The award was presented to Sebastiano Garofalo, manager of the Pomigliano D'Arco plant, during an awards ceremony held yesterday at the Leipzig Convention Centre as part of the 7th International Congress organised by Automobil Produktion and Agamus Consult.

Since 2006, over 700 production plants in more than 15 different countries, including Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and Italy, have taken part in the selection process to win the sought-after trophy, which is one of the most significant in Europe.

The evaluation process analysed the production system along with its application in the plant, checking that the principles of lean production, especially in terms of quality, maintenance, logistics and personnel development are actually applied consistently and continuously, to create a work environment that supports in a structured and efficient manner the continuous improvement process and the systematic elimination of wastage. After this strict evaluation process, a specialised jury from Agamus Consult picks the winners.

Michele Melchiorre of Fiat Group Automobiles Global Manufacturing Engineering explained the case-history of the Pomigliano plant during the Convention, and presented the conditions (situation and objectives), methodology (World Class Manufacturing) and results achieved (outstanding participation of the workers, growth of success, increased flexibility and productivity).

All this makes the plant a reference point of excellence within the Fiat Group, and in more general terms, within the entire automotive industry today, as the award testifies. The Pomigliano d'Arco plant was formerly owned by Alfa Romeo. It was refurbished by Fiat to accept production of the new third generation Panda which was switched from Poland to Italy.