Harris Paints wins five quality awards in St Lucia SMAs
Officially launched in October last year, the SMA program targets businesses in the manufacturing sector with three levels of award: Gold, Platinum and Diamond.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Thursday May 3, 2012 - Harris Paints (St. Lucia) Limited has won a total of five quality awards in the coveted categories of Diamond and Platinum following a dominant performance in the inaugural St. Lucia Manufacturers Association Awards (SMAs) which culminated in a gala event recently held in St. Lucia.
The Company dubbed “the Caribbean Champions of Colour” won a number of Platinum Awards in the categories of Human Resource Development and Social Responsibility, and topped this off with three Diamond Awards for Implementation of Standards and Best Practices; Leadership; and Product and Consumer Service Quality.
Marguerite Desir, Senior VP Human Resources and Head of Business Units for St. Lucia and Dominica said the Company was happy to have done so well in the inaugural St. Lucia Manufacturers Association Quality Awards. She said everyone at Harris Paints (St. Lucia Ltd.) was now eagerly anticipating the next issue of the biennial event which will be held in 2014.
“As an ISO certified organisation, quality is as an essential part of our DNA and we take great measures to ensure compliance with audit standards as well as those of our international affiliate Akzo Nobel, the largest paint company globally. We are therefore looking forward to the 2014 edition, to bringing home only Diamond awards from each category along with winning the Minister’s Award for Innovation. The process towards achieving this is already in place as we promote a culture of continuous improvement in providing quality products and service to our customers,” Mrs. Desir stated.
Officially launched in October last year, the SMA program targets businesses in the manufacturing sector with three levels of award: Gold, Platinum and Diamond. The emphasis is on quality and participants gaining awards must attain a pass mark of 75 per cent across several exacting criteria, while, to be eligible for the coveted Diamond Award they must first attain this mark in both Gold and Platinum.
Under the awards system, attainment of the Gold Award demonstrates that the Company addresses basic processes linked to the foundational/basic elements of quality improvement, and the Platinum Award demonstrates that the Company strategy builds on the elements of quality, emphasizes key elements of customer centered products and services, while creating consistency in product quality through standardized processes, and involving customers and staff in decision making. The highly valued Diamond award is presented to companies that successfully meet the criteria for gold and platinum while also focusing on the achievement of quality by monitoring outcomes, and using evidence and best practice for continual improvement.
About Harris Paints
Harris Paints will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2012 having started as a small manufacturing operation in Barbados. Still owned and managed locally, it is now a regional paints manufacturer promoting quality objectives built on the five core values of the Harris Group of Companies, inclusive of: High Ethical Standards; Excellent customer service and quality; Development of people and team work; Excellent business efficiency; and the Highest regard for safety, health and the environment.
Harris Paints operates five factories in the region - Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominica, Guyana and Jamaica, trading there as B-H Paints and employs over 250 staff region-wide. Harris Paints’ products can be found at 14 company stores as well as at over 1000 dealers spread across 15 countries. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.championsofcolour.com or Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/championsofcolour.
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