Abstract

Branch-Smith Inc., a fourth-generation printing company, had its origins in the unlikely success of a boy born without arms in 1868. The company as it exists today takes inspiration from founder Aaron Smith, who taught himself to type with his toes, became an attorney, and eventually founded Smith Printing, which became Branch-Smith in 1954. Adopting Smith's can-do attitude helped the company make a quality transformation, which led to their winning the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2002 in the small business category. In an effort to break out of their typical small company planning, Branch-Smith joined with other small business executives and began implementing total quality management techniques. After performing a Baldrige self-assessment, the company settled on ISO 9001, and later used ISO 9001:2000, as a benchmarking tool and became one of the first printing companies to register to the standard.