SARASOTA, FL — Ingersoll Rand Co. and VirTex Assembly Services, Inc. were named the Progressive Manufacturers of the Year for 2009 at a black-tie gala held last night in conjunction with Managing Automation Media’s fifth annual Progressive Manufacturing Summit.
Ingersoll Rand’s Industrial Technologies Sector, a manufacturer of air compressors, motors, and other advanced thermal technologies, received the Progressive Manufacturer of the Year Award for large companies with more than $1 billion in revenue.
VirTex, a provider of electronic manufacturing services based in Austin, TX, received the Progressive Manufacturer of the Year Award for small and medium-sized companies.
Nominations for the 2010 Progressive Manufacturing Awards are already being accepted. For information on nominating your company, click here.
Responding to intense economic and competitive challenges, both companies were able to increase revenue, improve operational efficiencies, and expand into new areas of opportunity by more closely collaborating with their customers, eliminating operational waste, and using advanced technologies to automate core business processes.
Receiving the Progressive Manufacturer of the Year Awards from Managing Automation Editor-in-Chief David R. Brousell and Executive Editor Jeff Moad was Ingersoll Rand’s James R. Bolch, president of the company’s Industrial Technologies Sector. Accepting for VirTex was Brad Heath, president and CEO.
“Receiving this award is about as good as it gets for a manufacturer,” Heath told an audience comprising 99 other Progressive Manufacturing Award winners last night at a gala banquet held at Sarasota’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Since its inception in 2003, the Progressive Manufacturing concept — which advocates manufacturing business transformation supported by advanced technology — has been underpinned by a set of key business and technology disciplines. The award winners are selected according to their success in mastering one or more of the eight core masteries as defined by the Managing Automation editorial team. Many Progressive Manufacturing 100 Award winners said at this week’s summit that they believe their efforts to master PM core disciplines will help their companies thrive, particularly as the worldwide recession lifts.
A group of 14 expert judges selected the Progressive Manufacturing Award winners after reviewing a record number of nominations in 2009.
Also at the gala dinner, Managing Automation presented Progressive Manufacturing High Achiever Awards to the eight manufacturers that demonstrated the highest-level mastery of individual PM mastery categories. The eight winners were: