PricewaterhouseCoopers Award for Customer Focus
This category focuses on the service level provided to your customers and the robustness of the quality system that supports your business. In today’s competitive markets, understanding your customer requirements and delivering quality products on time is essential for establishing long-term relationships and working partnerships.

Autodesk Award for Product Innovation
New product introduction is essential for sustaining future business. This category seeks to understand how new products are designed, released to manufacture and assesses the commercial success of new products you have released in the last three years.

IXC-UK Ltd Award for Process Innovation
This category aims to evaluate any significant changes that have been introduced to improve the quality and cost competitiveness of existing supply-chain and manufacturing processes. Process innovation is the result of good design. World-class manufacturing operations are a consequence of a detailed process design supported by continual improvement following implementation.

WMG Award for Logistics and Resource Efficiency
This category focuses on current thinking on good manufacturing practices. Companies that have embraced these concepts and rigorously considered the implications for their manufacturing operations will be in a much stronger position to compete in global markets and offer customers in the UK high quality products, at competitive prices.

IMechE Award for Business Development and Change Management
This category endeavours to capture how changes associated with winning new markets: product innovation, supply-chain redesign and such are managed in your company. Change management is key to delivering an excellent business performance. Therefore companies must be structured around robust business processes that have been designed to meet the changing business needs.

Professional Engineering Award for People Effectiveness
The selection, training and development of people enabling them to reach their full potential are the foundation of a successful business. This category determines the progress you have made towards creating a skilled workforce. People are a company’s greatest asset and must be selected for jobs based upon their level of competence, with opportunities for people to attain their full potential.

National B2B Award for Integrated e-Business
In a highly competitive global market the likelihood of UK manufacturers surviving and prospering will depend largely on their ability to conduct business electronically. This means using e-business to provide an integrated backbone to manufacturing operations in order to work effectively with customers and suppliers. Joined up processes demand integration of both internal and external systems and this category is intended to recognise those businesses that are using integrated e-business to gain competitive advantage.

ERIKS Award for Financial Management
The confidential information that you provide in the Self Assessment Audit enable assessors to make a meaningful financial comparison of your business performance. However, this award will be decided by assessing the best financial practices used to manage and control your business, and their influence on achieving a strong financial performance.

BP Award for Best Partnership between Business and Education
This category aims to assess the progress companies have made towards building a two-way partnerships with schools, colleges and universities. It also reviews how children and young people are able to relate academic study to the world of work. People working in industry have valuable experience to offer children and young people before they enter tomorrow’s manufacturing workforce, therefore it is important to recognise best practice and understand the partnerships that have been built between companies and educational establishments.

Arup Award for Sustainable Manufacturing
Sustainable manufacturing is an increasingly important consideration for corporate and public sector customers and also for many end consumers. It therefore provides a valuable opportunity for competitive differentiation. At the same time the introduction of legislation is driving businesses to think not only about the environmental impact of their production processes but also about the impact of products over their entire life cycle. Failure to embrace these important challenges will lead to increased operating costs and missed business opportunities.