Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), the new industrial and logistics zone in the UAE capital situated next to the Khalifa Port, has been awarded the 4-star excellence rating by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).

The foundation, the European equivalent to the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award in the USA and the Deming Prize in Japan, said the recognition was mainly for Kizad's open business environment, customer service and for its achievement of clocking over 5 million man hours with no lost time incidents.

Kizad officials announced the EFQM win at the Abu Dhabi Quality Forum held at the St. Regis Saadiyat Island.

“Quality Through Innovation and Leadership” was the title of the plenary session in which Kizad CEO Khaled Salmeen participated alongside other high profile panelists, including Enec CEO Mohamed Al Hammadi, Emirates Steel CEO Saeed Ghumran Al Romaithi and Crescent Enterprises CEO Badr Jafar.    

"The Abu Dhabi Quality Forum is a great platform to promote a unified ground for quality management and sustainable business excellence. The EFQM’s recent award of the 4-star excellence rating to Kizad confirms our continuous quest to further improve our business in line with international best practices," remarked Salmeen.

"We are very proud to have been recognized by such a prestigious foundation like the EFQM, whose sustainability model has been the backbone for government excellence awards around the world," he added.

Kizad is one of only four enterprises in the UAE and one of 84 worldwide to have successfully attained a 4-star excellence rating from the EFQM. Other companies who have won the same accolade include Siemens Health Diagnostics Manufacturing and the Network Rail UK.-TradeArabia News Service