Top awards for Aussie manufacturers

Some of the leading lights of Australia’s manufacturing world have today been named among the country’s most progressive businesses in the 2011 Australian Business Awards.

Food manufacturer General Mills Australia, safety and protection product specialists SOS Marine, steel tube and pipe manufacturer Orrcon Steel, and solar power specialists Barefoot Power were just some of the manufacturers recognised alongside some of the biggest names in Australian business in the leading business awards program.

Now in its sixth year, the Australian Business Awards recognise organisations that demonstrate the core values of business excellence, product excellence, corporate responsibility, sustainability and commercial success in their respective industries.

The manufacturer behind food brands such as Latina, Nature Valley and Old El Paso, General Mills Australia was a winner in the Recommended Employer category, which recognises organisations that provide a stimulating and supportive workplace.

Barefoot Power, which focuses on manufacturing lighting and phone charging products specifically for low income populations that don’t have access to electricity, earned two awards for Enterprise and Community Contribution, the latter of which recognises companies that implement policies or projects that positively impact the community and generate outcomes that have a long term benefit.

In the product award categories, Orrcon Steel collected the Best Software Product award for its Section Translation Guide (STG), which has helped revolutionise the way engineers carry out comparisons of open steel sections to hollow steel sections, while SOS Marine won both the Product Excellence and Best New Product awards for its SOS Dan Buoy, a compact, self-contained marker that helps make rescue of people in the water easier and quicker.

The most comprehensive awards program of its kind, the Australian Business Awards are open to all organisations across private, public and non-profit sectors and comprise an established series of business and product award categories.

A total of 103 recipients were honoured from the 928 organisations that participated in the 2011 Awards.

For more information and the full list of winners visit: www.businessawards.com.au