1. Aearo Company produces equipment for industrial and aviation safety, specializing in hearing protection, eye protection, and respiratory protection. All nine of the Aero manufacturing plants are ISO certified. Explore the Aearo website. ISO certification enables Aearo to do business with companies worldwide, and promotes a focus on quality that is very important for producers of safety-related equipment.

a. What specific aspects of Aearo's Website lend credibility with regard to quality?

b. Is a quality focus more important for a company like Aearo than for a company in another industry? Explain.

2. Benchmarking the best practices of businesses has become a critical component of improvement efforts. Many resources have evolved to put companies seeking best practices to learn about and companies that have developed high levels of competence. Some practices are industry specific, but others are quite universal. Best Practices LLC is an example of a service offering benchmarking information. Notice how Best Practices LLC provides industry-focused, as well as generic business practice benchmarking information.

a. Best Practices LLC describes is expertise and methodology in a number of areas of expertise. Identify one of interest and evaluate their approach.

3. University of Wisconsin-Stout was awarded the 2001 Malcomb Baldrige National Quality Award for Education. Read the profile of UW-Stout.

a. How does UW-Stout appear to differ from your college or university?

b. Using this profile as an initial attempt at benchmarking, in what areas might it be useful for officials from your university to learn from those of UW-Stout?