The Progressive Manufacturer of the Year will be the manufacturer that has demonstrated mastery of multiple disciplines.

Progressive Manufacturer of the Year

The Progressive Manufacturer of the Year honors both a large and small/medium-sized company. This will allow us to recognize two companies for their distinct achievements in overall Progressive Manufacturing.

Editor’s Choice Award

This award represents companies that have caught the attention of our editors for special recognition.

Leadership

Companies that have mastered MA's Progressive Manufacturing disciplines are led by creative, out-of-the-box thinkers who visualize and guide organizations toward transformative ways of doing business. These individuals function as change agents, catalyzing the entire manufacturing enterprise to embrace revamped and retooled ways of doing business, while keeping technology aligned with business strategy.

award sub-categories include:

• Leadership development program
• Sustainability leadership
• Industry leadership

Operational Excellence

Companies that achieve operational excellence are those that have mastered the ideas of continuous improvement as advocated in such disciplines as Six Sigma and lean manufacturing. And they achieve measurable excellence not only in internal operations but also in those processes that involve customers, partners and suppliers.

award sub-categories include:

• Continuous improvement
• Wireless networking
• Automation Platforms

Business Model Mastery

Companies that have redefined their business model, including core competencies, in order to compete more effectively or have re-engineering a significant business process or processes to achieve a competitive advantage.

award sub-categories include:

• Model replacement
• Model addition
• Model overhaul

Customer Mastery

Companies that have become customer-centric operationally by re-thinking and re-engineering processes around customer demand and have achieved demonstrable improvements in customer satisfaction ratings as a result. Companies will have also achieved significant improvements in mastering information about customers and customer markets and leveraging that information for competitive advantage.

award sub-categories include:

• Order management
• Service and support
• CRM deployment

Data and Integration Mastery

Companies that have achieved systems/process integration between two or more business functions or processes. These can include such internal functions as design, production/assembly, logistics/warehousing, and service/support or external supply chain or customer/partner related issues.

award sub-categories include:

• Enterprise intelligence
• Enterprise integration
• Enterprise applications

Innovation Mastery

Companies that have achieved a significant advance or breakthrough in product concept, design, production or ability to deliver to customers. Innovation can be the result of an advance in basic research, research and development, or product development.

award sub-categories include:

• Product lifecycle management deployment
• Digital Factory
• Breakthrough product

Supply Network Mastery

Companies that have rethought, re-engineered and improved the operations of their material procurement, production and execution aspects of their supply chains to achieve faster time to market, cost reductions and efficiencies, and higher customer satisfaction ratings.

award sub-categories include:

• Demand planning
• Sourcing
• Supply chain execution

Training and Education Mastery

Companies that have devised/deployed programs to advance employee knowledge and use of advanced automation and IT technologies on an on-going basis and with demonstrable results. Also, may include companies that have instituted scholarship or other promotional programs to encourage secondary or college-level students to pursue a career in manufacturing, with demonstrable results of those programs.

award sub-categories include:

• Corporate training initiative
• Professional development
• Advocacy and awareness

The accomplishments of Managing Automation's Progressive Manufacturing 100 will be celebrated at an award ceremony that concludes our Progressive Manufacturing Summit, May 3-5 at the Breakers, Palm Beach, Florida. Don't miss your chance to celebrate your company's accomplishments with the industry's top performers. Get recognized for the technology-driven business processes your company is utilizing to better manage operational costs, and more effectively contend with the growing challenges of globalization, outsourcing and off-shoring.