Transmissions remanufacture specialist ATP Industries Group is one of only 12 recipients this year of Ford’s Gold World Excellence Award. ATP founder Alan Smart (pictured) told ReMaTecNews: “Ford looks at various metrics, including innovation, development and so on. It’s about having the right equipment, doing the right things – we’re always thinking about what we can do to make us stand apart.” In a statement to all this year’s winners, Hau-Thai Tang, Ford’s group vice president, global purchasing, said: “Your commitment to the highest standards of quality, innovation and cost efficiency greatly contributed to Ford’s success.” Speaking at ReMaTec 2017 in Amsterdam, Smart said: “We can improve all those metrics – we’ve got the technology, the equipment and the know-how.” The company, based in Staffordshire, UK, has invested in new cleaning equipment (see ReMaTecNews June/July 2017), which Smart said has improved efficiency, and the working environment. “If you have a happy workforce, keep them. It’s an expensive process to hire people,” he added. Other Ford Gold winners included BorgWarner Turbosystems and Dürr Systems.