The 2018 Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence to Industry were presented by Hon. Ron Mark, Minister of Defence, on 1 November. The awards were established by the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council (NZDIAC) in 1998 to highlight and reward the contribution made by industry to Defence.
The first three award categories provide a way of measuring companies’ performance in relation to each other when delivering services and products. They are:
- Category 1: Provision of a service to Defence less than $15 million
- Category 2: Provision of product to Defence less than $15 million
- Category 3: Provision of a product or service to Defence in excess of $15 million.
Alongside these, a Health and Safety Citation and two further awards were presented to individuals who had made an outstanding contribution to the sector.
Category Award winners
Category Award winners
Category 1: The provision of a Service to Defence less that $15m.
Awarded this year to Beca and PricewaterhouseCoopers. These two companies were nominated for their support for the New Zealand Defence Force’s (NZDF's) Strategy 2025 refresh. Each company offered notable innovation and strengths, and were asked to collaborate on the strategy refresh to deliver the best value. Both agreed readily to the proposal and resulted in the development of a plan to implement strategic changes within the Defence Force as it looks to future challenges.
Category 2: Provision of a product to Defence less than $15 million.
Awarded to Draeger New Zealand Ltd, which is responsible for the manufacture and supply of the Draeger LAR 7000 Rebreather dive system to the NZDF. The company’s representative worked closely with the NZDF to ensure up-to-date information about products that would meet the needs of both the New Zealand Army and the Royal New Zealand Navy. The outstanding service provided ensured the contract could be implemented and the NZDF’s delivery timeline experienced no delays.
Category 3: Provision of a product or service to Defence in excess of $15 million.
Awarded to The Boeing Company/Airbus New Zealand Ltd/Beca/Marops. Boeing was contracted to restore the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s airborne anti-submarine warfare capability, including developing an airborne underwater intelligence solution for the P-3K2 fleet. The project included upgrading and modification of aircraft components, as well as provision of inflight and ground-based simulation for training. Boeing partnered with Airbus and Beca for the aircraft installation and software, and with MAROPS Ltd to provide the acoustic scenario generator for the airborne acoustic trainer.
Health & Safety
Health & Safety
Health and Safety Citation: for the strongest overall demonstration of excellence in health and safety carried out by an organisation supplying to defence.
Awarded to Beca. The need to deliver assurance of management and maintenance of diving equipment saw Beca engaged to investigate diving maintenance standards and material management procedures. Management of equipment was investigated across introduction into service, storage, issue for use, diving operations, maintenance and return to storage, resulting in solution that had consulted and engaged all stakeholders in identifying problems and developing solutions.
Special Award winners
Special Award winners
Special Awards: for outstanding contribution to the sector.
Presented to Llanwyn Smith of Beca, and Karen Tregaskis of Tregaskis Brown.
Llanwyn Smith has been at the front and centre of Beca’s involvement, first in establishing the P-3K2 capability and its support and evolving in the development of new team members, software and system engineering service leads. He committed to the wider relationship between Defence and Industry as a previous Board member and Deputy Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Association, as well as continuing to work within Beca to grow the company’s range of services that can be provided to Defence. His commitment to Defence and the Defence/Industry relation is evident and he is congratulated for this well-deserved award.
Karen Tregaskis as Managing Director of Tregaskis Brown has been pivotal in transforming the Defence Capability Management System, which is helping to enable delivery of significant new and upgraded capability for the New Zealand Defence Force. The transformation of Defence’s ways of working have benefited immeasurably from Karen’s involvement. She brought robust methodology, process development and a focus on getting things right. Her leadership of the Tregaskis Brown contribution saw standards of excellence and professionalism modelled at all times, ensuring that Defence have had excellent value for money throughout this project.
Finalists
Finalists
Category 1:
- Airbus Australia Pacific
- Safran Helicopter Engines
- Tregaskis Brown
Category 2:
- NIOA
Category 3:
- Airbus New Zealand Ltd