A Tribute to Industry

Innovation. Boldness. Creativeness. The CNI Award is a well-deserved recognition for those who make Brazil grow. Each edition of the CNI Award highlights the best business practices to enable an efficient and sustainable production, resulting in increased competitiveness.

The Award, which is open to all industries associated with state federations, is noted for its transparency and seriousness in the selection process. The winners are honored in a ceremony that is attended by business personalities, ministers and other authorities. And such recognition does not depend on the size of the company involved or the field it is active in, but rather on its capacity for putting good ideas into practice, innovating and overcoming obstacles.

Award Categories

Each category has two sub-categories:
- Large and Medium scale Industries, for companies with gross annual revenue of over R$ 3,6 million.
- Small and Micro scale industry for those with a gross annual revenue of up to R$ 3,6 million.

Innovation and productivity

The CNI Award pays a tribute to industries that have launched initiatives that have led to the adaptation or improvement of their production processes or their products and services. Innovative strategies for introducing products to the market and innovative management practices that have resulted in increased productivity are also eligible for the Award. There are five criteria for selecting the Award winners:

• Guaranteed quality control and improvements in quality and company/client relations;
• Production and resources, proving increased production capacity and sales, and reduction of costs;
• Social benefits, with  improved working environments and/or conditions;
• Dedication and efforts made in unfolding a project, taking into account persistence, difficulties faced, consistency of data and the need for integration with other areas of the company; and
• Application, showing improvements in method, quality and productivity.

Sustainable Development

This Award is made to industries that present successful environment-related performance strategies, including the adoption of environmental management systems, establishment of cleaner production practices, the implantation of waste and residues treatment systems, and the creation of environmental education programs or programs for re-cycling products. The choice of award-winners is based on five guidelines:

• Contribution towards knowledge, conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and its components, with the sharing of benefits accrued from its use;
• Making best use of the economic potential of biodiversity in various segments, like timber, genetic resources, raw materials, medicine, cosmetics, phytopharmaceuticals and food;
• Supporting the creation, maintenance and conservation of biodiverse territories like parks, ecological stations, nature reserves and structures focused on environmental education and ecological leisure activities;
• Cleaner production as an integrated economic, environmental and technological strategy for improving production processes and aimed at heightened efficiency in the use of raw materials, water and energy, based on the non production, minimization or recycling of waste products and residues; and
• Stimulating environmental education within the company, school/company interaction, or individual actions in environmental education for the community, taking into account the possibility of replicating knowledge.

Design

The award distinguishes those industries that promote design initiatives to introduce changes and adaptations in their products. The choice of the winners is based on the following five requirements:

• Skills in research and analysis techniques, creativity, synthesis and evaluation, representation and presentation;
• Human resources, including the composition of the design team and the development of its own products, as well as the use made of the design services of others;
• Investments in product design to introduce changes and adaptations for market demands and lead  gains for the company;
• Range of products and packaging produced by the company that were object of investment in design planning and with proven return on investment; and
• Launching of new products.