UW engineer a catalyst for new business Forward Award

UW–Madison engineering professor Donald Ermer is helping nurture a new state awards program designed to help Wisconsin companies make tangible gains in quality and performance.

Ermer, the Procter & Gamble Professor in Total Quality in the departments of mechanical and industrial engineering, has part of his university appointment dedicated to developing the new “Forward Award of Excellence.” He works with the state Council of Workforce Excellence that established the program in January.

“Forward” is modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a highly successful program that highlights the best-managed companies in the nation. Ermer served on the inaugural board of examiners for the 10-year- old award, and applied that background to the Wisconsin effort.

While the Malcolm Baldrige award honors six winners each year, the Forward Award will have no ceiling on the number of companies recognized. The emphasis will be on education and development to help companies through several stages of improvement.

The goals are to help companies improve customer satisfaction, promote employee involvement, and improve work place safety and morale. Malcolm Baldrige winners have seen great bottom-line gains as well, he says. Companies that received the recognition outperformed Standard and Poor’s 500 companies by a 4-1 margin.

Ermer says the Forward Award could strengthen the state’s economic health by giving companies both direction and recognition for good management. At each stage that applying companies reach, they receive written feedback from the awards committee. “The emphasis is on continual learning and improvement,” he says.

The first Forward Awards banquet will be held in October. For more information, contact the state Department of Workforce Development at (888) 933-9475.