Keech Australia has won the Manufacturing/Industrial category of the 2014 Bendigo Business Excellence Awards, as well as the overall Bendigo Business of the Year.

 The Awards were announced at a ceremony last Friday evening, in front of 400 Bendigo businesspeople, representing 39 finalists in 13 categories.

Keech Australia Director and owner Garth Keech said the win capped off a successful year for the business.

“This year we launched our Keech 3D advanced manufacturing operation, featured in the Australia’s Top 50 Innovative Companies and won the Endeavour Award for Most Innovative Australian Company.

“It is great to be recognised for our achievements but we are most proud of the fact that we are a third generation family manufacturer who employs 150 talented people and exports our products around the world.”

CEO Dr Herbert Hermens paid tribute to the company’s employees for their contribution to Keech’s success.

“We have a vision for this company that involves being an innovative, competitive manufacturer and a leader in the markets we serve. Over the past four years Keech has undergone massive change and growth, as well as entering into new areas like digital manufacturing. Our success is underpinned by the wealth of talent amongst our workforce, who medicine20.org are committed to seeing manufacturing survive and thrive in this region.”

Keech Australia is one of the country’s most progressive manufacturers. Its Bendigo foundries produce high integrity steel castings for both national and international mining, excavating, construction, agricultural, rail transport and defense industries. Keech’s patented products are exported to China, Japan, Chile, Russia, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Canada and Brazil.