Saint Gobain Glass gets coveted Best Factory Award

Saint-Gobain Glass’ plant at Eggborough, Yorkshire, which produces nine miles of glass a day was last month named as the Deloitte Factory of the Year at the Best Factory Awards. The awards, run by Cranfield School of Management with Works Management magazine, are the most prestigious and difficult to attain in the UK. Entrants are subject to intense scrutiny, with awards director Dr Marek Szwejczewski and his team visiting the entire shortlist for detailed on the ground assessment. 15 awards were presented at the London Hilton, introduced by Nick Brayshaw, chairman of the CBI’s manufacturing council, who said that world class performances should be celebrated and published to the industrial community so that all could learn what’s required today. Dr Szwejczewski said: “The winners show us just what you have to do to be successful in the modern manufacturing environment. Success comes from having strong leadership, a clear manufacturing strategy, an embedded culture of continuous improvement, being customer focused, innovating both products and processes, and investing in improving your capabilities – both the people and the technology.” At the awards, Saint-Gobain Glass also scooped the Best Process Plant Award, the Best Health, Safety and Environmental Award and the Regional Award for Yorkshire and Humber. Other award winners included contract manufacturer Prism Electronics, which took the award for the Most Improved Plant. The company, which went live in May with a Syspro ERP system from McGuffie Brunton, says it has streamlined internal procedures and processes and improved integration between functions. It will shortly bring in engineering change control under Syspro. Says David Aspinall, Prism managing director: “Reaching the shortlist in such a prestigious national award was great. Winning the Award is a tremendous achievement and has fully endorsed our efforts.” Meanwhle, winner of the K3-sponsored Best Small Company category was Power Panels Electrical Systems, which also took two other awards (Supply Chain Award and the Judges Special Award) and grabbed deserved recognition for all small manufacturers. Paul Williams, business development director at K3 presented the award to Power Panels’ CEO, David Fox, who said the secret behind the company’s success lay in its culture and its people. “Our customers, suppliers and employees have all played their part in the transformation of the business from traditional panel-builder into a world-leading manufacturer of electrical assemblies. Being recognised in the BFA Awards can only act as an incentive for all UK manufacturers to focus on becoming world-beaters.” Chris Wyles, Divisional Director, Findlay Publications (publisher of Works Management and this journal) said: “For any awards scheme to matter, the standards have to be set high, and nowhere is this more true than with the Best Factory Awards. “The stringent judging criteria mean that this year’s winning companies have all demonstrated excellence throughout their businesses and are achieving impressive results against fierce domestic and international competition. That is important to UK manufacturing because it clearly shows we can compete with the best when we get it right.”