Abbott has been awarded the top Shingo Prize^®, an international award for operational excellence, by the Shingo Institute at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. Abbott’s diagnostics manufacturing facility in Longford received the award, recognising the site's initiatives to develop and maintain continuous improvement to achieve operational excellence. The prize is awarded to organisations that demonstrate a culture where principles of operational excellence are deeply embedded into the thinking and behaviour of all leaders, managers and employees. The prize is a premier award for operational excellence and the standard is, by design, one of the most rigorous in the world. This is the first year that Abbott’s diagnostics business has been recognised with this award. Abbott's vascular manufacturing site in Clonmel also received the top Shingo Prize in 2014. "Our overall mission at Abbott is to advance human health in everything we do, enabling people to not just live longer, but better. In diagnostics, we do this by helping doctors diagnose and monitor a wide range of health conditions with greater speed, accuracy and efficiency," said Brian Blaser, executive vice-president, Diagnostics Products, Abbott. "I want to congratulate the team at our manufacturing facility in Longford on receiving the top Shingo Prize. It is a testament of their deep commitment to serving the people who benefit from our products." The Abbott Longford facility was also named Medtech Company of the Year in Ireland for an innovative approach to product and service development by the Irish Medical Devices Association, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. In addition, the Irish Centre for Business Excellence honoured Abbott Longford with the National Business Excellence Award. This award recognises outstanding contributions for growing and transforming an organisation while openly sharing that knowledge and best practices with member organisations of the Irish Centre Network. "Abbott is delighted to have received these three prestigious awards on behalf of all our employees. Through a relentless focus on world-class performance, our organisation has been able to deliver truly outstanding and sustainable results for our customers and the patients that we serve," said Ciaran Corcoran, Longford site director, Diagnostics, Abbott. "We are proud to be honoured in such a way." About Abbott Connect with Abbott at www.abbott.com and on Twitter @AbbottNews and @AbbottGlobal. https://vimeo.com/94496909