New Holland is celebrating after being named overall winner at the Manufacturer of the Year Awards 2012. It was a double triumph for the company at the prestigious ceremony in London where judges from The Manufacturer magazine recognised the very best of British industry.

As well as picking up the Manufacturer of the Year title, New Holland’s expertise, performance and ambition also earned it the World Class Manufacturing award. 

The glittering evening at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel was hosted by captain of industry Lord Digby Jones and attracted a packed audience of over 600. Colin Larkin, New Holland’s Basildon Plant Manager, said: “We are absolutely delighted, and to win the overall award was particularly pleasing as there were more than 200 in the competition. It shows the Basildon factory is continuing to do the right things. The success reflects on the whole plant, the efforts of its staff and our flexibility, teamwork and having a clear direction of where we want to go.” 

The two trophies from the Manufacturer of the Year Awards coincided with even more success for New Holland’s Basildon tractor factory which claimed the FIAT global group’s coveted Bronze World Class Manufacturing (WCM) award. WCM is a strategic production system to use shared standards and objectives to measure and ensure continuous improvement in everything from safety to build quality and on-time delivery of tractors. To celebrate this landmark achievement the plant produced a unique metallic bronze T7.270 tractor which holds pride of place outside the site’s new Customer Centre, which is celebrating its first year since opening. 

More than 5,000 people have already visited it to take advantage of first-hand training and education from the Customer Centre’s expert and experienced team of instructors and engineers. The Basildon factory is a key player in New Holland’s wider European success: it employs 1,000 staff, made about 23,000 tractors last year (of which 85 per cent were exported), and uses 600 tonnes of material a day on a two-kilometre production line. Since its establishment 48 years ago, the 40-hectare facility has proudly turned out more than 1.8 million machines. 

Plant Manager Colin Larkin added: “The bronze WCM award is a major accolade as it’s a very detailed measurement of what we do. We have to show that we have the right logic and rigour to achieve and maintain very high standards."