AT a gala breakfast held in Sydney on August 31, Waratah Engineering was named Manufacturer of the Year at this year's Endeavour Awards, hosted by Manufacturers' Monthly magazine and sponsored by BlueScope Steel .Manufacturers' Monthly (right)." style="WIDTH: 200px;" />
The New South Wales based manufacturing company won the award for its outstanding product "the Waracar" - a shuttlecar designed to transport coal in an underground mine.
Mark Kingshott, MD of Waratah Engineering, told the packed room of 130 leading manufacturers he was excited to win the prestigious award, describing the Waracar as "a unique product that successfully stood against multi-national companies in the US".
The Waracar was also named winner of the Import Replacement Product Award.
Other winners and highly commended companies for the eight categories included:
* Broens Industries (winner - Technology Application Award);
* CHEP Automotive (highly commended - Technology Application Award);
* The Old Colonial Cookie Company (winner - Exporter of the Year Award);
* EV Alert and Apollo Engineering (both highly commended - Exporter of the Year Award);
* Waratah Engineering (winner - Import Replacement Product Award);
* Apollo Engineering (highly commended - Import Replacement Product Award);
* Linpac Rotational Mouldings (winner - Innovative Product for Consumers Award);
* Thermofilm Australia (highly commended - Innovative Product for Consumers Award);
* Bomac Engineering (winner - Innovative Product for Industry Award);
* ANCA (highly commended - Innovative Product for Industry Award);
* HJ Heinz (winner - Environmental Solution Award);
* Penfolds Buscombe (highly commended - Environment Solution Award);
* Bostik Findley (winner - Safety Scheme Award);
* Smorgon Steel (highly commended - Safety Scheme Award);
* Nick Kinny from Broens Industries (winner - Young Manufacturer of the Year); and
* Steven Jones from Heat and Control (highly commended - Young Manufacturer of the Year)
Speaking at the gala breakfast, held at the Imax theatre at Darling Harbour, Alan Johnson, editor of Manufacturers' Monthly and one of the judges for the Endeavour awards, said the awards program, established in 2004, recognises the essential role manufacturing plays in Australia's economy.
"The 38 successful finalists embody the drive and the passion of manufacturing in Australia today.
"These often un-sung champions are just a small part of a vibrant, high-tech and innovative industry, producing world-class products for both local and overseas markets.
"The Endeavour Awards is an opportunity to highlight their hard work and dedication, and to celebrate their strength and commitment to our industry," he said.
Johnson also thanked this year's category sponsors, which included PTC Australia, Atlas Copco, Sick, Export Finance & Insurance Corporation, Seiko, Chicago Pneumatic Industrial Tools, Industry Capability Network (ICN) and TAFE NSW.
Read the October edition of Manufacturers' Monthly for full coverage of the event, plus profiles of the award-winning companies and their products.