Displaying items by tag: Award

Cyprus: Vassiliko Cement has won the Gold Environmental Protection Award in 2018 at the Pancyprian Environmental Awards for Organisations and Businesses. The prize was given for the cement producer’s implementation of its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy. Company staff worked with local communities, non-government organisations (NGO) and others. The competition was organised by the Cyprus Center for Environmental Research and Education, in cooperation with the government and other groups.

Nigeria: Lafarge Africa’s Nigerian operations have won the inaugural Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Awards of LafargeHolcim for the Middle East and Africa. The country won the overall award after beating 35 other countries in two of the four award categories, according to the Vanguard newspaper. It won gold for its CSR initiatives in the Education and Employment category ahead of Egypt (silver) and Kenya (bronze). Nigeria also won gold in the Shelter and Infrastructure category ahead of Morocco (silver) and Cote d’Ivoire (bronze).

Lafarge Africa runs its ‘Easy Home’ initiative in Nigeria, to help individuals build decent houses on a low budget. In 2016 over 30,000 people benefited from the initiative. In 2017, Lafarge Africa created the Cement Professionals Training Program, to help young people in the fields of technology, engineering, cement manufacturing, instrumentation and automation. The company made investments in social investment programs and initiatives in 2017 in its host communities across the country, directly impacting more than 450,000 beneficiaries. Lafarge Africa also complements the local government’s efforts to improve primary school education through the Lafarge Africa National Literacy Competition.

Lithuania: The Bega cement terminal has won a ‘Product of Lithuania’ award from the government. Minister of Economy Virginijus Sinkevičius and the President of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists (LPK) Robert Dargis presented a medal to Laimonas Rimkus, the general manager of Bega, according to the Vakarų Ekspresas newspaper. The joint venture with local cement producer Akmenes Cementas was commissioned in early 2018. The terminal plans to increase its exports of cement to 0.35Mt/yr by 2020.

US: Claudius Peters has been awarded the ‘Innovator of the Year’ award in the Design & Manufacturing category at the Autodesk University (AU) Las Vegas in November 2018. It was given due to changes Claudius Peters made to its engineering and business processes, which led in turn to a ’generative design’ approach to some of its largest manufactured components, including its clinker cooler product. The equipment manufacturer has adopted an agile project management system similar to that used in computer software development. It has removed traditional departmental barriers between engineering and manufacturing teams and replaced them with ‘scrum’ teams of 5 to 9 persons.

“Our project team included young people who embraced this new concept and understood that the electric light didn’t come from the continuous improvement of candles. It needed a complete change. That’s how we came to try generative design. By inputting the project parameters, computers can do the heavy lifting, freeing up our engineers to innovate,” said Thomas Nagel, Chief Digital Officer at Claudius Peters.

Poland: Dyckerhoff Polska has been award the ‘Certain Cement’ quality certificate by the Polish Cement Association. The award has been given to cement producers since 2010. It recognises high standards and technical specifications across the cement production process and distribution. Winners can use the ‘Certain Cement’ on their packaging. Previous winners include Cemex Polska, Górażdże Cement, Grupa Ożarów, Lafarge Cement, Cementownia Warta, Cementownia Odra and Cementownia Kraków - Nowa Huta.

Germany: Holcim Deutschland’s Lägerdorf cement plant has won a training award from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK). Peter Krohn of the IHK praised the plant’s quality of training, focus on younger people and attention to worker development. Holcim Deutschland employs around 2100 people in Germany and the Netherlands. Around 40 young people are undergoing training at Lägerdorf in various engineering and mechanical disciplines.

El Salvador: Holcim El Salvador has received a ‘Special Mention’ from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources as part of the 2018 National Environment Awards, according to the El Mundo newspaper. It won the recognition for its environmental strategy, including efforts to recover and manage eco-systems around its quarries in Metapan.

Nigeria: Dangote Group is the most admired brand in Nigeria according to a survey of around 50 brands by marketing agency Brand Nigeria. Several variables such as innovation capacity, product quality, online presence, leadership and presence of products in the local market, have led Dangote to lead this ranking, according to the reserach team.

India: The KCP Ltd cement unit II at Ramakrishnapuram in Krishna district has bagged the ‘Excellent Energy Efficient Unit’ award from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The award is given to the cement plant with lowest specific electrical energy consumption for cement production compared to the national average and lowest specific heat consumption for clinker production as against the industrial average.

US: Staff members from Ash Grove Cement, Argos USA and Lehigh Hanson have won awards at the Portland Cement Association’s (PCA) 2018 John P Gleason, Jr Leadership Awards. The awards recognise PCA members who have exhibited leadership in advancing industry programs and initiatives. The scheme is named after John ’Jay’ Gleason who served as PCA president from 1986 until his retirement in 2007.

Steve Minshall, Corporate Director, Safety and Health at Ash Grove Cement won the Business Continuity award. He has served on the PCA Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Committee for two decades, where the PCA say he has proven to be a strong safety leader in implementing many programs and initiatives to reduce workplace injuries. He has led efforts to better partnership with regulatory agencies in pursuit of the common goal of safety. Finalists in this category were Brett Lindsay, Environmental & Energy Manager at Salt River Materials Group, and Steve Wilcox, Cement Technical Director at Argos USA.

Lori Tiefenthaler, Senior Director of Marketing at Lehigh Hanson won the Market Development award. As chair of the American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA) in 2017, Tiefenthaler led efforts to better align the missions of allied cement and concrete associations, including an effort to launch PavementDesigner.org, which is a joint project between PCA, ACPA and National Ready Mixed Concrete Association. She has served on the executive board for the National Concrete Consortium, through which she has helped improve connections and outcomes for the cement and concrete industries with federal and state departments of transportation and academia. Finalists in this category were Bill Asselstine, Vice President Sustainability at St. Marys Cement/VCNA, and David Gray, Market Manager at GCC of America.

Gina Lotito, Vice President, Energy & Environmental, GCC of America won the Young Leaders award. She is an active member of the PCA Environment & Energy Committee, where she has been chair and vice chair of the Sustainable Manufacturing Subcommittee, and served on the Sustainable Development Committee. She has proven a leader in promoting the use of clean alternative fuels for cement production, and in federal advocacy efforts to lower regulatory barriers for using such fuels under the Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials Rule. Finalists in this category were Ed Griffith, Vice President Sales & Marketing, US at St. Marys Cement/VCNA and Adam Posly, Production Manager at LafargeHolcim US.