Innovation, resilience and determination to succeed are the common denominators
among the finalists in this year’s diverse crop of NafcocJCCI - Standard Bank Gauteng Exporter of the Year Awards
All entrants in the competition stand an equal chance of being named the overall Exporter of the Year as the competition is structured around four categories: small, medium and large manufacturing, and export services
The finalists go through a number of judging rounds, which include visits to their premises to learn more about the personalities and the stories behind their success.
The judges use the following criteria to assess the performance level of the various companies:
l innovative marketing
l continuity of supply
l introduction of products or services specifically for export
l staff training and environmental awareness.
This year the judges were also interested in how exporters coped with the effects of a volatile rand. They found that across the board businesses reported using similar strategies to counter the strength of the rand.
These included :
l Investing in state-of-the-art equipment to improve productivity and reduce manufacturing costs
l Improving economies of scale by increasing volumes, thus indicating that they had found new markets
l Benefiting from the decreased cost of imported raw materials
FTW is one of the sponsors of the event, organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry - Johannesburg (NafcocJCCI). Other heavyweight sponsors include Standard Bank, the National Ports Authority (NPA), City of Johannesburg, Credit Guarantee and Emirates Airline.
