Robert and Louise Cataldo of Nova Caravans (pictured) accepted the prestigious ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ award in early December.
Having just celebrated its 10th anniversary, the award, given by the Victorian municipality of Hume as part of its Hume Business Awards was fitting recognition of this Victorian caravan manufacturer, which was also a finalist in the ‘Training’ and ‘Customer Service’ categories.
“Our goal this year was to surpass our own expectations,” Robert Cataldo said. “With so many manufacturers in Australia producing caravans, it is increasingly difficult to stand out from the crowd.”
Mr Cataldo said that he and his team of designers were constantly looking to push the boundaries and improve on design, functionality and innovation.
“We continually look at our manufacturing, streamlining processes, training, looking outside our industry for new products and new ways to advance,” he said.
“We have created positions within our business to focus on product development and training of our dealer network, ensuring our teams in the field are informed and have the right tools to exceed our customers’ expectations.
“We are currently investing time and money into the S6 Lean Manufacturing program introduced by the CIAA (Caravan Industry Association of Australia). This scheme aims to look at fine-tuning work processes to increase productivity and efficiencies while maintaining or improving performance and outputs.”
Nova has also embarked on a training partnership with the Caravan Industry Association of Victoria and its initiative, the National Caravan Industry Training College.
