Global management consultancy Kearney has extended the entry date for applications for the South African Factory of the Year competition to August 25.

As the fourth-biggest contributor to South Africa’s economy with a wide-reaching socioeconomic impact, manufacturing is a vital economic sector, it states.

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, the sector was facing a notable decline as several structural issues have been threatening its historic competitive advantage.

"Now, the sector continues to be challenged as supply chain disruptions and sustainability pressure destabilize the value chain, undermining growth and prosperity. As such, we believe resilience is more important than ever for manufacturers to sustain economic growth," Kearney says.

The Factory of the Year has become a global benchmarking competition for manufacturing firms that has been running for more than 30 years. It is recognised as one of the most rigorous benchmarking tests for companies in the production arena.

"The bar for competitive manufacturing is constantly evolving, with companies using advanced technologies and big data to improve their performance. This competition identifies sector leaders and rewards excellence in manufacturing operations. The competition evaluates factories across value creation, profitability, quality, agility, digitalisation and sustainability."

The competition assesses performance against factories in all industries and over 30 countries by considering more than 100 benchmarks across six key business dimensions. More than 2 000 factories have used this impartial, cross-industry benchmarking contest to determine their positions relative to competitors locally and best-in-class globally.

Local factories will benefit by receiving an individualised detailed feedback report with insights into how they compare relative to competitors, with a summary of strengths and improvement potential.

"The Factory of the Year competition is an ideal starting point for manufacturers to identify opportunities for improvement by comparing their performance metrics with those of leading competitor benchmarks," the consultancy says.