Two of Ametek MRO’s U.S. and UK facilities have combined to win three industry awards for operational excellence and sustainability.

Ametek MRO Drake Air in Tulsa, Oklahoma, received the Lux Award for Operational Excellence and The145's “Top Shop” award, while Ametek MRO in Ramsgate, UK, won the annual Elizabeth A. Varet Sustainability Award.

The Lux Award is awarded annually to the Ametek team that best demonstrates a significant operational excellence accomplishment. This year’s winning team involved 44 of Drake Air’s team members who dynamically restructured the company’s customer support strategy, which relieved pressure on customer supply chains, enabling the MRO to diversify its repair portfolio and allowing expansion across all markets and platforms.

“From an internal and external perspective, winning this award is important as it shows Drake Air is taking the necessary steps to continuously improve,” said David Bentley, Drake Air divisional v-p and business manager. “This benefits customers through cost savings, increased capabilities, expanded offerings, greater agility, and innovation.”

The145's “Top Shop” award for “Best Heat Transfer” was awarded to Drake Air. The award is nominated and voted upon by the company’s customers, airlines, and vendors. This year’s nominees totaled more than 20 heat-transfer MRO companies.

“The145 platform is used by ourselves and our competitors, so for us to win signifies we are considered best-in-class in the category,” Bentley added. “The competition engages with hundreds of airlines and suppliers who vote in each of the 22 awards categories. Having won this award for the third time now has proven to be a compelling factor in why customers choose Drake for heat-transfer MRO services.”

Ametek MRO AEM in Ramsgate won the second annual Elizabeth R. Varet Sustainability Award over other Ametek MRO locations for its development of a system for the vacuum evaporation of hazardous waste effluent.

According to the company, the award is given to the Ametek division whose ongoing initiatives make the most meaningful impact toward protecting the environment, improving energy efficiency, water reduction, and/or waste management.

“The team at [Ametek MRO] AEM installed a closed-loop evaporation and reverse osmosis system to reuse effluent that is generated by the plating process,” explained Andy Wheeler, v-p and managing director of Ametek MRO AEM. “This project resulted in a $2.6 million cost savings to date compared to disposing of the hazardous waste offshore. Additionally, this project helps reduce hazardous waste by 192 tons and recycles over 47,000 gallons of water annually. The equipment has been designed with a view to futureproof the business by adding another reverse-osmosis membrane. This could then double the amount of water.”