Competition
The "Factory of the Year" is one of the most renowned industry competitions in Europe. The winners of the current benchmark competition are honored at the congress of the same name.
Find out moreWinners 2023 / 24
Factory of the Year 2023 / 24
Porsche Leipzig GmbHGEO-Award
ABB AGRatingen factory
Excellent transformation: site
COMPAS de CVAguascalientes factory, MX
Excellent transformation: digitalization
Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KGCoburg factory
Excellent series production
ifm efector s.r.lSibiu factory, RO
Excellent small-series production
Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KGTeisnach factory
About the winners
ABB AG
Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG
COMPAS de CV
ifm efector s.r.l
Porsche Leipzig GmbH
Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG
Information on the competition
Industrial companies can only benefit from taking part in the Factory of the Year competition. Clearly, winning a prestigious award like Factory of the Year is hugely motivating for employees. But any business, irrespective of whether it actually picks up an award, can gain from taking part. In addition, it’s free.
As participants have noted, time and again, the process of completing the questionnaire alone can draw attention to weaknesses in a company’s performance. All businesses taking part receive a detailed, confidential evaluation, that tells them how they ranked in comparison with companies with which they share a similar starting position. Shortlisted candidates receive a visit from an experienced Kearney audit team and are given initial expert feedback. And the Factory of the Year event offers an ideal opportunity to share ideas and learn the secrets behind the successes scored by the best in the competition.
Process and deadlines
Questionnaire
Contact
The selection of the winners takes place in two stages. Participating companies fill out a detailed questionnaire. The questionnaire asks for quantitative and qualitative information on typical factory performance data on all topics along the value chain.
Based on these key figures, the top group of participating companies is determined and visited by an experienced Kearney audit team. The competition jury, which is made up of renowned experts from industry and academia, then selects the winners, taking into account the questionnaire and the insights gained on site.
Independently of this, all participants receive a detailed evaluation in the form of a feedback report, which provides them with confidential information about their position in the competition and points out any potential for improvement.
We look forward to your participation!
You could win an award in any of these categories
There are six main categories, plus a special “Best Startup” category
Factory of the Year
GEO Award
Excellent Large Series Assembly
Excellent Small Series Assembly
Competitiveness by digitization
Excellent site development
Best Startup Category
Young start-up teams can present their idea for the industry of tomorrow at the congress – the audience decides who will win.
Best Startup
Winners 2021
More than 2,000 factories have taken part in this benchmark competition since its inception in 1992. Here are the winners of the previous years.
30. Factory of the Year
Siemens AGKarlsruhe factory
GEO Award
ERSA GmbHWertheim factory
Excellent Location Development
Beiersdorf AGTres Cantos factory (Madrid, Spain)
Excellent Big Series Assembly
ABB AGRatingen factory
Excellent Location Safeguarding by Digitalization
Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & CO. KGWürzburg
Winners 2020
Factory of the Year 2020
Volkswagen Slovakia a.s.Werk Bratislava, Slowakei
GEO Award
IWC Schaffhausen Branch of Richemont International S.A.Manufaktur Schaffhausen, Schweiz
Excellent Big Series Assembly
BSH Hišni aparati d.o.o NazarjeWerk Nazarje, Slovenien
Excellent Production Network
Henkel Global Supply Chain BVWerk Düsseldorf
Excellent Location Safeguarding by Digitalization
ifm electronic gmbhWerk Tettnang Bechlingen
Conference March 2024
Join Europe’s largest industry meeting for production and learn from the winners of this year’s competition what sets them apart from their competitors.
Startup Challenge
Information
Participation
Past winners
Advisory Board
Jörg Cwojdzinski
Vice President Supply Chain Management, ASM Assembly Systems GmbH & Co. KG, München
Katrin Fricke
Plant Manager, Diehl Controls, Wangen im Allgäu factory
Evi Hartmann
Chair of Supply Chain Management at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Nuremberg
Johann Kraus
Senior Vice President Production, Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG, München
Uwe Loos
Former CEO of FAG Kugelfischer AG, Schweinfurt, and DEKRA AG, Stuttgart
Roman Löw
Former automotive company plant manager and managing board member, currently working as a consultant, coach and interim manager for major industrial companies
Reimund Neugebauer
President of the Fraunhofer Society, Munich
Heinrich Nottbohm
Former manager of the Chemnitz Engine Plant, Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH
Torsten Ratzmann
CEO of egeplastinternational GmbH
Bernd Schmidt
VicePresidentOperations Strategy& CI at BL Transformers, Hitachi ABB Power Grids Ltd.
Günther Schuh
Director of the Machine Tool Laboratory WZL at RWTH Aachen and the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT
Peter Wiedemann
COO, RATIONAL AG