The historic Reithaus in Ludwigsburg was festively decorated. And right on time in the evening, ZDF sports presenter Katrin  Müller-Hohenstein opened the festive gala evening to mark the presentation of the ‘Factory of the Year’ awards.  The competition is considered to be the most traditional and demanding for the manufacturing industry in Germany and Europe.

Every year, the management consultancy Kearney, in cooperation with the trade journal ‘Produktion’ and Süddeutscher Verlag Veranstaltungen GmbH, honours the factories that master current production challenges in an exemplary manner in six categories. It was already clear last October that the excellent fischer production facility in Ivanovice na Hané in the Czech Republic would receive the award in the ‘GEO Award’ category, which stands for ‘Global Excellence in Operations’. “The ‘Factory of the Year’ is like the Champions League for manufacturing companies. We can be very proud of this honour. Above all, however, it is a special honour for all our employees at our Czech site. They have more than earned this award,” said company owner, Prof Klaus Fischer.

The ‘GEO Award’ category is one of the most coveted honours within the ‘Factory of the Year’. The award  recognises the production plant in the Czech Republic for its outstanding operational excellence along the entire value chain, exemplary avoidance of waste and particularly high value generation. The plant in Ivanovice na Hané thus serves as a role model and benchmark for all of the company's other production sites.

Ivanovice na Hané has developed extremely well in recent years. The decisive factor for this is, for one thing, the consistent and exemplary implementation of the fischer ProcessSystem (fPS). In addition, this success is the result of an exemplary team performance on site. Presenter Kathrin Müller-Hohenstein also presented the company on stage at the award ceremony. Among other  things, she emphasised the teamwork and cohesion of the fischer family, especially in the Czech Republic. 

About the ‘Factory of the Year’

The ‘Factory of the Year’ competition offers manufacturing companies an opportunity to analyse their position in the  industry. Independent experts analyse key performance indicators along the value chain and compile a confidential evaluation. On this basis, the finalists are determined and audited on site by an audit team from the management consultancy Kearney. Participants in the final round also receive direct expert feedback. An expert advisory board from industry and academia then decides on the winning entries in  each category. The winners are announced in autumn and the awards ceremony takes place in spring as part of the  ‘Factory of the Year’ congress