Thanks for registering your interest in the 2020 Hunter Manufacturing Awards.This document is a guide ONLY. It is designed to help you with your submission.

Applications are to be made via the HMA website.

To apply for any category, visit www.HMA.org.au/apply-now and select your relevant category, and then through to click ‘Apply Now’.

There is a 2-step process - if you haven’t already, please complete step one by registering your interest in applying for the category at www.HMA.org.au/registration

Step 2 is to apply for the award and submit the application form via the website. The following document includes all the information you require to successfully complete the process. This document is not the application.

You have until the 30th August 2020 to complete your application for any of the categories.

In the event you need further assistance, clarification or want to submit appendix documentation larger than 20MB, please contact Carol McEwan on 0438 242 899.

An Incentive Prize will be sponsored by helloworld Business Travel Group which will give finalists an opportunity to win a trip for two people to any city in Australia or New Zealand. HMA will contribute $1,000 towards incidental expenses for the winner of this Prize. The prize will be drawn at the Awards Event.

HMA 2020 Application for Outstanding Start-Up Award Page 1 of 6

OUTSTANDING START-UP AWARD APPLICATION FORM GUIDE ONLY

Proudly Sponsored by Molycop

Company Details:

Company Name:

Address:

Suburb:

Postcode:

Website:

No. of Employees

No. of Years Company has been Operating

Contact Person’s DetailsContact Name:

Email:

Phone Number:

Mobile Number:

The contact person may be contacted in the case of a company/plant site visit by a judge.

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Outstanding Start-Up Award - DEFINITION

Please read the following definition before completing your application form to ensure you are submitting in the correct category.

To assist you with this application the judges have provided some guidelines

When providing your answers, the “For Example” / guidelines we have suggested for each question are not intended to be exhaustive. They are designed as examples and prompts to help you understand the judges’ requirements. It is important that where you state that you have evidence in support of the specific question you are answering, you need to provide that evidence - usually, a generic brochure or company overview is not sufficient.

HMA is interested in seeing initiatives that have been identified, driven, and resolved within our region (Hunter, Central Coast, Mid North Coast).

This category recognises a successful new start-up in the manufacturing sector. This business is established and producing and selling its initial product/s to its target market/s. This is a standalone business, not a subsidiary of a larger enterprise.

This category is not for businesses that are still in the development phase without ongoing production and sales established but have been trading for less than two years.

Note - Applicants may find that their application into the Outstanding Start-Up category may also be a 'fit' for another category, such as Manufacturer of the Year etc.

By adapting the information to fit the criteria of other categories you give yourself the opportunity for your product, process, etc. to be profiled in more than one sector.

Each of the listed criteria must be addressed and where possible, evidence provided.

Photographs, drawings, etc. may be included as an attachment to the online application form - please label clearly.

Please address the following criteria and restrict the content of each criteria response to 200 words or less i.e. question 1 can only have a maximum of 200 words.

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Outstanding Start-Up Award

SECTION 1 – Outstanding Start-Up Award

Any accompanying documentation provided as evidence may either be inserted as part of this form, or, as an attachment to this application.

Attachments must be labelled according to the question number e.g. question 3 - evidence provided. Reminder: each question has a word limit of 200 words.

Criteria Value

1. Describe the nature of your new business. How bold has your entry into the market been? Are you targeting a significant disruption to the market with your business? How did you choose this strategy?

10

2. How did you define your specific offer? How did you validate the fit for your offer with the market opportunity? What strategy did you adopt to take your business to the market? How did you develop that approach? How successful has this strategy been? Describe any changes you have made to your initial strategy and why these were made.

10

3. Describe your approach to identifying the risks to your startup and how you have managed them? Have new risks emerged as you executed your business plan? What were they and how did you respond to them?

10

4. Provide details of your sales performance to date. How did you achieve that?

10

5. Describe the nature of your relationship with your key clients and how you established those relationships. What do you do to sustain those relationships? How do you gather feedback from your clients and what do you do with that information?

10

6. How have you ensured that you stayed focused on your strategy and didn’t get distracted by all the things that pop up along the way as you get your business going?

10

7. Describe how you have been able to quickly adapt to changes in the market or from internal learnings as your business has developed?

10

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8. Describe how you have sought to access ideas and input from experienced external advisers. What benefits have you derived from this external guidance?

10

9. Describe how you have used smart technology to improve one or more aspects of your business from production technology, finance, logistics or collaboration.

10

10. Describe the extent to which your new business is scalable. What planning has been put in place to scale the business up as the opportunity arises?

10

11. How have you gone about ensuring that each person who joins your business will be a good fit and make a strong contribution to your growth? What strategies do you use to keep your employees engaged with the business and actively contributing to its development? Have you implemented any flexible organisational structures that differ from the traditional hierarchical trees? Describe your approach. What is your approach to recognising the work of your employees and rewarding them? What strategies do you have in place to retain your best people?

10

TOTAL 110

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Checklist

Ensure all selection criteria are addressed on your online application form.

Please note: Applications will not be accepted for judging if all requested information/selection criteria have not been completed.

Please check box ☒, as each point is marked off.

Have you submitted your application/s using the appropriate generic application form/s from the HMA website at www.HMA.org.au/apply-now, with all selection criteria being addressed as specified on the form/s?

☐

Have you completed the company details on the front page? ☐

Have you supplied your current company logo in high resolution colour in JPEG or TIFF and EPS file format?

☐

Have you supplied your company profile? (5 bullet points) ☐

Have you supplied your information about the product/concept? (five bullet points) – only if a product/concept is pertinent to the category you are submitting.

☐

Have you supplied a minimum of two photographs of the product/concept in high resolution TIFF or JPEG format?

☐

Note - Applicants may find that their application into the Outstanding Start-Up Award category may also be a 'fit' for another category, such as:

- Manufacturer of the Year – less than 50 employees

- Manufacturer of the Year – greater than 50 employees

In the event you need further assistance, clarification or want to submit appendix documentation larger than 20MB, please contact Carol McEwan on 0438 242 899.

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