“Participating in the IRPE program involves significant investment in time and thought, but it's the feedback and focused efforts to improve the business that keep us coming back each year,” said Tony Orlando, president, Bridgestone Agricultural Tire, U.S. & Canada Commercial Tire Sales. “This significant achievement is a rewarding affirmation that our range of robust products—with innovative, leading technologies and product durability — helps our end-use customers, American farmers, achieve a low tire cost per hour.”
According to Firestone, the IRPE program is one of 39 state award programs aligned with the National Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. The program process is meant to provide organizations in the state an opportunity to self-assess or be externally evaluated against National Baldrige criteria, which includes: leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, workforce focus, operations focus and results.