Hozelock and ZF Lemforder honoured at Manufacturing Exellence Awards

Jun 26 2009 By Graeme Brown

Two West Midlands companies have won awards in recognition of cutting edge manufacturing despite a year of gloom for the industry.

Sutton Coldfield-based garden sprayer-maker Hozelock and Solihull automotive supplier ZF Lemforder were rewarded at the 2009 Manufacturing Excellence Awards (MX).

Hozelock scooped the logistics and resource efficiency accolade at the event, held at The Dorchester in London, and Land Rover-supplier ZF Lemforder took home the award for integrated e-business.

After a tough year for the automotive industry, which has seen record falls in production levels, Adrian Chell, site manager at ZF Lemforder, said he was pleased the company’s efforts had been recognised.

Mr Chell said: “The manufacturing industry, and in particular the automotive sector, are going through very tough times right now which can lower morale. However, we have a hard-working team who have a real sense of pride and it is a great boost to be recognised at the national level. Winning this award is a tremendous achievement for everyone.”

It was the second consecutive year that Hozelock had won an MX award, and managing director Peter Rush said delighted, saying: “The current difficult economic climate puts an even greater premium on management skills, innovation, customer service and resource efficiency.

“Hozelock invests continuously in all of these and it is very gratifying for our entire team to achieve such recognition in these prestigious awards.”

Latest figures show production output has fallen for 12 months running in the UK, presenting a significant challenge to manufacturers.

The annual rate of decline reached 13.8 per cent in February, steeper than at any time since January 1981, despite signs of life returning to the sector in recent months. Mr Rush said Hozelock has followed a focused three-year development strategy in order to continue to compete effectively on a world stage despite the conditions.

Fellow West Midlands manufacturers JSC Rotational, based in Worcestershire, and Boss Design, in Dudley, also got the latter stages of the awards.

Karen Drinkwater, director of JSC, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have got this far in the MX Awards. We know that such success could only be achieved by the combined efforts and loyalty of the JSC Team. No doubt this will inspire them to continue with their dedicated approach.”

The MX competition is run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and business development manager for the Midlands Steve Gasser said: “All of these companies have weathered the storm of recent difficult times based on their ability to supply the market and remain competitive.”

Judges and supporters of MX include leading experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers, BIS’ Manufacturing Advisory Service, Autodesk, the Warwick Manufacturing Group, BP and Arup.