2023 Champions for Quality Awards Winners.
The 6th annual Champions for Quality Awards feature public award nominations from manufacturers worldwide and insight-driven awards from the EASE plant floor platform. The awards recognize individuals, specific manufacturing facilities, and entire organizations across a range of categories.
Congratulations to our 2023 winners for your ongoing commitment to manufacturing quality!
Public nominated awards.
The following award winners and honorable mentions were all nominated by the public and selected by a panel of Ease employees based on the stories and information provided.
Leadership
Leadership nominees are strong advocates for quality and operations programs with organization-wide benefits. Congratulations to our Leadership Award recipients.
Winners
Ram Sukumar – HEXPOL
Marietta, GA, USA
Abdulmajid Patel – IAC International Automotive India Pvt. Ltd.
Maharashtra, India
Honorable Mentions
John Sedgwick – HEXPOL
McKenzie, TN, USA
Ambassador
Ambassadors are known for fostering a culture of quality at their manufacturing plants with layered process audits and other quality initiatives. This year, two nominees rose above an incredibly competitive field and were selected as co-winners of our Ambassador Award.
Winners
Thais Nishimura – Magna International
Telford, UK
Marcelo Rodolfo – Magna International
Joinville, Brazil
Fabio Adad – Magna International
São José dos Pinhais, Brazil
Jose Filipe – Magna International
Ibirite, Brazil
Adriano Castro – Magna International
Santo Antônio da Patrulha, Brazil
Honorable Mentions
Andrew A. Horton – Gestamp Mason LLC
Mason, MI, USA
Trailblazer
Trailblazers earn recognition for using the EASE plant floor audit software for more than just layered process audits, leveraging the platform for other audit types including safety audits, 5S, and more.
Winners
Fabián A. Medina – Grammer Automotive Puebla S.A. of C.V. Queretaro Plant
Santiago de Querétaro, Qro
Honorable Mentions
Charles Green – AeroTEC Inc.
Moses Lake, WA, USA
Caitlyn Hillman – OPmobility
Windsor, ON
Influencer
Influencers have dedicated their careers to training leaders and influencing quality on a global scale.
Winners
Shaunak Anant Chandwadkar – Valeo Lighting Systems, NA.
Seymour, IN, USA
Mariana Alionte – OPmobility
Windsor, ON
Honorable Mentions
Davide Cecchinato – Molex Zetronic S.r.l.
Padova, Italy
Categories based on EASE data.
The following category winners and honorable mentions were determined using insights data from the EASE plant floor audit platform, recognizing individuals, specific manufacturing facilities and entire organizations for their commitment to quality excellence!
Plant of the Year
The Winner of this award was required to exceed 2,500 plant floor audits per year and create at least 500 findings in the same period. To choose the winner, the Ease.io team looked at a combination of weighted audit insights including the percentage of on-time completed plant floor audits and on-time completed findings.
Winners
DANA Off-Highway (Yancheng) Drive systems Co.,Ltd. — DANA, Inc.
Yancheng - Jiangsu – PRC
Honorable Mentions
CpK Interiors Products Port Hope — CpK Interiors Products
Port Hope, CAN
GATES ATLACOMULCO — GATES DE MEXICO
Atlacomulco, Méx., Mexico
Auditor of the Year
A plant floor auditor is not a dedicated position within a manufacturing plant, but a role carried out by employees across the plant – including those that may not be part of quality or operations. To keep auditors engaged, EASE awards achievement badges to auditors based on performance. The winner of this category was required to already hold an EASE Guru badge and was chosen based on audit completion rate, total number of audits completed, and audit findings with the majority of their audits being focused on quality audits such as layered process audits.
Winners
Bruce Chubb – MRP Solutions
Plattsburgh, NY, USA
Francis “Frenchie” Neri – MRP Solutions
Plattsburgh, NY, USA
Honorable Mentions
Paul Townsend – New South
Tampa, FL, USA
Best Implementation
Our Customer Success Team implements EASE at hundreds of plants every year. The honorees in this category were chosen based on their engagement throughout the implementation from pilot to final deployment, their advocacy throughout the process, as well as the team’s audit activity and completion rates in the weeks and months following their go-live date.
Winners
American Woodmark Team – American Woodmark
Winchester, VA, USA
Honorable Mentions
ABC Technologies Team — ABC Technologies
Canton, OH, USA
Cleveland Site Team – FREUDENBERG-NOK Sealing Technologies
Cleveland, GA, USA
Quality Transformation
The winner of this award is the manufacturer that has shown the most significant improvement in performance within the EASE platform over a 12-month period across all their facilities. During this period, the winner had to meet several minimum benchmark data points and have the highest percentage increase in on-time audits and mitigations.
Winners
Camaco-Amvian Team – Camaco Automotive
Farmington Hills, MI, USA
Honorable Mentions
American Woodmark Team — American Woodmark
Winchester, VA, USA