Over the years, Sultan Qaboos Award for Industrial Excellence has gone through several stages of development in evaluation criteria and categories which are based on the principle of quality management and industrial strategy and Sultanate’s 2040 vision, according to Sami Salim al Sahib, Director-General of Industry at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI).
“The current framework of Sultan Qaboos Award for Industrial Excellence is improved based on the three international models: Baldridge Excellence Framework, European Foundation for Quality Management and Business Excellence Model. The possibility of integrating global good practices and goals such as United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) into Sultan Qaboos Award for Industrial Excellence has been studied during the current year as the Sultanate of Oman is one of UN member states participating Voluntary National Review of United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2030.”
The current model of Sultan Qaboos Award for Industrial Excellence includes criteria related to the advanced manufacturing and Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), such as the use of augmented reality technology (AR), Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous robotics and big data analytics.
These criteria incentivize the enterprises to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies as well as promote the future industries in the Sultanate. These are fundamental steps by the Sultanate to upgrade the structure of its manufacturing sector. “Our advice is for all enterprises to participate, if they have any issues with understanding any concepts, they are welcome to contact Directorate General of Industry and official personnel will be nominated to support them in understanding the process and guide them in making a proper application document.”
The Sultan Qaboos Award for Industrial Excellence framework is the reference point for assessing the overall excellence maturity level of the industrial enterprise. It supports the executive leadership team to understand their organisation’s key strengths and potential opportunities for growth. MoCI has modelled the framework by considering three key pillars: Key enablers, process and partnerships and achievements.
Enterprises participating Sultan Qaboos Award for Industrial Excellence will benefit from their participation. While working to apply, the enterprises will be able to highlight the areas in which they are performing well and also be able to determine in which areas they need to improve their performance.
The ministry has set up various committees to oversee the administration and assessment process to ensure the fairness at each stage. A specific and tailor-made assessment toolkit has been developed for enabling the assessors to carry out the objective and evidence-based evaluation.
During assigning assessors, steps have been take to ensure best practices and standards. Each of the assessment will be monitored by official personnel from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
For the betterment of the Award, the ministry is seeking feedback from the participating companies, the assessors, the Jury Committee, and within the ministry from the Technical team. The objective of the Sultan Qaboos Award is to recognize and reward enterprise on a sustainable path to industrial excellence, as well as those focused on continuous improvement towards the goals set for the Sultanate’s Vision 2040. The methodology of assessment and the evaluation gives significant importance to sustainability in operations and improvement in all areas of a manufacturing enterprise.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
