"The foundation of Micron's success is our employees.
Their commitment to continuous improvement and meeting the customer's expectations
provides a basis for achieving our quality objectives."
—Steve Appleton, Chairman, CEO, and President
Micron believes that quality values must be internalized at every level of
the organization. Our approach to communicating and implementing these values
is one of encouragement, education and training rather than policing. Ongoing
education and individual support provide employees with the tools, confidence,
and motivation they need to implement Micron's quality philosophy. Through Micron's
quality training program, employees learn both the importance of quality and how
to measure it. Committed to continually improving the quality and reliability
of Micron's products and services, Micron employees have the responsibility and
authority to shut down processes that are not producing high-quality products.
Some organizations limit their potential by limiting the quality improvements
they make to the simple or the obvious. If the return on investment does not appear
to warrant improving a process, they may opt to remain with the status quo, losing
out on the hidden benefits that are realized from improving quality wherever possible.
It has been our experience that although these hidden benefits often cannot be
anticipated, they invariably surface and always prove to be worthwhile. It is
on this basis that our organization is run—Micron's quality plan is paramount
to financial and all other plans.
In February 1994, Micron Technology's quality management system was assessed
by KEMA, an accredited Quality System Registrar. KEMA issued a certificate of
conformance indicating that our system was in compliance with ISO 9001 standards.
This process is called registration.