Entries for the prestigious SEIFSA Awards for Excellence have opened and the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) is inviting manufacturers operating in the metals and engineering sector to submit their entries.
Hosted by SEIFSA, the awards – now in their sixth year – recognise excellence and honour small and giant manufacturers that promote innovation, transformation, skills development, a safe working environment and good business ethics and excellence.
Announcing the open call for entries, SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba said the Awards, which are open to all companies in the metals and engineering sector, both SEIFSA members and non-members, were born out of the need to recognise and celebrate excellence within the metals and engineering sector.
“For over a decade, the metals and engineering sector has been faced with a myriad of challenges, including sluggish economic growth, lack of demand, rising operating costs and unreliable power supply, yet, companies in this crucial sector continue to strive to achieve excellence in their day-to-day operations. It is against this backdrop that we decided to honour and celebrate such companies and to encourage others to emulate them,” Mr Nyatsumba said.
He encouraged companies to enter the awards before the 28 April 2020 deadline not only so they can be recognised and celebrated by their industry peers, but also so they can be an inspiration to other companies.
Mr Nyatsumba said entrants will be assessed on their performance during the period 1 July 2018 to 31 December 2019 in seven different categories, namely:
- The Most Innovative Company of the Year, which will be awarded to a company that showed the best level of innovation in research and development or production;
- The Health and Safety Award of the Year, will be offered to a company with the best legal compliance record in Health and Safety or the lowest Lost-Time Injury Frequency rate;
- The company rated the highest in customer service performance between July 2018 and December 2019 will receive the Customer Service Award of the Year;
- The Environmental Stewardship Award will go to a company that has successfully implemented greening initiatives in its day-to-day business operations;
- The Artisan Award will be made to the company that trained the highest number of artisans during that 18-month period;
- The Best CSI Award will be presented to a company whose corporate social investment programme/s between July 2018 and December 2019 had a major impact on the lives of its beneficiaries; and
- The Most Transformed Company of the Year Award category is split into two by company size: the first covers companies employing fewer than 100 people and the second one looks at companies employing more than 100 people. This, according to Mr Nyatsumba, ensures that companies are judged against their peers to encourage fairness.
Winners of the 2020 SEIFSA Awards for Excellence will be honoured at a ceremony that will take place at Summer Place in Boksburg on 28 May 2020.
At last year’s glamorous ceremony, HC Heat Exchangers and Pamodzi Unique Engineering were amongst the winners, with HC Heat Exchangers walking away with the Most Innovative Company of the Year Award and Pamodzi Unique Engineering clinching the Most Transformed Company of the Year Award. Other winners included Babcock International, Howden and Schneider Electric.