Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa (KDZA) has announced the winners of the 15th annual Service Awards.

The annual Service Awards are part of a global initiative to recognise and honour service excellence. The much-anticipated awards attract service engineers nationally who complete a rigorous online test to compete against the best in the industry.

The South African winners are:

* First place: Shaun Mathanlal, MPU Copiers (Nelspruit, Mpumalanga).

* Second place: Denzil Gramani, Corporate Business Solutions (Johannesburg, Gauteng).

* Third place: Chris Schutte, Kokstad Copiers (Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal).

“I am deeply honoured to win this award,” says Mathanlal. “I’ve have been in the industry for 29 years and have worked with Kyocera products for 25 of those years. I’m passionate about delivering personalised service for customers and it’s amazing to be recognised for that.”

Gramani, who has been working with Kyocera products for over 20 years, was equally delighted. “I grew up in the industry,” he says. “I tried to leave the industry at one stage, but I had to come back because it feels like home and I love working in the industry and trade and providing customers with service excellence.”

Schutte, also an industry veteran, has built his knowledge of Kyocera devices over a period of 26 years. “I love the product range,” he says. “Kyocera has always focused on quality, which makes me exceptionally proud to be acknowledged as Service Award winner. I’m also grateful for the excellent support we receive from KDZA.”

“Our service partners are the cornerstone of Kyocera’s service delivery across the country,” says Yunus Docrat, service operations manager at Kyocera Document Solutions South Africa. “We are dedicated to continually improving our service network with our partners and developing the skills of our service engineers, which is why we are delighted to reward the efforts of our expert technicians. They represent a significant competitive advantage for KDZA, and we are exceptionally proud of all participants and finalists.”

Other finalists included, in no particular order, are:

* Antanio Beling, NRG Office Solutions;

* Graham Meyer, Nasatech;

* Justin Hurter, Leaf Technologies;

* Michail Eksteen, Universal Office Automative Solutions;

* Mugammand Ashraf Godfrey, Pansolutions; and

* Olwethu Nonkanga, Omni Technologies.

KDZA’s top three partners are:

* Corporate Business Solutions;

* Ronmar Office Equipment; and

* Universal Office Automotive Solutions (first place).