Congratulations to the 2022 SMBE Award Finalists!

Every year, FloridaMakes hosts this competition for SMALL AND MEDIUM Manufacturing Business Excellence (SMBE). The assessment follows the Florida Sterling process, which is based on the national Baldrige Quality system. Manufacturers are nominated with a simple email to FloridaMakes Director of Quality and all nominations are followed up with direct communication to the companies. Those who choose to participate, submit information about their company for review by the judges and examiners. A business overview call is scheduled during which a panel of judges and examiners question the company representatives about various systems in the company, following the Sterling model. Some of these companies will be recommended for a more extensive site visit by another panel of judges and examiners. 

The Sterling Council and FloridaMakes announced today the 23 manufacturing companies in a field of over 160 nominees who have been named as finalists for the 2022 Sterling Manufacturing Business Excellence (SMBE) Awards. The winners, chosen from among the following finalists, will be announced during the 30th Annual Governor’s Sterling Awards Banquet on June 3 at the Gaylord Palms resort in Orlando.

Finalists for the 2022 SMBE awards:

• Bacardi Bottling Corporation (Jacksonville)
• BAE Systems – Jacksonville Ship Repair (Jacksonville)
• Biorep Technologies, Inc. (Miami Lakes)
• Cathedral Corporation – Orlando Facility (Orlando)
• D3 Glass, LLC (Fort Myers)
• Genplant (Green Cove Springs)
• Harmar Mobility, LLC (Sarasota)
• HF Scientific (Fort Myers)
• Limbitless Solutions (Orlando)
• Lippert/Taylor Made (Bradenton)
• MDC Precision (Sarasota)
• Mullett’s Aluminum Products, Inc. (Sarasota)
• PPi Technologies Group (Sarasota)
• Sarasota Medical Products, Inc. (Sarasota)
• SeaSucker, LLC (Bradenton)
• Shaw Development (Bonita Springs)
• Solar Stik, Inc. (St. Augustine)
• Strand Core (Milton)
• Stryker (Weston)
• Sy-Klone International (Jacksonville)
• Unison Industries (Jacksonville)
• VeeThree Electronics (Bradenton)
• West Fraser, Inc. (McDavid)

The Sterling Council and FloridaMakes collaborate annually on the SMBE awards to recognize the state’s high-performing manufacturers. Manufacturing companies are judged on several criteria including leadership, strategy, customers, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, workforce, and operations. As outlined above, the awards start with an open nomination process followed by a business overview assessment and, for some, an in-depth site visit (virtual or in-person). Winners for several categories (by size) will be named from the list of finalists. For more information about the process please visit www.FloridaMakes.com/smbe.

Florida ET and manufacturing educators should check out the finalist list to identify potential new partners. Please let us at FLATE know if you need help making such a connection. Click on the map below for a quick reference.