"For engineering companies, this is the most important award in the Czech Republic. We have prizes from elsewhere, but we value the MSV Gold Medals from Brno the most, because they really have a long term reputation," says Ondřej Tyc, production manager for Strojírna Tyc, who won already their third Gold Medal at MSV2011. The manufacturer felt the business value of the award right at the fair, where the winning machine gained three new customers.
The new competition rules reduced the number of Gold Medals and they are no longer granted according to professional categories; yet not only engineering companies have a chance to succeed, but also smaller companies from other industries. Last year for example, one of four medals was awarded to INCOE International Europe, from a relatively narrow field of injection moulding. "We are of course very proud of our MSV Gold Medal. It was a great surprise for us because we won among exhibits from all disciplines, which is a great success for a product from the plastics sector," says sales manager at Jaroslav Staněk. In marketing terms, it makes sense to even enter the Gold Medal competition in his opinion. "My opinion is that when someone has something, they should boast. Even if we did not win, just the fact that we believed in our product so much that we had entered it in a contest gives the customer a positive signal."
