2007

Award Recipient

PRO-TEC Coating Company

Established in 1990 as a joint venture between United 

States Steel Corporation and Kobe Steel Ltd. of Japan, 

PRO-TEC Coating Company provides coated sheet 

steel primarily to the U.S. automotive industry for use in 

manufacturing cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles. 

PRO-TEC’s 236 employees, called Associates, work in 

a state-of-the-art 730,000-square-foot facility that is 

surrounded by corn and soybean fields, in the small rural 

town of Leipsic, Ohio. The location was chosen for its access 

to Midwestern steel markets, its connection to rail and motor 

transportation, and its proximity to U.S. Steel’s production 

facilities in Indiana and Pennsylvania.

A Blend of Cultures

With its heritage from U.S. Steel and Kobe Steel, 

PRO-TEC has developed its own unique culture centered 

around three fundamental concepts—ownership, responsibility, 

and accountability. From the beginning, the company 

incorporated numerous best-management practices, 

including lean manufacturing and continuous improvement, 

and relied on a well-trained, self-directed, empowered 

workforce to help the company become an industry leader. 

Its mission statement, “To foster human potential, a spirit of 

cooperation, and technical innovation for the betterment of 

our industry, Associates and our community,” further defines 

its culture. The statement appears on company business 

cards and is displayed prominently throughout the 

PRO-TEC facility.

Since its inception, PRO-TEC’s success has been driven 

by its vision: 

	 •	BE totally committed to personal safety and wellness, 

consistently profitable, and recognized as the industry 

technology leader in both product and process; 

	 •	DO maintain high standards for community, 

citizenship, and service; provide on-time delivery with 

world-class quality; and develop/maintain world-class 

facility/business systems; 

	 •	HAVE a highly skilled, engaged workforce committed 

to ongoing performance excellence; optimal utilization of 

production capacity/capability; and valuable vendor/supplier 

relationships.

An Industry Leader

PRO-TEC has succeeded largely by focusing on its 

process for developing advanced high-strength steels that 

inhibit corrosion and help to improve a vehicle’s crash 

performance and fuel economy.

•	PRO-TEC is the industry leader in advanced highstrength steel coating and ultrahigh-strength steel coating, 

supplying about 15 percent of all hot-dipped galvanized steel 

to the automotive market. 

National Institute of Standards and Technology • U.S. Department of Commerce

Baldrige National Quality Program

What is the Malcolm Baldrige 

National Quality Award?

Named after the 26th Secretary of Commerce, the Malcolm 

Baldrige National Quality Award was established by 

Congress in 1987 to promote excellence in organizational 

performance, recognize the achievements and results of 

U.S. organizations, and publicize successful performance 

strategies. For more information, see http://baldrige.nist.gov.

Baldrige 20th Anniversary Highlight:

The Criteria

The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence 

have played a valuable role in helping U.S. organizations 

improve. The Criteria are designed to help organizations 

improve their performance by focusing on three goals: 

delivering ever improving value to customers and 

stakeholders, improving the organization’s overall 

effectiveness, and organizational and personal learning. 

Several million copies of the Criteria have been 

distributed since 1988, and wide-scale reproduction by 

organizations and electronic access add to that number 

significantly. 

Gordon Black, former chairman and chief executive 

officer of Harris/Black International Ltd. (now Harris 

Interactive Inc.), says the publication containing the 

Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence is “probably 

the single most influential document in the modern history 

of American business.”
	 •	PRO-TEC produces in excess of design capacity in

a 24/7 operation.

	 •	PRO-TEC has been profitable for the past 12 years;

sales reached $846 million in 2006.

	 •	Systems reliability is critical to PRO-TEC. The

company has developed a stringent preventative maintenance 

program that includes routine scheduled outages and having 

critical spare parts on-site. Since 2002, PRO-TEC has led 

the industry by operating 98 percent of the time. 

	 •	From 2002 through 2006, PRO-TEC produced no less

than 85 percent of the U.S. advanced high-strength steel 

supply.

	 •	Revenue per associate has continuously improved

and demonstrates industry leadership at approximately $4 

million per associate, nearly four times the Industry Week 90th 

percentile benchmark of slightly more than $1 million per 

associate.

	 •	In a capital-intensive industry, its return on assets, a

measure of long-term viability, has had a sustained upward 

trend since 2002. 

	 •	PRO-TEC consistently achieves the quality

expectations of its customers by delivering products with a 

defect rate of less than 0.12 percent.

	 •	In a 2005 and 2006 survey—covering product quality,

on-time delivery, service, product development, and overall—

PRO-TEC scored better than its competition in all categories. 

Associates Are Leaders

PRO-TEC’s Associates work in self-directed teams and 

are empowered, innovative leaders who fix problems as they 

are identified and use a continuous improvement process 

called “I-to-I” to Initiate and Implement process and 

product improvements. New Associates go through three 

weeks of orientation and training, followed by six months 

of mentoring.

The company’s commitment to Associate quality of life 

through safety, education and training, and an above-average 

compensation and “cafeteria-style” benefits package reflects 

the value PRO-TEC places on attracting and retaining its 

workforce.

	 •	PRO-TEC is committed to lifelong learning for its

Associates. Employees are given time-off to attend classes 

and reimbursed 100 percent for tuition and costs of books. 

	 •	All Associates are salaried and participate in a profitsharing plan that has provided an average payout of 

approximately 15 percent of annual base pay.

	 •	Associate feedback is solicited by a variety of means—

surveys, management “walk-arounds,” open-door policies, 

team meetings, and “Breakfast with Paul” (informal meetings 

with PRO-TEC president Paul Worstell). 

	 •	A 2006 survey found that Associates give a high rating

to quality of life, customer service, system reliability, and 

good citizenship. 

	 •	Associates also agreed or strongly agreed with the

following statements: “The people I work with cooperate and 

work as a team,” “I know what is expected of me at work, “I 

am supported when responding to customers’ questions or 

problems,” and “I am satisfied with my job.”

	 •	PRO-TEC has a turnover rate of less than 2 percent

and has never had a layoff.

	 •	With the exception of a few specialized positions, for

the past five years, all PRO-TEC promotions have been 

from within the company.

Top Priorities: Safety, Community

In a manufacturing environment that poses potential 

hazards, PRO-TEC’s facility was designed with safety, health, 

and security in mind, along with minimizing environmental 

impacts. During an emergency, PRO-TEC’s hierarchy of 

priorities are to first, preserve human life and the safety of 

Associates, responders, and the public; second, minimize 

impact to the environment; and, third, minimize property 

damage and disruption of operations.

	 •	PRO-TEC has developed comprehensive procedures

to prepare for and respond to emergencies such as fires, 

explosions, natural disasters, and the release of hazardous 

materials. 

	 •	Associates participate in ongoing safety initiatives,

which establish safety rules and procedures, requirements for 

personal protection and emergency response equipment, and 

safety training.

	 •	Senior leaders and others have been trained on incident

command, and PRO-TEC has a staff of 31 emergency 

medical technicians on-site to respond to emergencies. 

	 •	Since 2004, PRO-TEC has shown a 1.65 recordable

injury frequency or below per 200,000 man-hours. 

PRO-TEC goes above and beyond just complying with 

environmental regulations. For example, the company 

has implemented voluntary environmental management 

standards developed by the International Organization 

for Standardization and has been recognized by the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Occupational 

Safety and Health Administration for its environmental and 

workplace safety efforts. No other steel processing plant is 

known to have earned both recognitions at the same time. 

An initiative to recycle and reuse water meets 46 percent of 

PRO-TEC’s process water needs.

PRO-TEC leaders and Associates support local 

communities in a number of ways, such as:

	 •	Serving on boards and committees of organizations

such as the United Way and the Business Advisory Council, 

which brings businesses, schools, and community leaders 

together. 

	 •	Annually presenting a $20,000 college scholarship to a

graduate of Leipsic High School.

	 •	Providing a monetary donation, food, equipment, and

labor to help local communities recover from a devastating 

flood in 2007.

For more information:

PRO-TEC Coating Company

5000 County Road #5

Leipsic, OH 45856-9234

Telephone: (419) 943-1100

Fax: (419) 943-1101

Email: info@proteccoating.com

Web site: www.proteccoating.com