Awards recognise industrial excellence

Frost and Sullivan honoured industry leaders for their exceptional performance at its 2006 Industrial Excellence Awards Banquet.

Frost and Sullivan honoured industry leaders for their exceptional performance at its 2006 Industrial Excellence Awards Banquet.

The annual awards ceremony was held in London.

Over 30 awards were bestowed across the industrial automation and electronics, energy and power supply systems and environment and building technologies sectors.

The award categories include leadership, innovation and excellence in product development and technology, outstanding strategy leadership in growth, competitiveness, business development, product line and sales.

Awards for overall market leadership and for the most promising emerging companies were also presented at the banquet.

John Raspin, Practice Director at Frost and Sullivan for Energy and Environment, and Iain Jawad, Practice Director for Automation and Electronics, welcomed the banquet delegates.

"One of Frost and Sullivan's main aims is to acknowledge outstanding industry achievements and demonstration of best practices by presenting awards to top companies in regional and global markets", said Raspin.

"Our industry experts recognise the diligence and innovation required to implement a successful business plan and excel in the increasingly competitive global marketplace".

Iain Jawad gave an overview of the market in Eastern Europe.

"The Eastern European market is going to remain an important European manufacturing base", noted the Director of Automation and Electronics.

"However, unlike other emerging markets such as China, production is generally less driven by domestic demand".

"It can have greater opportunities from an absolute sise of opportunity in comparison to other markets such as India, on an industry by industry basis".

Jawad's punctual analysis and forecast introduced the keynote speaker.

Matthew Hill, leading coach, consultant and intercultural trainer for multinational businesses delivered the keynote speech.

While discussing the topic of "Investing in Central Europe: why now?", Hill noted: "The region offers multiple benefits ranging from an educated population fluent in major languages such as English, German and French, good tax incentives and, production costs that are often 40% lower than in the west to easy geographical access to numerous economically promising markets together with a prospective 130 million person market".

However, warning of the perils of the "invisible culture" of the region, Hill stressed that entrants needed to do their homework and be prepared for the challenges ahead.

"Building trust, adapting your message to regional peculiarities, ensuring a smooth cultural translation from the western to the central and eastern worlds, and making the most of experienced personnel familiar with change will be essential in capitalising on growth opportunities in Central Europe".

Award recipients at the evening's banquet included Ceres Power, Kvaerner Power, MGE UPS Systems, Honeywell Security Deutschland, Novar, IST International Security Technology, Sagem Defense Securite, Esab, SEW Eurodrive, Emerson Network Power, Aggreko and Grundfos.

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