Quality & Performance Excellence 6th Edition by James Evans

Exercise 28

The Bama Companies, Inc.
The Bama Companies, Inc., is a privately held corporation that began in the Texas kitchen of Cornillia Alabama ("Bama") Marshall in 1927 and has grown into a leading developer and manufacturer of frozen, ready-to-use food products served worldwide by quick-service and casual dining restaurant chains such as McDonald's and Pizza Hut. From four production facilities in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and two in Beijing, China, Bama's 1,100 employees generate over $200 million a year in revenues. The company's three main product categories-hand-held pies, biscuits, and pizza crust-account for 92 percent of revenues.
In an industry dominated by companies several times its own size, Bama's agility, its unique approach to product innovation, and its System View pricing strategy-it has not raised prices for its hand-held pies and biscuits since 1996-give it tremendous leverage in the marketplace. Continuity has enabled the third-generation company to remain firmly rooted in its original guiding principles: keep your eyes on quality and remember that people make a company. Yet the way that Bama applies these principles in today's competitive business environment is anything but traditional. The company's stated vision is to "Create and Deliver Loyalty, Prosperity, and Fun for All, While Becoming a Billion Dollar Company." Bama sees itself and its mission as, "People Helping People Be Successful."
In its endless quest for improvement, Bama uses a battery of advanced strategies and tools, including the Bama Quality Management System, based on the quality improvement philosophies of W. Edwards Deming and the company's own performance excellence model. The Bama Excellence System provides a framework for all decision making. A Principle Centered Bama Culture, based on tenets developed by Stephen Covey, provides a context for creating and measuring excellence. Using Six Sigma methodologies since 2000, Bama has dramatically improved processes throughout the company. Total savings from Six Sigma improvements equates to over $17 million since 2001.
In 1999, Bama utilized a strategic planning process called Prometheus to develop a company Future Picture-a high-level view of the company as it wants to be in 2010. The future that Bama envisions includes: billion-dollar sales, recognition of the company's world-class quality, being first-choice supplier in all its target markets, and providing employees and other stakeholders with unparalleled personal and financial opportunities. To help achieve these goals, but maintain its small company culture, the company focuses on five strategic outcomes: 1) People-Create Deliver Loyalty, Prosperity and Fun, 2) Learning and Innovation, 3) Continuous Improvement, 4) Be Customer's First Choice, 5) Value Added Growth. Bama uses its Centers of Gravity (short-term action plans) and a Balanced Scorecard to assess progress toward meeting these outcomes. The plans and scorecard support the company's decision-making process at all levels and are posted throughout its facilities allowing all employees to see at a glance how their unit is performing against goals. The senior management team reviews the information at weekly and monthly meetings.
Building long-term relationships with suppliers and customers also helps Bama stay at the top of its game. Most of its key suppliers have been partners for 10 years or more, two have worked with the Bama Companies for three decades. Relationships with customers are just as enduring. The McDonald's system has been a Bama customer for 37 years and Pizza Hut for 11 years. Through these long-term relationships, Bama understands its customers, its customers' markets and what its customers need to succeed. The company has tailored its services to meet customer requirements in critical areas such as assured supply, precision manufacturing, and value pricing. Since 2001, Bama has achieved 98 percent on-time delivery of products to customers, with 99 percent of orders completely filled on the initial shipment. Customer satisfaction for the company's major national accounts has increased from 75 percent in 2001 to 100 percent in 2004, considerably higher than the food manufacturing benchmark of 85 percent.
Bama is committed to the success of everyone associated with its business-customers, employees, and the community. The company's People Assurance System (PAS) ensures that each employee is well trained, fully informed, and empowered, and centers on helping all employees develop their potential and achieve personal success. Bama encourages employees to seek a college education by providing tuition reimbursement. Satisfaction and loyalty of its people is key, and the company shares its success with employees when certain financial measures are met. Since 2001, profit sharing payments have averaged around $3,000 per year for each employee. A promote-from-within philosophy offers every qualified employee opportunities
Discussion Question
How are the vision and mission statements of The Bama Companies reflected in its management processes