Skaneateles Falls, NY
Welch Allyn, a leading manufacturer of frontline medical products and solutions recently announced the recipients of its most prestigious employee awards during its 20th anniversary Beacon of Quality ceremony. The Beacon of Quality event is one of the company's most famous - and fun - days of the year. The theme for the 2008 event was "Renaissance Revitalized" to pay tribute to Welch Allyn's first Beacon of Quality day which took place twenty years ago and also carried a renaissance theme.
For the entire day, Welch Allyn shut down production lines, turned off the phones and gathered employees on the grounds of its corporate headquarters honoring outstanding efforts, relaxing with great food and entertainment, and participating in some fun, and highly competitive, team-building events.
This year's 2008 Beacon of Quality award winners include:
W.G. Legacy Team Awards: The W.G Legacy Team Award recognizes a team for their innovation, determination and collaboration in achieving significant, substantial and sustainable achievements.
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Aircraft Lighting Automation -- Corporate Headquarters (Hee-Rak Kang, Jim MacDonald, Greg VanEpps, Hal Mevec, Jason Salisbury, Xavier Aguirre, Cheryl Saroodis, Ray Dean, Jeff Kowalski, Brandy Calkins)
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SureTemp Plus Device & Probe Assembly -- Welch Allyn de Mexico (Jesús Gaxiola, Samuel Fernández, Martin Ayala, Jorge Equihua, Mónica Angulo, Filemón Soto
Mentor Awards: The Mentor Award recognizes an employee or team who has made significant contributions to the growth, learning and development of other company improvements.
Positive Spirit Award: The Positive Spirit Award recognizes an employee or team who approaches new tasks with enthusiasm, embraces challenges as opportunities, and maintains a positive attitude in face of adversity.
Quality First Award: The Quality First award recognizes products, service and or process quality improvements, based upon need rather than cost savings. Improved costs and cycle time may well enhance the achievement but the primary driver is quality.
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Vital Signs Monitor Production Line Redesign Team -- Mia Berar, Narin Lim, Tom Normandin, Jason Stratton, Martin Velazquez, Sheila Cuyler, Sergio San Martin (Beaverton Office)
Customer First Award: The Customer First award recognizes that person or team who has shown extraordinary effort and achievement in customer (internal or external) service or support. Recipients demonstrate customer centricity and relationship building skills.
Beacon Award winner Jason Stratton explains why his contributions to the company's bottom line lead to an award. "One of our devices had a fairly expensive circuit board in it that was not working properly and deemed unfixable. I was working as an electronic technician on the Vital Signs Monitor Production Line Redesign Team at the time and did not think it made sense to simply scrap a high-cost board. So, I created a database to determine where to start looking for repairs, found the faulty connection, and this unfixable board is now repairable. Just that small extra effort saved the company a lot of money."
As part of Welch Allyn's commitment to recognize the contributions of its employees, the employee-run, Quality Recognition program encourages employees to recognize the extra efforts made by one another with a 'Spot' award - a special thank you that includes a balloon and a gift certificate to the company cafeteria. More than 10,000 spot awards--an average of about 5 per employee--are given each year, further evidence that the people at Welch Allyn truly value the work done by one another.
"At Welch Allyn we believe that recognition lets others know that their efforts to go the extra mile are noticed and appreciated by others," said Julie Shimer, Welch Allyn president and CEO. "It keeps everyone excited, motivated, and most importantly, recognized, for the great work they do day in and day out."
About Welch Allyn
Founded in 1915 and headquartered in Skaneateles Falls, New York (USA), Welch Allyn is a leading global manufacturer of medical diagnostic equipment and a complete range of digital and connected solutions. With over 2,300 employees working in 17 different countries, Welch Allyn specializes in helping doctors, nurses, and other frontline practitioners across the globe provide the best patient care by developing innovative products, breakthrough technologies, and cutting-edge solutions that help them see more patients, detect more conditions, and improve more lives. More information about Welch Allyn and its complete line of connected products and solutions may be found at www.welchallyn.com.
Welch Allyn Global
