The "Benelux Excellence Award" for
Ricoh, GC Europe, DBO and the MIVB
In a prestigious ceremony on 12 October 2011, Bbest awarded the first "Benelux Excellence Awards". This trophy is
awarded to organisations which stand out thanks to their excellent use of management concepts and achievement of
outstanding results. In this first edition, four organisations were honoured: Ricoh, GC Europe, the DBO and the MIVB.
In a constantly changing environment, organisations are forced to develop their capacity for strategic innovation and
improve the efficiency of their management processes to the satisfaction of all stakeholders (shareholders, employees,
customers, partners, the environment, etc.).
Bbest is an association which helps organisations in the field of excellence and quality management. Bbest offers
extensive support based on:
-
the EFQM model for Business Excellence, the most commonly used management model in European
organisations; over 40,000 organisations in Europe apply this approach;
a culture of continuous improvement;
sharing of good practices between departments or organisations.
The "Benelux Excellence Award"
The prize rewards organisations which have a "high level of excellence". The award reflects the maturity of the
management approach and shows that the winner is one of the best companies in Europe. It is a coveted and prestigious
award, and makes a comparison with other companies (benchmarking).
To win this distinction, organisations must undergo a process of evaluation of their management system. Candidates for
the prize are visited by a team of two to four EFQM® assessors. This team assesses the dossier, meets employees of the
company and produces an assessment report with recommendations for further improvements.
The club for the best companies in Europe
By winning this prize, these 4 organisations are sending a strong signal to their stakeholders. A signal which clearly
demonstrates the quality orientation of the 4 organisations honoured.
The 4 award-winning organisations
From left to right: Alain Flausch (Managing Director– MIVB), Eric Gryson (CEO – Ricoh Belgium),
Jean Guns (GC Europe - Vice President Finance & General Affairs), Daniel Samyn (Director - DBO)
1.
Category "Small organisation – Not-for-Profit": The Vocational Training Service (DBO)
The Vocational Training Service (DBO) is an agency of the Department of Education and Training of the Ministry
of the Flemish Community, and deals with professional training in the widest sense. The DBO carries out projects
relating to innovation in education with both Flemish and European funding.
The visiting assessors emphasised that: "The DBO has established an excellent image as a knowledge centre for
projects relating to innovation in education which it carries out in a niche segment at the interface of education
and work…"
Contact person: Christian Lesieur
Address: H. Consciencegebouw, Koning Albert II-laan 15 2A - 1210 Brussels
Website: http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/dbo/
tel: 02-553 87 00
fax: 02-553 88 45
2.
Large scope - Not-for-Profit : STIB
The Société des Transports Intercommunaux de Bruxelles (STIB) is the first Belgian urban public transport
company. It serves 19 communes in the Brussels Capital Region and 11 peripheral communes. It covers a surface
area of 241.5 km² and provides transport for a population of over 1,100,000 inhabitants and thousands of
commuters.
The visiting assessors emphasised that MIVB: "is a company which has undergone a complete transformation
since 2007. It has thoroughly changed its operation, its structures and even its culture, to become a more modern
and more efficient public utility ".
Contact person: Jean-Claude Liekendael
Address: Koningsstraat 76 - 1000 Brussels
Website: www.stib.be
3.
Small scope – For Profit : GC Europe
For over 25 years, we have been well known to dentists and dental technicians as a supplier of constant quality,
user-friendly products and extraordinarily high customer satisfaction. Our dedication to dental health has always
resulted in products with added value for our customers. As an innovative company with tradition and
experience, we want to remain a significant player in dental health. So we are committed not only to the
technical safety of our products, but also to human safety and public oral health in particular, always in
combination with the latest scientific knowledge.
The assessors responsible for evaluating GC Europe emphasised that: “GC Europe is managed via structured
processes in line with its strategy. GC Europe uses a decision system which is based on facts in order to reach a
balanced and sustainable result”.
Contact person: Gideon Blumental
Address: Researchpark Haasrode-Leuven. Interleuvenlaan 33 – 3001 Leuven
Website: www.gceurope.com
4.
Large scope – For Profit : Ricoh Belgium
Ricoh Belgium is the leading supplier of copiers in Belgium, but also plays a key role in the field of document
solutions. Ricoh Belgium was founded in 1985 and has enjoyed strong growth both organically and via takeovers.
This aspect above all makes this prize significant.
We are fully aware of the difficulties associated with mergers, and despite this challenge and the economically
difficult times, Ricoh Belgium has succeeded in maintaining an innovative approach and excellent results.
The assessors responsible for evaluating Ricoh underlined that: "Ricoh Belgium knows that its customers are the
most important reason for its existence. To satisfy its customers, Ricoh Belgium is always aiming for innovation
and creating value by assessing its customers' needs and expectations, and anticipating them”.
Contact person: Mia Goetvinck
Address: Medialaan 28 A 1800 Vilvoorde
Website: www.ricoh.be
Learn from the best!
As a platform for the exchange of good practices, Bbest's mission is to recognize “what works well" and disseminate this
through its network. Evidently in the course of the year, Bbest will be organising a number of events (company visits,
trade literature, meetings and networking etc.) to teach organisations in the Benelux area the methods and approaches
used by these 4 award-winning organisations. Register now at the website www.bbest.be to be kept up-to-date with
further practical information.
Bbest
Bbest vzw is a not-for-profit organisation whose task is to promote excellence in Belgium. The organisation, composed of
almost 200 member organisations (of various sizes, and active in various sectors) is a meeting point for managers wanting
to improve their results.
Bbest is also the National Partner Organisation of EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) and represents
this organisation in Belgium.
Bbest members receive methods and instruments, participate in exchanges of experience, benchmarking, training
sessions (courses, workshops, etc.) and obtain information via seminars, conferences, website, publications and
newsletters.
www.bbest.be
The EFQM model for Business Excellence
A universal management model created in 1988 at the initiative of Jacques Delors (Chairman of the European
Commission) and 14 large multinational companies (British Telecom, Bosch, Electrolux, Nestlé, Volkswagen, etc.). This
model offers the economic world an alternative to the American or Japanese models (Baldridge or Deming) and brings
together the best management practices. The EFQM model allows organisations to measure their progress on their way
to excellent results. Organisations can also benchmark themselves against others who have taken a similar approach.
www.efqm.org
For more information contact:
Alexis Willems (Manager Bbest)
E-mail: Alexis.willems@bbest.be
Tel: 0473.26.37.07
Website: www.bbest.be