Frankfort does not have quality inspectors or a cadre of safety managers. Quality control and safety issues are, for the most part, in the hands of hourly workers. We have safety teams facilitated by our safety specialist, but those teams consist of hourly workers from the shop floor. They do the safety inspections and write up discrepancies. Then the product line teams resolve any issues.
Operators control the system.
Quality and safety have improved with this arrangement. The rate of defective parts per million has gone from 1,020 in 1996 to 309 in 1997 to an average of 58.7 for 1998 through Sept. '99. Regarding safety, the plant surpassed 500,000 work hours without a lost-time accident in 1998. Numbers from 1999 were nearly as stellar. We are in an extremely tough market.