Johannesburg, 26 February 2018 – The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) invites companies operating in the metals and engineering sector to submit their entries for the 2019 SEIFSA Awards for Excellence – which are open to all employers in the sector, including those which are not members of SEIFSA.

 Now in their fifth year, the annual SEIFSA Awards for Excellence were born out of the need to encourage growth and celebrate excellence in the metals and engineering sector. The Awards offer a wonderful opportunity for companies operating in this crucial sector to receive well-deserved acknowledgement and respect by industry peers for their capabilities, expertise and innovation.

“In the current tough economic conditions, we at SEIFSA believe that it is critically important for those companies that excel at what they do to get the acknowledgement and recognition they so richly deserve,” SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Kaizer Nyatsumba said.

Entrants will be assessed on their performance in the period July 1 2017 to December 31 2018 in seven different categories, namely:

  • The Most Innovative Company of the Year, which will be awarded to a company that showed the best level of innovation in research and development or production in 2018;
  • The Health and Safety Award of the Year will be offered to a company with the best legal compliance record in Health and Safety or the lowest Lost-Time Injury Frequency rate in 2018;
  • Entries are also invited from companies whose Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programme/s in 2018 had a major impact on the lives of their beneficiaries;
  • The company rated the highest in customer service performance in 2018 will receive the Customer Service Award of the Year;
  • The Most Transformed Company of the Year Award will be received by a company that showed the highest transformation level in ownership, the composition of its Board of Directors, Executive Management and Managerial Team in 2018 (this award category pits companies employing fewer than 100 people against those of similar size, and companies employing more than 100 companies against others of similar size);
  • This is the Decade of the Artisan, and an award will be made to the company that trained the highest number of artisans in 2018;
  • The Environmental Stewardship Award will go to a company that has successfully implemented greening initiatives in its day-to-day business operations in 2018.

Mr Nyatsumba encouraged manufacturers operating in the metals and engineering sector to take advantage of the opportunities for recognition offered by the increasingly prestigious SEIFSA Awards for Excellence and submit their entries for the seven categories before the deadline date of Friday, 26 April 2019. Participants can enter by visiting the SEIFSA Awards website (www.seifsaawards.co.za).

Winners of the Awards will be honoured at a ceremony that will take place at the IDC Conference Centre in Sandton on 23 May 2019.