CERADYNE, INC. earns KRONOS best practice award

Costa Mesa, Calif.—Ceradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRDN) earned a distinguished Kronos Incorporated Best Practices Award. Kronos presented the Best Practices Award to Ceradyne, Inc. during an awards ceremony at the KronosWorks Worldwide Customer Conference held October 19-22 in Orlando, Florida . The award recognizes individuals and organizations that have achieved unprecedented value and success through the effective implementation and deployment of a Kronos solution.

Seven finalists were chosen from applications received from around the world. Accepting the award on behalf of Ceradyne were Donna Vlha, Business Systems Manager, and Mark Nguyen, IT Project Manager and Kronos implementation lead.

Ceradyne, Inc., a worldwide leader in the development and production of advanced technical ceramics, was recognized for best practices in engaging its workforce in implementing the Kronos software solution. In an effort to develop leaner manufacturing practices while positively impacting employee morale, Ceradyne incorporated Overall Labor Effectiveness, a unique key performance indicator developed by Kronos, which provides the cumulative effect of workforce utilization, performance, and quality in a single metric. Comprehensive reports at all levels, ease of use, and improved system performance were key factors in maximizing the user experience and meeting the overall objectives.

Mark Nguyen commented: “If there is one thing that is common to virtually all manufacturers, it is that they face incessant pressure to lower costs while maintaining high quality. Most manufacturers have already automated as many aspects of production as possible, so the final frontier for wringing costs out of the process is to increase productivity. This is a challenge because increased productivity that truly improves a company’s performance only comes through improving the cumulative effect of labor availability, performance, and quality.”

Ceradyne’s Chief Financial Officer, Jerrold J. Pellizzon, added: “Our entire Kronos implementation team is to be congratulated for their excellent work in helping us to continue to reduce costs. This award is indicative of the outstanding people at Ceradyne that continue to add value for our shareholders.”