FDBusiness.com

The processing and packaging machinery industry celebrated another year of outstanding achievement and business excellence at the recent 2018 PPMA Industry Awards gala event at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel. Hosted by TV personality and comedian, Brian Conley, this year’s PPMA Group industry awards continue to recognise manufacturing excellence, technical innovation, entrepreneurship, customer service, sales and training support, as well as outstanding contribution to the processing and packaging machinery sector.

The highlight of the evening was the announcement of the much-anticipated and prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented to Dudley Bradley, the Executive Chairman of Ytron-Quadro (UK) for his forward-thinking and long-standing commitment to the industry.

During his long and esteemed career, Bradley, who started as a process engineer, worked his way through the ranks before forming Ytron-Quadro in 1984; a business, that under his leadership, has experienced phenomenal growth and success. 

PPMA Lifetime Achievement Award Winner 2018 – Dudley Bradley. Pictured from left to right: Mark Butters, General Manager (UK & Ireland), Omron; Dudley Bradley, Executive Chairman, Ytron-Quadro (UK); Dr Andrew Mint, CEO of the PPMA Group; Brian Conley.

He has also continued to work tirelessly over the years to support the industry, playing active roles in the PPMA and the International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE).

Competition was extremely strong in all areas, while a host of exciting and ground-breaking new technologies and solutions presented in the series of ‘Innovations Awards’ categories gave the judges a particularly tough job. 

New for 2018 was the PPMA BEST (Business, Education, Skills and Training) Award, which was introduced to highlight the importance of addressing the skills shortage.  This inaugural award went to Evolution Bottling and Packaging Solutions in recognition of its excellence in commitment to employee training and skills development. 

Continuing the theme of industry education, Kyle Constable, an apprentice at Olympus Automation  (OAL) was named Apprentice of the Year 2018.

“Once again, we have been overwhelmed by the number and quality of submissions we have received this year for our Awards, in terms of manufacturing excellence, technical innovation, service and support, which clearly indicates that our sector has much to celebrate,” said Dr Andrew Mint, CEO of the PPMA Group.

“However, when looking to the future, we must recognise the challenges that we all face in terms of the skills gap.  Therefore, it has been hugely encouraging to see how organisations in our sector are rising to this challenge and we are delighted to recognise this commitment with the introduction of our new PPMA BEST award, as well as  honouring our young apprentices; all of whom represent the lifeblood of our industry,” he added.

The 12 award categories were judged by an independent panel of industry experts, professionals, engineers and end users.

The PPMA Industry Award Winners 2018:

Innovative Processing System

Winner:                                 Packaging Automation

Innovative Packaging Machinery

Winner:                                 Brillopak                 

Highly commended:        Adelphi Masterfil  

INNOVATIVE ROBOTIC SOLUTION

Winner:                                 Gebo Cermex         

Highly commended:        Olympus Automation                          

INNOVATIVE SOLUTION

Winner:                                 Olympus Automation           

INNOVATIVE ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT

Winner:                                 Robatech Gluing Technology       

EXPORTER OF THE YEAR

Winner:                                 Russell Finex          

EXCEPTIONALS SALES PERFORMANCE

Winner:                                 Gordian Strapping   

Highly commended:        Riggs Autopack    

PPMA BEST (Business, Education, Skills & Training)

Winner:                                 Evolution Bottling & Packaging Solutions  

Highly commended:        4Matic Design & Manufacture    

Highly commended:        Winkworth Machinery                      

OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE

Winner:                                 Agrimech   

Highly commended:        Interactive Coding Equipment (ICE)  

Highly commended:        Russell Finex 

Highly commended:        Yorkshire Packaging Systems 

ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR

Winner:                                 The Adelphi Group of Companies  

Highly commended:        Garcon Wines

APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR

Winner:                                 Kyle Constable – Olympus Automation (OAL)    

Certificate:                           Ben Priest – Simmatic Automation         

Certificate:                           Joe Goldthorpe – Gripple Automation  

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Winner:                                 Dudley Bradley, Executive Chairman of Ytron-Quadro (UK)