December 4, 2014. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation won the Russian Government’s National Quality Prize among enterprises employing over 1,000 people. The prestigious prize was awarded by Decree 1253 dated November 27, 2014 ‘for outstanding achievements in product and service quality and for highly efficient quality management methods,’ the corporation’s press service reports.

Uralvagonzavod Corporation has applied for the prize for the first time this year; the award is considered to be the government’s highest assessment of how good a company’s quality management is and is believed to be one of the most important motivating factors in attempts at innovation and in increasing competitiveness of Russian companies in particular and Russian economy in general.

The prize was awarded after a long series of contest rounds. During the first stage of the competition, the award-giving council’s secretariat looked into contestants’ applications, and Uralvagonzavod scored enough points to enter the race. During the second stage, a board of experts arrived to work directly in Nizhniy Tagil and to assess the plant along nine criteria: the management’s leadership status, the company’s quality control policy and strategy, human resources, partnerships and resources, products and services, consumers’ satisfaction with the quality of products and services, employees’ work satisfaction, the impact the company makes on the society, and the company’s performance outcomes. The board members went to nearly all of Uralvagonzavod’s production departments, spoke to managers and white- and blue-collar workers, and looked at the social infrastructure facilities. They evaluated what they saw quite highly, which improved the enterprise’s initial score tremendously.