The Kennedy Group Recognized for Best Practices in Operations Management

May 26, 2010 - PRLog -- Cleveland, OH – On behalf of the ten-member Board of Directors, Dan DiFilippo, CPIM Acting President and Dennis Okocha, CPIM President-Elect of the APICS Cleveland Chapter, presented The Kennedy Group of Willoughby, Ohio with the 2010 APICS Cleveland Chapter Company of the Year Award at the May 12th chapter meeting.   Kevin Marie, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Material Handling and RFID businesses attended and accepted the award plaque for the company.

Mike Kennedy, President of The Kennedy Group expressed appreciation and delight at the unexpected honor. “(The APICS Company of the Year Award is)…a very pleasant surprise and a great tribute to the work and commitment of our organization.  This is a reflection on the team’s dedication,“ he acknowledged credit upon learning about the award.

APICS The Association for Operations Management, is a global professional association whose mission is leadership in advancing the body of knowledge in operations management, including production, inventory supply chain, materials management, purchasing and logistics. APICS was established in 1957. The APICS Cleveland Chapter has about 400 members.  

The primary mission for the APICS Cleveland chapter is to teach operations management classes and encourage its members to complete educational courses and tests leading up to certifications in production and inventory management - CPIM or earn the certified supply chain professional designation - CSCP.  Organizing plant tours and professional development meetings - PDM's, are important activities for the chapter.  These serve as forums to keep its membership informed on the hot topics and trends in supply chain and operations management.

The Kennedy Group was selected by the Cleveland Chapter as the 2010 Company of the Year for its excellence in manufacturing and operations management. The Kennedy Group is a family owned and operated business established in 1974.  The company is a leading developer and manufacturer of package labeling, promotional products, tracking and identification solutions for such industries as consumer products, industrial, automotive, material handling, biomedical, healthcare, and chemical.  Subscribing to a philosophy of hard work, competence and futuristic thinking, the Kennedy team has grown the business by providing quality products and services to customers in over 40 states and seven countries.  Business operations achieved AIB certification founded on lean manufacturing and CGMP.

APICS members visited the Willoughby headquarters and plant in November 2009 during one of its PDM events.  The Kennedy Group had the opportunity to host a plant tour which included a demonstration of capabilities and gave members the chance to observe operations at the 80,000 square foot facility, situated on a 30-acre campus in Willoughby, Ohio.  

The APICS Board of Directors was pleased to note the many successes the Kennedy plant had achieved in the area of applying supply chain and operations management concepts. The lean initiatives exemplified by the work flow design as well as production scheduling and tracking tools used in the plant impressed the APICS board as among best practices in the Cleveland business community. The company’s competency in RFID technology was also cited as a factor that enhanced selection for this award.  The APICS program year runs from September to May and the visit to the Kennedy facility was part of the 2009/10 program year.

More information about APICS is available at the APICS corporate website  http://www.apics.org and the Cleveland Chapter website http://www.apicscleveland.org.   To learn more about The Kennedy Group visit http://www.kennedygrp.com.

About The Kennedy Group
The Kennedy Group operations are comprised of four divisions: The Label and Packaging Products Division represent the core business of pressure sensitive labels and packaging products, serving the food, beverage, household chemical, health and beauty, automotive, and industrial markets.  The Material Handling Identification Systems Division provides identification and tracking solutions with its flagship placard label holders and nameplates.  Placards are applied to reusable containers, racks and pallet storage areas.  The RFID Solutions Division offers end-to-end RFID deployment, from proof-of-concept testing, to providing software, hardware, integration services, supplying the RFID tags and application equipment.  The Promotional Response Products Division offers front page newspaper advertising programs with a wide assortment of colorful, stick-on notes, booklets, magnets and cards, as removable advertisements placed on over 450 newspapers with a daily circulation of 35 million.

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Developer and manufacturer of pressure sensitive labels and packaging, promotional products, material handling tracking and identification, as well as RFID solutions, for food, beverage, health, beauty, industrial, automotive, and chemical markets.