MILPITAS, Calif. - U.S. Department of Commerce officials have awarded the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award to Solectron Corp. of Milpitas, Calif., a supplier of customized electronic manufacturing services to original equipment manufacturers.
The Oct. 15 announcement signifies the second time Solectron has won the coveted Baldrige Award for quality in manufacturing. Solectron last won the award in 1991.
Baldrige examiners inspected several Solectron sites, including those in Milpitas, Austin, Texas, Charlotte, N.C., Everett, Wash., and the San Jose, Calif., headquarters of Solectron`s wholly owned subsidiary, Force Computers Inc., which supplies VME and CompactPCI single-board computers for rugged and embedded applications.
In the six years since Solectron officials won their first Baldrige award, the company has grown from one manufacturing site, 2,200 employees, and $265 million in revenues to 17 manufacturing facilities, more than 18,000 employees, and $3.7 billion in annual revenues.
"Winning the Baldrige Award for the second time reinforces our quest for excellence," says Ko Nishimura, Solectron`s chairman, president, and chief executive officer. "We entered the Baldrige competition because quality is fundamental to our core beliefs and we use the Baldrige process as a benchmark to drive our company."
