LAKE CHARLES, La., Jan. 21, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Louisiana Quality Foundation has named Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Lake Charles Manufacturing Center as a winner of its 2003 Louisiana Performance Excellence Award, the foundation's highest quality honor. The Louisiana Performance Excellence Award, with criteria and processes identical to the U.S. Commerce Department's Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, is an annual recognition of Louisiana organizations that achieve high levels of performance excellence and excel in the application of outstanding quality principles. Organizations that serve as role models for quality, customer satisfaction and performance excellence are considered for this award.
"The award not only assesses the key elements of a successful organization but also focuses on how well that organization has translated those elements into tangible business results over a sustained period of time," said Jay Blood, site manager and director of Manufacturing for the Lake Charles facility. Receiving the award is particularly satisfying for the company, he added, because the criteria for winning are so stringent. "This award is a well-deserved recognition of the talent and commitment to performance excellence demonstrated daily by the men and women of the Lake Charles Manufacturing Center."
The Lake Charles site applied for the award in March 2003 and hosted a seven-person team of examiners from the Louisiana Quality Foundation in October 2003. In January 2004, the site was notified that they had not only won this prestigious award, but had also scored higher than any previous recipients. Northrop Grumman officials are scheduled to receive the award on Jan. 22 at a ceremony in Baton Rouge.
The Lake Charles Manufacturing Center is responsible for refurbishing and remanufacturing Boeing 707 aircraft for the U.S. Air Force's E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System. It also performs depot-level maintenance for the service's E-8C fleet. In addition, the facility has been designated as the modification center for the Air Force's new E-10A Multi-Sensor Command and Control Aircraft, a Boeing 767-400ER.
The Lake Charles facility is a business unit of Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector. The sector is a premier aerospace and defense systems integration enterprise. Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Integrated Systems designs, develops, produces and supports network-enabled integrated systems and subsystems for government and civil customers worldwide. Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services that support military missions in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; space access; battle management command and control; and integrated strike warfare.
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