 2014.

About H.C. Starck
The H.C. Starck Group is a leading global supplier of technology metals and advanced ceramics, and serves growing industries such as the electronics, chemicals, automotive, medical technology, aerospace, energy technology, and environmental technology industries, as well as engineering companies and tool manufacturers, from its own manufacturing facilities located in Europe, America, and Asia. In 2012, the company employed approximately 3,000 employees in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, China, Japan, and Thailand. Additional news about the company is available at www.hcstarck.de/press.

SOURCE H.C. Starck