Batesville Casket Wins 2009 ‘Plant of the Year’ Award from ASSEMBLY Magazine

Written by Chip Ramsey | 21 October 2009

From Press Release

Batesville Casket in Manchester has been honored with an annual “Plant of the Year” award which recognizes excellence in U.S.-based manufacturing. ASSEMBLY Magazine, a trade publication for manufacturers, and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), one of the world's leading management consulting firms, named Batesville Casket Company as the 2009 winner of their “Assembly Plant of the Year” award. The award spotlights a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the United States that has applied world-class processes to reduce production costs, increase productivity, shorten time to market, and improve product quality.
Headquartered in Batesville, Ind., Batesville Casket is a leading manufacturer of metal and hardwood burial caskets, cremation urns and containers, and related support services. As the core operating company of Hillenbrand, Inc. (sales, $678 million), it employs about 3,300 people at manufacturing, sales and distribution facilities throughout North America.
Batesville won Assembly Plant of the Year for its application of lean manufacturing techniques at its Manchester facility.
Since going lean 14 years ago, the facility has reduced cost per unit by almost 25 percent and cut the amount of floor space needed at its 450,000-square-foot plant by more than 50 percent, creating room for new initiatives without having to fund costly expansions.
The plant’s vertically integrated operations produce 98 percent of the 224 parts needed to assemble a typical casket. All metal stamping, plastic injection molding, fabrication and painting are done in-house.
Batesville has won numerous awards for its manufacturing excellence in recent years: Among them: the Progressive Manufacturing Award from Automation Magazine; IndustryWeek Best Plants Award (Top 10 in North America); Manufacturing Excellence Awards from the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME); and the National AME Award as the number-one plant in North America.
“At a time when many U.S.-based companies have moved their manufacturing operations overseas to lower costs, Batesville is an excellent example of how a commitment to lean production can keep costs competitive,” said Austin Weber, senior editor of ASSEMBLY.
“We are very impressed by the results that Batesville has been able to achieve in all dimensions of its operations,” added Michael Zinser, a partner in BCG’s Chicago office and co-leader of the firm’s manufacturing practice. “Many businesses have adopted lean tools and principles, but few have been able to generate the consistent improvements in cost, quality and delivery that Batesville has.”
This is the 6th annual Assembly Plant of the Year award. The previous five recipients of the award were IBM, Poughkeepsie, NY (2008); Square D/Schneider Electric, Lexington, KY (2007); Lear Corporation, Montgomery, AL (2006); Xerox Corporation, Webster, NY (2005); and Kenworth Truck Company, Renton, WA (2004).
The award is jointly sponsored by ASSEMBLY and BCG to recognize the strengths of U.S. plants and bring attention to the ongoing competitiveness of those that demonstrate manufacturing excellence. Only one assembly plant is recognized per year.
For further information on the award, please contact ASSEMBLY’s Austin Weber at 630-694-4013 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The nomination form for the award is available at http://www.assemblymag.com/HTML/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000492126.