With innovation as one of its main priorities throughout its history, WEG has just received the 2010 “ The Most Innovative Companies in Brazil” award in September, in São Paulo. Promoted by the Época Negócios magazine in partnership with the consulting firm A.T Kearney, the awards were given to 20 companies who make up the innovation list. The winners were assessed by 12 thousand consumers in the country and chosen from 120 companies listed.

Whirlpool tops the list which also includes companies such as Embraco, O Boticário, Vale and White Martins. WEG, which today has 75% of its revenue from products launched in the last three years, is 19th in the ranking. “Innovation is a question of survival for us”, says Milton Castella, Director of Engineering at WEG. “Our differentials are essential now that motors are commodities in the international market”, he concludes.

WEG’s main goal is to increase the energy efficiency of its products. “We are producing motors which need fewer raw materials when manufactured, and which use less energy. By doing this we can reduce the generation of CO2 on both ends of the chain”, says Sebastião Nau, R&D Manager at WEG.

The event also awarded companies for outstanding excellence in issues such as innovation strategy, organization & culture and innovation processes. The winners were Whirlpool, O Boticário and Dow respectively.