The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) aims to improve quality management — along with overall business efficiency and performance — across all industries in the United States. This blog will break down everything you need to know about the MBNQA, including how small and medium-sized manufacturers can prepare, apply, and maximize their chances of winning.
To raise awareness about the importance of quality management, the MBNQA — now known as the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program — recognizes companies in the U.S. that successfully implement quality management systems. Named after Malcolm Baldrige, U.S. Secretary of Commerce during the Reagan administration, the MBNQA is awarded exclusively to companies in the U.S. but is recognized internationally.
The MBNQA was initially passed in Congress under President Reagan’s administration to minimize further loss of American manufacturing opportunities to Japan post-World War II.
Malcolm Baldrige strongly advocated for keeping America’s manufacturing industry competitive internationally. Realizing that quality was critical to achieving excellence in the global marketplace, the Baldrige Award recognized its first category as “manufacturing.”
The Baldrige Award is now named the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. The shift emphasizes the tenets of continuous improvement in areas such as profitability, customer satisfaction, employee retention, and overall product or service quality.
The program gives out three MBNQA awards in each of the six categories below for a total of 18 awards:
The MBNQA program encourages excellence in all manufacturing businesses, which make up nearly 25% of the companies that apply each year.
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award’s purpose is to improve organization-specific business goals. Rather than strictly imposing external metrics, it recognizes organizations that meet or exceed their desired outcomes based on metrics defined by their leadership.
The MBNQA is a program that recognizes an organization’s excellence on a level playing field. Organizations are not competing against each other for an award but are developing processes to improve quality outcomes and achieve results that reflect their expertise.
The MBNQA also aims to:
As a fair and innovative program, the MBNQA helps U.S. companies achieve the performance necessary to compete with other global organizations in the international marketplace.
Applying to the MBNQA helps improve your quality management and drives performance to ensure you meet customer needs in the best ways possible. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award benefits include comprehensive audits and national-level business recognition.
When organizations apply to the MBNQA, knowledgeable examiners will conduct objective assessments based on a set of MBNQA criteria (see below) and provide honest feedback to help the organizations optimize their business operations. The feedback provided by MBNQA examiners sets organizations on a path of continuous improvement and empowers them to make adjustments that will guarantee short-term and long-term business success.
The continuous improvement cycle then drives the optimization of business practices, ultimately increasing sales, improving customer satisfaction, and facilitating business expansion.
The MBNQA recognizes excellence in business practice and showcases awardees at the national level.
The judging process is spearheaded by the Board of Examiners, which consists of leaders from well-respected institutions across different industries. Bolstered by expert recognition, MBNQA winners are immediately considered national leaders in their industries and receive exposure to new opportunities like relationships with investors and business partners.
The MBNQA requirements measure performance, quality, and risk management processes. When organizations apply for the MBNQA, they are assessed by unbiased examiners who score assessments and provide feedback. Organizations can apply to the MBNQA every year until they earn the award, and they will receive unique feedback with each round of applications.
There are seven areas of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence assessment:
The MBNQA assessment criteria ensure that applicants’ business practices are holistically and fairly assessed.
For California manufacturers interested in the MBNQA (especially first-time applicants), applying first to the state-level awards can help develop the rigor required for MBNQA assessments at the national level. The California Council for Excellence (CCE) administers the CAPE program and prepares applicants at several levels, which we discuss in the next section.
The state-level awards help California manufacturers refine their business practices before competing nationwide with other high-performance manufacturers.
The CCE’s premier offerings are shorter versions of the Baldrige Award, intended to minimize barriers to entry. Applicants can utilize shorter-form reporting to gauge readiness at higher levels, up to and including the full-scope Eureka award that assesses all MBNQA criteria.
The CAPE program prepares applicants at several levels and stages of maturity, including:
The Eureka Award’s longer application and assessment process is the only way to be fully audited and receive the most valuable feedback on how to optimize their business practices. There are separate entry pools for organizations with ≤ or ≥ 150 employees (and another for K-12 Public Educators), and there are three distinct award levels for each: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.
Gold-Level Eureka winners are eligible to compete for the MBNQA award nationally.
There are several resources available to help small and medium-sized manufacturers in California prepare for, apply to and eventually win the MBNQA:
Beyond the above resources, working with a consulting firm such as CMTC can help California manufacturers prepare strong applications and maximize their chances of winning the MBNQA.
CMTC helps California manufacturers with all elements of their operations beyond applications for awards like the MBNQA. Our full range of consulting services can transform your business practices by driving innovation, performance, cost-effectiveness, and market-driven solutions.
With the help of CMTC, you will be better positioned to increase revenue, reduce costs, and improve employee performance. Contact us today to learn more.