PEX Network Announces European Process Excellence Awards 2012

LONDON – 26 APRIL: An English medical trust, a French bank, and one of the world’s largest energy companies were among the winners of PEX Network’s European Process Excellence Awards.

The awards were presented during the PEX Week Europe summit - a multi-day event for process improvement professionals - in London, UK.

The awards celebrate process excellence programmes and initiatives that have delivered outstanding results. At the European Process Excellence Awards there were four categories: Best Start Up Business Excellence Programme (Under 2 Years), Best Business Excellence Programme (Over 2 Years), Best Process Improvement Project (Under 90 Days), and Best Process Improvement Project (Over 90 Days).

A total of eight awards - a winner and honorary mention in each category - were handed out at the special recognition ceremony on Tuesday evening, during the PEX Week Europe summit, PEX Network’s flagship gathering of process improvement professionals, which takes place every April in London, UK. The awards represent outstanding achievement in the field of process excellence and improving company operations.

"The quality and scope of applicants to this year’s European awards proves to us that companies within the Euro-zone are really seeing process improvement as a key way of competing in what has been difficult environment for the last couple of years," said PEX Network Director, Vanessa Lovatt. "A special congratulations to all of our winners and finalists, but also a thank you to all those who submitted entries."

Each category was judged by a panel of professionals with extensive practical experience in process improvement. A shortlist was drawn up for each category and finalists were invited to participate in face-to-face interviews with judges during the PEX Week event before the winners were selected.

"Each year we find that the types of projects and improvement work undertaken by companies is vastly different," said Amanda Jenkins, Director of Operations at PEX Network. "But we're always very impressed by the high calibre of entries."

Winners and honourable mentions for the 2012 European Process Excellence awards in London were as follows:

Best Start Up Business Excellence Program (Under 2 Years)

This award celebrates the achievements of new Business Process Excellence programs of up to 2 years in deployment – covering Lean, Six Sigma & Business Process Management (BPM).

Winner: Sodexo

Honorary Mention: Roche Pharmaceuticals

Best Process Excellence Program (Over 2 Years)

This award recognizes a mature Business Process Excellence Program. Entrants were judged on their strategy, capacity for delivery and the extent to which they have created an environment for change.

Winner: Bolton NHS Foundation Trust

Honorary Mention: AES Corporation

Best Process Improvement Project Over 90 Days

This award recognizes improvements in manufacturing or service and transactional environments using Lean, Six Sigma or any other recognized Process Excellence tool. Entrants were judged on the ability to prove their operational and business results as well as clarity in execution throughout the process and sustainability.

Winner: Credit Agricole Corporate Investment Bank

Honorary Mention: Sellafield, Capenhurst Site

Best Process Improvement Project Under 90 Days

This award recognizes the business impact and scope of projects with short cycle times and quick wins for the business. Improvement projects must have been under 90 days in duration.

Winner: VAC Kolkata

Honorary Mention: AES Corporation

PEX Network will be featuring interviews with some of the award winning entries in the coming weeks. The interviews will be available on PEXNetwork.com, a web portal that provides resources and information for process professionals.

[ENDS]

For Press Inquiries please contact Veronica Araujo, PEX Network Marketing Manager:

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7368 9748

E-mail: veronica.araujo@iqpc.co.uk

About Process Excellence Awards

The Process Excellence Awards have been established to honour, recognize and celebrate projects that demonstrate true best practices. Unlike other awards programs they’re for community and judged by the community. To identify and assess the entries, PEX Network assembles a prestigious group of experts and business leaders to represent the judging panel. All renowned for their years of experience and leadership, our independent judging panel is ideally placed to pick out the shining stars of Process Excellence and innovation.

About PEX Network

PEX Network is an online, free to join, membership portal providing process professionals with exclusive access to a library of multimedia resources from top executives on Lean Six Sigma, BPM, Operational Excellence, Continuous Improvement and other process excellence related topics.

In addition to online resources, PEX Network organizes 30+ targeted face-to-face events globally per year with industry specific focuses on Financial Services, Telecoms & Utilities, and Energy. We also hold major cross industry summits on process excellence in Orlando, FL (PEX Week) and in London, England (PEX Week Europe) every January and April.