Press Release

The search for excellence in Europe moves one step closer.

27th March 2009, London UK: Following a month of assessment 4 finalists for each of IQPCs Process Excellence Awards have been selected and released yesterday. Over 70 individual applicants submitted their leading improvement programmes and Process Excellence projects into the first judging round hoping that they had what it takes to stand-up against previous Process Excellence winners.

Megan James, Process Excellence Summit & Awards Director, IQPC said "Despite the impact of the economy this year on business activity, the judges were highly impressed with the quality and innovative nature of every application — it really was a tough call to select just 4 finalists in each category"

The selected 2009 Process Excellence Award finalists include:

BEST PROJECT CONTRIBUTING TO INNOVATION

• Larsen & Toubro: Design and development of quarter draw out module (Motor Starter) for Motor Control Centre switchboard
• Lloyd's Register: New Construction Orderbook Data Project
• ScottishPower: Automate the Doorstep Sales Process
• Sutherland Global Services: Reduction of Abandonment Rate

BEST PROCESS IMPROVEMENT IN SERVICE & TRANSACTION PROJECT

• Firstsource Solutions BFSI India: Reducing Repeat Calls
• Lloyd's Register: Certificate Quality Improvement Project
• UniCredit: Travel Expense Reimbursement
• Wipro Technologies: DMAIC Project on Incident Ticket Reduction in SAP Enterprise Tower

BEST OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE PROJECT IN FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Deutsche Bank: Push 500
• HSBC India: Credit Approval Process Re-engineering
• Masterlease: Quotation Cycle Time
• Sutherland Global Services: Reduction of Error Rate in Loan Integrity Score

UNDER 90 DAYS

• Bank of Ireland Life: Tremendous Two Hour Turnaround Time
• Firstsource Solutions: Reduce Customer Complaints to less than 0.03%
• Lloyds Register: SMART Bidding Project
• Sutherland Global Services: Reduction of Handle Time Using Lean Six Sigma

BEST START UP PROGRAM

• Birla AccuCast Ltd: Birla AccuCast Ltd Programme
• Firstsource Solutions South America: Firstsource Solutions South America
• Lloyd's Register: Business Assurance Programme
• RS Components: Best Start-Up Programme

BEST IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM

• Deutsche Bank: DB Programme
• Larsen & Toubro: LASER
• National Australia Group: Transforming our Business to be the Best Performing Bank
• Oracle Financial Services Software Ltd: Process Improvement Programme

The final judging round will be conducted as part of the 10th Annual Process Excellence Summit, Novotel West, London on the 20th April. Winning candidates will then be selected via a rigorous face-to-face interview with the hand selected judging panel of Process Excellence experts. Awards will be presented the following evening at the industry awaited awards ceremony and gala dinner. For more information on both IQPC's 10th Annual Process Excellence Summit & the Process Excellence Awards visit www.processexcellencelondon.co.uk or contact sally.rodwell@iqpc.co.uk

About Six Sigma & Process Excellence IQ, a division of IQPC
Six Sigma and Process Excellence IQ facilitates access to a wealth of relevant content for Process Excellence, Lean, and Six Sigma practitioners. Through world leading event and the Six Sigma IQ online community, it provides professionals with the tools and resources to help them perform more effective and efficiently, while enhancing the quality operations within their organisation.