Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1496007
10 Worcester Business Journal | April 3, 2023 | wbjournal.com MANUFACTURING EXCELLENCE AWARDS FOCUS Manufacturing, old and new W irefab, Inc. may best embody the past, present, and future of manufacturing in Central Massachusetts. e winner of the overall excellence award in this year's Manufacturing Excellence Awards, the employee- owned Worcester company had to come to terms with its historic past in order to restructure its culture for a prosperous future. Where it once found success making the same products over and over again for the same clients, the company has bought new equipment and is actively pursuing new clients from different industries, offering innovative products to solve today's problems. Central Mass. has a long history with manufacturing, dating back to the American Industrial Revolution and carrying through to today, where the sector is still one of the largest industries by economic output. e region once manufactured looms for weaving textiles and now develops treatments for diseases. e seven category winners of the Manufacturing Excellence Awards this year are a showcase of the industry's long history here. e third-generation FLEXcon Co., Inc. is rolling out a new product designed to make medical devices safer and more accurate. At less than two years old, VALIS is disrupting the scrap metal recycling industry. BMP Medical is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year and just collaborated with Waltham medical equipment maker Rhinostics to make a better nasal swab for COVID-19 tests. Multiscale Systems, the winner of the Rising Star award given to companies less than 10 years old, is developing environmentally friendly composites. en there's Rentschler Biopharma, Inc., which was founded out of a German pharmacy 151 years ago, and now is growing its presence and its talent in Milford, as it seeks to help pharmaceutical companies develop the next great treatments for diseases. Finally, the Manufacturing Champion award, given to an individual instead of a company, goes to Yan Wang, a professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute whose decade of research into battery recycling has become all the more important. In addition to honoring these companies in the following pages, WBJ will host its Central Mass. Manufacturing Summit & Awards on April 25 at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. If you'd like to find out more about where the industry has been and where it is going, I invite you to attend. – Brad Kane, editor MANUFACTURING S U M M I T & EXCELLENCE AWARDS WBJ Worcester Business Journal W (Clockwise from upper right) Multiscale Systems, VALIS, FLEXcon Co., Inc., Rentschler Biopharma, Inc., Yan Wang, BMP Medical, and Wirefab, Inc. MANUFACTURING AWARD WINNERS Overall Manufacturing Excellence Wirefab, Inc., in Worcester .......................... 11 Best Collaboration Award BMP Medical, in Sterling............................. 12 Manufacturing Champion Yan Wang, professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute ..................................................... 13 Rising Star Multiscale Systems, in Worcester ................ 14 Green Manufacturing Award VALIS, in Worcester .................................... 16 Top Product Design & Innovation FLEXcon Co., Inc., in Spencer ..................... 18 Workforce Development Award Rentschler Biopharma, Inc., in Milford ......... 19