In this presentation, Robert Cenek and Michelle Weber discuss Mineral Technologies' process for awarding the Operational Excellence Achievement Award.
Overview
Since 2008, Minerals Technologies has conducted an annual lean assessment, recognition and development process for all global operations and support units. With the design based on the company's specific approach to operational excellence, the process includes the assessment of current maturity and development in the following areas: EHS, sustainability, people-centricity, continuous improvement, quality and customer service, and business results. The Minerals Technologies Operational Excellence Achievement Award enables the company to recognize, reward and communicate best practices based on the lean maturity levels of the submitters.
A cross-divisional judging panel from multiple geographic regions reviews and scores the submitted applications to arrive at recommendations for the Operational Excellence Achievement Award. The ten to twelve judges also recommend facilities and units that should receive an honorable mention. Following an initial scoring, panel judges conduct either F2F or virtual visits and audits of the applicant. This involves reviewing supporting documentation, judging the quality of the deployment through direct observation and interviewing employees.
Selected recipients and honorable mentions are recognized each February in a live or televised ceremony. All employees in recipient organizations receive an award called the Bravo Chip, which effectively operates like ten restricted stock units.
Company
Minerals Technologies Inc. (MTI) is a leading, technology-driven specialty minerals company that develops, produces and markets a broad range of mineral and mineral-based products, related systems and services. Globally, MTI serves a wide range of consumer and industrial markets, including household, food and pharmaceutical, paper, packaging, automotive, construction, and environmental. https://www.mineralstech.com
Presenters
Robert Cenek has worked in premier Fortune 500 companies such as General Mills, where he helped lead the nationally recognized development of high-performance work systems and pioneered the development of the General Mills/PFOD Institute, one of the first in-house universities designed to prepare transformational change leaders.
At Bristol-Myers, Cenek created the management development function for the Corporate Staff division, was a member of a corporate-level team that assessed the level of engagement in the firm's domestic divisions, and assisted them in formulating improvement plans.
From 1996 to 2000, he served as executive director of human resources for Montana Power Company, a $1.4B utility and diversified energy firm with 2,800 employees. From 2000 to 2003, he served as vice president of human resources for Touch America Holdings, the successor firm to Montana Power Company.
Since 2006, Cenek has been a leader at Minerals Technologies, Inc. (MTX), a high-performing, $2B global organization headquartered in New York City, where he helps lead the firm's global deployment of operational excellence and Toyota Production System (TPS) principles.
He is a graduate of the Levinson Institute's On Leadership Program, USC's Center for Effective Organization's HR Executive Seminar, University of Idaho Public Utility Executive Program, Philip Crosby's Quality College, and Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid Instructor Certification Seminar. Cenek has also been certified by Dr. Alan Drexler (NTL) to use his Team Performance Model. 
Michelle Weber is the vice president of Global Operations Metalcasting with over 25 years of experience. Weber is currently overseeing manufacturing sites globally within the performance materials metalcasting industry.
Weber specializes in operational excellence, people-centric leadership, driving continuous improvement through lean principles, and promoting a positive work culture. She has achieved high team performance across facilities while complying with safety, quality, and productivity company metrics and exceeding customer expectations. 
