WINNIPEG, Oct. 26, 2015 /CNW/ - (TSX: NFI) (TSX: NFI.DB.U) New Flyer of America Inc., ("New Flyer" or the "Company"), the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses in Canada and the United States, announced today that the Company's Winnipeg manufacturing facility has been selected as the only Canadian finalist for the 2015 IndustryWeek Best Plant Award.

Established in 1990, IndustryWeek's annual salute to outstanding North American manufacturing facilities serves two purposes:

• To recognize plants that are on the leading edge of efforts to increase competitiveness, enhance customer satisfaction, and create stimulating and rewarding work environments.
• To encourage other manufacturing managers and work teams to emulate the honorees by adopting world-class practices, technologies, and improvement strategies.

In order to qualify, candidate facilities are judged by a panel of IndustryWeek editors, who may solicit independent evaluations from manufacturing experts and other knowledgeable persons. New Flyer demonstrated strong evidence of:

• A comprehensive effort to achieve world-class manufacturing capability.
• Improvements in manufacturing operations, including shortening of manufacturing cycle times, improvements in productivity, and reduction of inventories.
• Extensive employee involvement and empowerment programs, especially efforts to create and provide training for high-performance work teams.
• A strong customer focus, including customer-satisfaction programs, customer involvement in product design, employee contact with customers, and efforts to reduce customer leadtimes.
• Effective supplier-partnership programs, including efforts to solicit supplier evaluations of plant practices.

"We are tremendously proud to be named among the finalists for this prestigious industry recognition," said Kevin Wood, New Flyer's Vice-President of Manufacturing. "This honour of being the only Canadian finalist across all of North America, is a tribute to the hard work and dedication to improving performance seen in each New Flyer employee. We could not be more pleased to have been the only transit bus manufacturer to receive this prominent distinction""New Flyer has become known for their focus on sustainability both in terms of what they build to how they build," said Ron Koslowsky, Vice President of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters. "They have used technology to facilitate a lower environmental footprint, as well as to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace and secure profitability in the process. Their commitment to their employees extends through the care and attention to safety demonstrated by their exemplary record."

About New Flyer

New Flyer is the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses in the United States and Canada. The Company is the industry technology leader and offers the broadest product line of transit buses including drive systems powered by: clean diesel, natural gas, diesel-electric hybrid, electric trolley and now, battery-electric. All buses are supported by an industry-leading comprehensive warranty and support program, and service network. New Flyer also operates the industry's most sophisticated aftermarket parts organization, sourcing parts from hundreds of different suppliers and providing support for all types of transit buses.

The New Flyer group of companies employ over 3,300 team members with manufacturing, fabrication, parts distribution and service centers in both Canada and the United States. Over 32,000 New Flyer and NABI heavy-duty transit buses are in operation today. Further information is available on New Flyer's website at http://www.newflyer.com

The common shares and convertible unsecured subordinated debentures of the Company are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols NFI and NFI.DB.U, respectively.

SOURCE New Flyer Industries Inc.

Image with caption: "New Flyer facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. (CNW Group/New Flyer Industries Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151026_C6589_PHOTO_EN_529508.jpg

Image with caption: "IndustryWeek (CNW Group/New Flyer Industries Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151026_C6589_PHOTO_EN_529510.jpg

Image with caption: "The IndustryWeek Best Plants Award (CNW Group/New Flyer Industries Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151026_C6589_PHOTO_EN_529512.jpg