Global management consultancy Kearney has postponed the 2020 Factory of the Year competition, owing to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and concern for the health of all participants.
While production output across key sectors is starting to show noticeable signs of steady improvement, physical distancing restrictions continue to challenge traditional ways of working.
Added to this is the growing strain on South Africa’s manufacturing sector, as a consequence of the pandemic and related restrictions, which has seen a 74.9% decline in the second quarter of this year, according to Statistics South Africa’s data.
“While we understand the gravity of the situation for all manufacturing professionals who use the Factory of the Year competition to benchmark their company performance and make meaningful connections, in the interest of safety and practical constraints, the competition will resume when reasonably safe to do so in 2021,” Kearney Factory of the Year project manager Mark Saunders said in a statement on November 4.
In the interim, he encouraged all manufacturers interested in participating in the competition to “be on the lookout” for future announcements of the competition dates.