Cargotec’s Kalmar business area has won four prestigious business awards in recognition of the organisational excellence of its Kalmar Asia Pacific Region.

Kalmar Asia Pacific Region was crowned Grand Winner 2008 at the Asia Pacific Business Excellence Standard (APBEST) awards in February. This was the first time that Kalmar Asia Pacific Region had participated in these awards.

Kalmar Asia Pacific Region was also named Best Logistics Company in the Asia Pacific and also carried off two individual awards. Ken Loh, president of Kalmar Asia Pacific Region, was named APBEST Strategist of the Year, and Eugene Che, senior TQM manager, was named APBEST KPI Achievement Driver of the Year.

Ken Loh said: “It was a proud moment for me and my team when we received these prestigious awards. Kalmar stood out as a clear winner for best business practice, with our holistic approach to our business, from our mission statement to our organisation structure, coupled with processes that ensure achievement of our goals.

“Although the examination process takes about a year, culminating in interviews with senior managers from Kalmar Asia Pacific Region, these awards actually acknowledge that we have worked for many years to ensure that we apply only the very best business practices.”

APBEST was founded to enable companies in the Asia Pacific region to achieve business excellence, providing benchmarks for management and organisational excellence. Organisations are evaluated to assess their performance in leadership, customer focus, people management, process management, social responsibility and overall business results.

The APBEST judges are well-qualified and with extensive experience as Business Excellence Assessors in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

The judges commendations recognised that Ken Loh’s business strategy, based on partnerships delivering total customer satisfaction, reflected the dynamics and culture of the Asia pacific business environment. Ken’s holistic approach was acknowledged as being effective in such diverse business conditions. Eugene Che’s contribution, inculcating a culture of quality throughout the organisation, was commended for achieving change management in different and diverse Asian cultures.

Kalmar was commended for its strong leadership, a key ingredient in achieving the awards. The judges also praised Kalmar’s well integrated logistics concept, connecting its supply chains from around the world, as a good example of a company embracing globalisation.

About Kalmar

Kalmar is a global provider of container and heavy duty materials handling equipment, automation applications and related services. It is the world's leading supplier of cargo handling equipment to ports, terminals and intermodal facilities.

Every fourth container or trailer transfer at terminals around the world is handled by a Kalmar machine. The company also supplies a wide range of machines to demanding industrial customers for applications as diverse as handling steel and paper to shunting road trailers at distribution hubs.

Kalmar is also leading the way in port automation applications with its application of unmanned container handling technology, on-board smart features and remote maintenance products developed in co-operation with customers and partners.

Kalmar's product range is complemented by a large range of value added services such as maintenance contracts and fleet management. Production plants are situated in Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Malaysia, China and the USA.  Kalmar's net sales were EUR 1.343 billion in 2007.

Kalmar is part of Cargotec Corporation, the world's leading provider of cargo handling solutions, which are used in local transportation, terminals, ports, distribution centres, and ships. In 2007, Cargotec's net sales were EUR 3.018 billion. Cargotec's class B shares are listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.