With high quality standards having increasingly become an essential prerequisite for keeping up with – and increasingly, fending off both local and international jousting for limited markets – the local manufacturing sector appears be cultivating an increasing awareness of the necessity to raise their game. Besides their own awareness of the nexus between meeting increasingly exalted consumer standards and realizing their own profitability targets, local companies are being kept on their toes by bars that are being set by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards. (GNBS). The GNBS seeks, not just to ensure that standards meet with what the market demands but also the product quality can engender ever higher standards of consumer confidence. That, at least, is its mission.
On Thursday October 17th, the National Milling Company (NAMILCO) would have done much to raise its own game in the eyes of the local and external markets by carting off the lion’s share of the accolades at the GNBS’ Second National Quality Assurance (NQA) event. Designed to shine a spotlight on the efforts of both established and rising business enterprises to respond to the importance of embracing quality standards as part of the modus operandi of the service that they offer, the GNBS’ event has quickly come to serve as a target at which local businesses can aim in pursuit of their quest to touch and eventually break through the glass roof.
This year, 21 Guyanese companies participated in the Awards Ceremony falling within the categories of Services, Manufacturing, Small Business Manufacturing, Small Business Services and Agro-Processing. On the night, some came to prominence in their various spheres of excellence for the first time. In the instance of the National Milling Company (NAMILCO) its virtual ‘sweeping of the boards’ as far as the awards that it carted off was concerned, was a tribute to the company’s sustained investment in initiatives designed to raise its all-round performance standards.
On Awards Night NAMILCO walked off with awards in the manufacturing sector for Customer Focus, Green Initiative and Health & Safety. In so doing the company consolidated its already promising profile which, in the past two years, particularly, has been buttressed by a stepped-up image-enhancing programme to mark its 50th Anniversary this year.
Apart from being selected as the most accomplished of the awardees NAMILCO also secured particular awards for customer-focus, continuous improvement, and health and safety.
Other companies also recognized in this year’s NQA Awards were Morning Glory Inc., Quest Medical Centre, Massy Services Guyana Inc., and Denmor Garments (Manufacturers) Inc. Other specialized awards were carted off by Assuria Insurance, Woodlands Limited Pathology Laboratory, Eureka Medical Laboratories Incorporated, Doobay Medical Centre, and Massy Distribution Guyana Inc. These all provide indications of an encouraging competitive environment that will serve the country’s manufacturing and services environment in good stead at a time when countries around the world are positioning themselves to catch the eye of the global market.
The GNBS’ NQA awardees were chosen based on the results of Assessment Audits conducted at each entity to determine its level of conformance to the Seven Quality Principles established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO); and Safety and Environmental requirements.
The hosting of the National Quality Awards by GNBS was an initiative that seeks to recognize the efforts of those local entities that are committed to “superior quality.” Minister of Business Haimraj Rajkumar said.
