Bridgestone/Firestone's Aiken County Plant Receives Elite Manufacturing Award Graniteville, S.C. (April 11, 2002) -At its 14th annual business awards ceremony and conference, the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing yesterday awarded the coveted Shingo Prize to Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding, Inc.'s Aiken County, S.C. plant. The tire plant is one of a record number of manufacturing plants this year to earn what Business Week has called "…the Nobel prize of manufacturing…." "Our goal at Bridgestone/Firestone South Carolina (BFSC) is excellence in all areas of manufacturing," said Mike Rose, general manager of operations, BFSC. "Achieving this award is a tribute to what our team members do on a daily basis." The Shingo Prize promotes world-class manufacturing and recognizes companies that achieve superior customer satisfaction and business results. The philosophy of the Shingo Prize is that world-class business performance may be achieved through focused improvements in core manufacturing and business processes. The Shingo Prize is the most recent honor in a long list of awards for Bridgestone/Firestone's Aiken County plant. It is the only passenger tire plant in South Carolina and one of only two tire plants in the United States to achieve OSHA VPP Palmetto Star status - with Bridgestone/Firestone's Warren County, Tenn., facility being the other recipient. The Aiken County plant has also received the Safety Excellence Award from the Rubber Manufacturers Association and the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, and is QS 9000 and ISO 14001 certified, which are accolades given to companies that meet or exceed stringent environmental standards. BFSC, a business unit of Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC, produces passenger and light truck tires for the original equipment and replacement markets. Ground breaking for the 1.8 million square foot plant was announced in August 1997. Just 12 months later, BFSC produced its first test tire, making this the fastest plant start-up in the history of the tire industry. The facility currently employs 900 team members. Since 2000, BFSC has had a 53 percent reduction in waste, a 38 percent reduction in scrap and a 39 percent reduction in cost per thousand pounds of rubber. According to the Shingo Prize administrators, the Shingo Prize program is the only industrial excellence award that focuses on lean manufacturing and was first implemented in the Toyota Production System. "We're very impressed with the lean manufacturing achievements of this year's recipients," according to Ross Robson, Shingo Prize executive director. "In a time of economic recession, it's a comfort to see plants that are prepared to weather economic uncertainty by not wasting precious manufacturing and business resources." Established in 1988, the Shingo Prize is named in honor of Dr. Shigeo Shingo, an engineering genius who helped create the Toyota Production System and other related lean manufacturing processes. This year's recipients are a truly global group, ranging throughout North America from Puerto Rico to Mexico City, from Idaho to Michigan. Nashville-based Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC is a subsidiary of Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world's largest tire and rubber company. BFNT develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone, Dayton and associate and private brand tires. The company is focused on wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off-road, agriculture and other tires to its customers in the Americas.