CLEVELAND—Four North American assembly plants are among the six factories named as Industry Week magazine’s “Best Plants.” The six factories are Boston Scientific (Maple Grove, MN); Cessna Mexico (Chihuahua, Mexico); L.B. Foster Rail Technologies Corp. (Vancouver, BC); General Cable Corp. (Marion, IN); The Raymond Corp. (Greene, NY); and T&S Brass and Bronze Works (Travelers Rest, SC).

YORK, PA—Harley-Davidson’s motorcycle assembly plant here was named among Industry Week magazine’s “Best Plants” of 2013.

Manufacturers vigorously seek out best practices because they can improve metrics, such as stock price, sales and profitability. There’s only one problem: Best practices are the actions that solved yesterday’s problems.