Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 101 Part 1.djvu/754

 101 STAT. 724

PUBLIC LAW 100-107—AUG. 20, 1987

Public Law 100-107 100th Congress ^ Aug. 20, 1987 [H.R. 812]

An Act

To amend the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to establish the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, with the objective of encouraging American business and other organizations to practice effective quality control in the provision of their goods and services.

Malcolm

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

Baldrige National Quality

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

A^fofTgs?" Decorations,

This Act may be cited as the "Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987".

medals, awards. 15 USC 3701

"5 USC 3711a note.

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SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

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^^^ FINDINGS.—The Congress finds and declares that— (1) the leadership of the United States in product and process quality has been challenged strongly (and sometimes success' fully) by foreign competition, and our Nation's productivity growth has improved less than our competitors over the last two • decades; ^ (2) American business and industry are beginning to understand that poor quality costs companies as much as 20 percent of sales revenues nationally, and that improved quality of goods and services goes hand in hand with improved productivity, lower costs, and increased profitability; (3) strategic planning for quality and quality improvement programs, through a commitment to excellence in manufacturing and services, are becoming more and more essential to the well-being of our Nation's economy and our ability to compete effectively in the global marketplace; (4) improved management understanding of the factory floor, worker involvement in quality, and greater emphasis on statistical process control can lead to dramatic improvements in the cost and quality of manufactured products; (5) the concept of quality improvement is directly applicable to small companies as well as large, to service industries as well as manufacturing, and to the public sector as well as private enterprise; (6) in order to be successful, quality improvement programs must be management-led and customer-oriented and this may require fundamental changes in the way companies and agencies do business; (7) several major industrial nations have successfully coupled rigorous private sector quality audits with national awards giving special recognition to those enterprises the audits identify as the very best; and (8) a national quality award program of this kind in the United States would help improve quality and productivity by—

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