Global consultant Seraph recognizes the best automotive manufacturing facilities in North America in five key areas at awards ceremony 

June 27, 2023 (DETROIT, MI) ㅡ ARaymond, a worldwide leader in fastening and assembly systems, is proud to announce that it earned two major honors at the 2023 Seraph Operational Excellence Awards — with its facilities bringing home awards for Operations Excellence and Human Resources Excellence at the June 15th ceremony in Detroit. 

ARaymond’s fluid handling facility, Rayconnect, in Rochester Hills, Michigan, took home the Human Resources Excellence Award, and ARaymond Manufacturing Center NA, Inc. facility for assembly and fastening in Rochester Hills received the Operations Excellence honor.

Seraph is a global enterprise supply chain, operations, and manufacturing consultancy with a prominent presence in the automotive sector, and these prestigious awards recognize top automotive manufacturing facilities in North America that have demonstrated outstanding performance and innovation across five categories.

The awards honored the winners for exceptional achievements in their respective categories, and the June 15th event was attended by industry leaders, executives, and various organizations striving for automotive manufacturing excellence.

"We congratulate all the winners of the 2023 Operational Excellence Awards," said Thomas Kowal, Seraph’s President of North America. “Many companies have troves of data but fail to analyze it and ultimately drive action to improve. ARaymond’s RayPro cloud-based production monitoring system was clearly being used in their Rochester Hills plant for highly effective operations management, problem-solving, and continuous improvement.”

Regarding Rayconnect’s Human Resources honor, Kowal explained: "By embodying Servant Leadership, proactive market-rate wage adjustments, and implementing proactive strategies such as personalized career progression plans and employee recognition programs, it creates an excellent place to work and the foundation for operational excellence.” 

Ramesh Gaddam, CEO at Rayconnect, expressed his thanks to the entire staff for the work that led to their award. 

“It is fitting that we were recognized for Excellence in Human Resources, as we have a people-centric culture based on ARaymond’s values and Servant Leadership principles, with a focus on talent development and recognition,” Gaddam said. “I am very proud of our entire team for nurturing our culture to create a meaningful work environment.”  

Ronald A. Zain, Operation Excellence Leader at ARaymond Manufacturing Center NA, Inc Rochester Hills plant, was also thankful, saying: “The Seraph award symbolized the cross-collaboration and multidisciplinary alignment of our culture.” 

The winners of the Seraph Operational Excellence Awards were chosen through a comprehensive two-step process designed to assess and evaluate performance across key operational areas. In the first step, all candidates underwent an online assessment, which thoroughly reviewed their logistics, operations, human resources, and quality practices. This assessment helped identify organizations that exhibited exceptional operational excellence.

The top candidates from the initial assessment proceeded to the second step, where they received a one-day onsite assessment conducted by the Seraph team. During this phase, the Seraph experts conducted in-depth evaluations of the shortlisted organizations, gaining deeper insights into their operational strategies, practices, and culture.