Uni-Select Inc. announced on Oct. 31, its Canadian Supplier Award winners. This collection of awards recognizes the achievements, innovation and outstanding service of Uni-Select’s suppliers. Showing excellent creativity skills and accomplishing groundbreaking work in the automotive aftermarket, the honorees were celebrated during the ceremony held at Uni-Select’s VIP Supplier Awards Event in conjunction with AAPEX in Las Vegas.

Uni-Select officially commemorates its suppliers in order to show them that the corporation is truly appreciative and grateful for the hard work they put into providing Uni-Select with the best service.

“At Uni-Select, we deeply value the quality of the relationship we have with our suppliers. They are a fundamental component of our corporation’s success and this is why it is important for us to acknowledge their great work and recognize them every year with the Canadian Supplier Awards,” said Miguel Angers, vice president merchandising.

The Diamond Award is the most prestigious prize of the Supplier Awards. The prize is awarded in recognition of dependable and detail-oriented service to the supplier having given the best support to Uni-Select customers. This award recognizes the quality of sales tools, fill rate, lead time, inventory management, service (training, tech support) and manpower support, amongst others. It is attributed to a supplier who offers quality products and sustainable and efficient service. This year, PPG Canada Inc. is the recipient of the Diamond Award.

Three prizes called The Golden Ally are awarded in recognition for sales and marketing achievements. The first category, Sales tools for independent jobbers and installers, recognizes a supplier who provided an innovative sales tool designed to help jobbers sell to a shop owner or to help installers explain and sell maintenance or a service to a customer. This year, Tenneco Inc. is the recipient of this award.

The Marketing campaign of the year, which is awarded to a supplier whose marketing campaign stood out, was given to Shell Canada Products. The recipient’s campaign had to be focused on developing sales at the installer level to support them in offering the best solutions to their consumers.

The third category, Training and Technical Support, represents a supplier who provided efficient and innovative training material designed to simplify technical education on installation or specialized maintenance. It also could be awarded to a supplier that provided professional technical support material and/or online and phone technical support through an e-catalog or website. This year, Gates Canada Inc. is the recipient of this award.

The Tech-Savvy Award – New Technology is awarded to Blue Streak Hygrade Motor Products Ltd., a supplier who has developed and implemented the most user-friendly and innovative IT program to support the sales development at the independent jobber or installer level, according to Uni-Select.

In recognition of their sales growth, three suppliers were given the Achiever Award. These winners’ sales growth performances were the highest among all of Uni-Select’s suppliers in their respective categories. Wilson Auto Electric distinguished itself in the Automotive Parts category. AkzoNobel Coatings Ltd and SureWerx stood out in the Paint and Body Equipment and Tools and Equipment categories, respectively.

As Uni-Select celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2018, a special recognition also was presented to 11 suppliers that have been partners of the Uni-Select since its beginning: Docap Distribution Inc., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Corp., Valvoline Canada, Tenneco Inc., MANN+HUMMEL Filtration Technology Canada ULC., 3M Canada Co., Exide Technologies Canada Corp., Kleen-Flo Tumbler Industries Limited, Phillips & Temro Industries Inc., SKF Canada Limited and PPG Canada Inc.