Efficiency makes it E-Zer

In this economy, the message cannot be made clear enough: If U.S. manufacturers are to survive, let alone succeed, the key lies in efficiency. Wasteful businesses will not make it.

That commitment to efficiency is why Augusta's E-Z-Go won the distinguished Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence on Thursday.

Named for one of the creators of Toyota's manufacturing system, the Shingo Prize honors businesses that show the most impressive results from operational efficiency.

E-Z-Go, the world's largest manufacturer of golf carts and utility vehicles, has in recent years significantly reduced its energy and water consumption while posting marked increases in operating profit, quality and delivery.

The Shingo is the highest award a company can receive for efficiency and performance.

Winning such a prestigious award is a shining achievement for a business that started locally as a one-room machine shop in 1954. It also is a shining example of how well business and industry can thrive in the CSRA.

That's important not just for the Augusta area but for the entire golfing world. After all, between E-Z-Go and Club Car, this area makes nearly 90 percent of the planet's supply of golf carts.

If the industry were government, it might try to tax or borrow its way out of the current economic downturn -- which Bloomberg says could be the longest since 1933. But private companies don't have that luxury.

Well, necessity being the mother of invention and all, tough times give birth to creative efficiencies.

E-Z-Go may have gotten an award for its efficiences -- 10 percent less energy used since 2006, 85 percent less water over six years -- but the reward may be a greater ability to weather hard times.

When the going gets tough -- sometimes the tough get awards.

Congratulations, E-Z-Go.