Manufacturer of the Year
Pictured above: Brett Perry from Dematic with Ian MacFarlane, Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources
Colby Storage Solutions parent company Dematic has been named Manufacturer of the Year at the annual 2005 Endeavour Awards.
Dematic won a total of 3 awards at the well-known industry event and was named Manufacturer of the year ahead of 29 other finalists. Dematic also won awards for Environmental Solution of the Year and Safety Scheme of the Year.
The awards were presented by Ian MacFarlane, Minister for Industry, at a gala breakfast ceremony held in Sydney on the 31st August.
Dematic Executive General Manager, Steve Reeve, said he was delighted at the news of winning the awards.
“This is fantastic recognition for all the hard work and dedication of our factory team. We are especially proud of our professional and uncompromising approach to environmental and safety issues“.
“The Australian Manufacturing industry is often criticised, but I believe that Dematic has demonstrated that with the right team and commitment, it is possible to compete on a global scale.”
Rob Norton, Dematic Manufacturing Manager, attributes the Dematic’s success to a unique program of continuous improvement that has been running for 3 years. The program encompasses a competition called ‘Super 12’s’, loosely modeled on the rugby competition, which facilitates active participation from every factory staff member. Teams compete against one another to come up with ideas for environmental, safety and productivity improvements. These ideas are presented back to the group and are assessed by a panel of judges. Awards are given to teams with the most innovative improvement ideas. Mr Norton says;
“The continuous improvement program (Super 12’s) has been instrumental in achieving such outstanding results in the areas of environmental and safety responsibility. Our people and our culture are the key to our success. Our staff are motivated and proactive in thinking of new ways to improve factory operations. The competition allows them to have fun, gain recognition and be rewarded for their efforts”.
Mr Norton continued, “Since beginning operations in 1999, the manufacturing plant has doubled its production levels. During this time, Dematic has been able to improve its cleaner manufacturing performance and safety levels. We have reduced our lost time severity rate by 90% and our lost time injury rate by 80%”.
“Furthermore, attention to housekeeping alone has resulted in substantial reductions in CO2 emissions and savings to water and energy use. The introduction of lasers has increased material yield by 30% and the volume of scrap metal waste has been reduced substantially.”
“Dematic’s safety focus has evolved into a management system that features continual improvement, true employee involvement, comprehensive training programs and pro-active hazard identification and risk reduction”.
The Dematic manufacturing plant is located at Belrose, NSW. It employs 40-60 workers at any given time and operates 5 days a week. The factory produces a wide variety of materials handling products such as conveyors and pallet racking that is sold primarily through Dematic's well known distributor network, Colby Storage Solutions.
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