Miguel Lazpiur, Company Manager, received the trophy from the Lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe, in the course of the prize-giving ceremony held on 19 December in the Kursaal Conference Centre. The prize-giving was presided over by the Lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe and was attended by the President of Euskalit, Xabier Alkorta, the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Ana Agirre, the Minister of Health, Gabriel Inclán and the Minister of Education, Tontxu Campos. Since 1964, Lazpiur has been dedicated to the construction of special machinery and precision tooling. In 1989, the company's management decisively opted for the road to Excellence, leading them to transform and improve the organisation. From Total Quality to the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) European Model, defining what the company has called "three phases plus one: product quality, management quality, changing the organisational model, plus the participatory commitment”. The process of participatory strategic reflection has been the key to the company's transformation, in which all the workers together with the management establish the development guidelines for each stage. In Lazpiur they are convinced that the application of a EFQM European model is an essential strategy to confront the changeable market challenges, because it plots the route for the constant improvement of companies' competitiveness, promotes permanent innovation in all areas and looks for customer satisfaction without forgetting the people in the organisation and the suppliers.

Tel +34 943 769016 – Fax +34 943 765169 - lazpiur@lazpiur.com – www.lazpiur.com