Innovation.Technology.2008

I was invited by my friend (Dr. Luk Chi Fai – Sr. Mgr in SAE) to join the symposium entitled “Innovation.Technology.2008: How Security Technology Protects Our Assets” on 29 Nov 2008.

I would like to share what I have learnt during the symposium as follows.
Dr. Winnie Tang (President, Internat Professional Association- iPROA) was a guest who introduced the information security environment of Hong Kong.


The following table summarized the virus incident in Hong Kong since 2001.

The following figure was the introduction of information security management.

The first speaker was Mr. Kenneth Law and his topic was “Safeguarding Banking and Financial Facility Security with Integrated Electronic Security Solution”.

He introduced the banking electronic security concerns and introduced 3 major concern requirements.

They were:
* Audit Requirement
- International Standard Compliance (Sarbanes-Oxley & Basel II), etc.
* IT Requirement
- BCP
- Harden / Core Build Server, etc.
* Security Requirement
- Who/When/What/Where/How
- Visitor Tracking, CCTV, etc.
Finally, he pointed out the most important item was working with corporate internal guideline and process.

The second speaker was Mr. Billy Tang (CEO, Titanium Technology Limited) and he presented “Innovative Identifications Technology”.

Firstly, he reviewed recent disasters. He asked a question “What are the victims most desperate for?” and the answer was Family and Friends.

Then he introduced Human Searching Technology. The technology aimed to verify victim’s identity effectively with high efficient. It resulted to have a better communication with victim’s relative and allowing relatives to enquire the status of the suspected victim.

There are other matching tools such as DNA, Dental, Face and Fingerprint. Billy’s company developed an intelligent surveillance system using facial recognition technology to search potential smugglers at Customs Control Point.

The last speaker was Dr. Sri Hartati KURNIAWAN (CTO, RCG Holding Limited) and her topic was “Adoption of Biometrics and RFID Technologies in Enterprise and Consumer Sectors”. She introduced different identification methods such as Password, PINs, Token, ID cards, Biometrics, Contact-less card, etc.

Then she shared some case studies as follows:
* Banking Solution
- Access Control for Bank
* RFID Ticketing
- Event Ticketing
- Ticketing and POS System
* Integrated Stadium Solution
- Ticketing and POS System
* Integrated Medical Solution
- Baby Tracking

Panel Discussion was held after all presentations.

Then Mr. Raymond Leung (Chairman & CEO, TDK China, Co. Ltd. & Chairman, MILES Alumni Association, PolyU) presented an IET Student Prize Award to Ms. Ho Sau Yee.

Lastly, he gave a closing speech regarding creative & innovation industry need in Hong Kong and he encouraged more and more young people to join in that industry.

Souvenir presentation and Group Photo

Feigenbaum's Core Quality Concepts

Armand V. Feigenbaum is a laureate of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (NMTI) in USA on 25 Aug 2008. The followings are 10 of Feigenbaum’s core ideas based on one interpretation of his quality concepts:
1. Quality is a company-wide process (It must touch everyone, with no exceptions.)
2. Quality is what the customer says it is (The customer votes with money, therefore this is important.)
3. Quality and cost are a sum, not a difference (Cost is a measure of quality, and quality drives lower cost.)
4. Quality requires individual and teamwork zealotry (Everyone must develop a quality mind-set.)
5. Quality is a way of managing (Management is responsible for defining its business control system.)
6. Quality and Innovation are mutually dependent (One withoutthe other will not lead to enduring results.)
7. Quality is an ethic, a belief system about what ought to be, a responsible way of working.)
8. Quality requires continuous improvement (Without improvement, all systems performance degrades.)
9. Quality is the most cost effective, least capital intensive route to productivity (Quality creates efficiency.)
10. Quality is implemented in a system connected to customers and suppliers (Customer intimacy is critical.)

Reference:
Gregory H. Watson (2008) “Total Quality, Total Commitment” Quality Progress, Nov 2008, pp.20-26.

Solutions for Profits Seminar II

I joined “Solutions for Profits” seminar – part 2, which was organized by International Supply Chain Education Alliance (ISCEA), on 22 Nov 2008. My classmates and I were speakers in Certified Lean Master Program to share our project and achievement.


In the beginning, Mr. Henry Soo (Director of Operation, ISCEA.HK) gave an opening speech and called “The Miller, His Son, and Their Ass” (Aesop’s Fables). He analyzed the way to achieve the common goal from the story situation (“Care for Son” or “Dutiful to Father”) to our workplace. Finally, he concluded solution for profit is “Learning – Change – Improvement”.

The keynote speaker, Dr. John Man (Principal, SPI, Founder and Councilor, IAQC) gave a talk named “Six Sigma promise: Change Acceleration with lower risk”. He emphasized “Fact Based Decision Making”. How do you CHANGE? CHANGE is come form SOLUTION. SOLUTION has three components, i.e. Correction, Improvement and INNOVATION.

Then, He introduced “Re” factors which affect Business Performance Management. “Re” factors included: Repair/Reprocess; Rehandle; Recheck; Reanalysis and Retrain.

He also introduced TLS model which is a strategy combined TOC, Lean & Six Sigma.

The second speaker was Ms. Karen Ng (O&M Manager, Lever Style Inc.). Her project aimed to establish lean warehouse by reengineering the garment fulfillment process for speed (reducing cycle times) and flexibility. She modified the material flow layout, introduced 5S and Bar Code system. Finally, she obtained improvement results including on-time processing of received materials, high 5S audit score, high % OTD of materials to factory and reduced number of days from material picking to delivery.

She concluded the key success factors for Lean project as follows:
1. Top management commitment and involvement
2. Engage staff in improvement efforts
3. Cultivate a continuous improvement mindsets among involved staff
4. Develop and find successor to take over the role of change agent.

I was the third speaker (Manager, BDTS of HKSTP). My project aimed to reduce the process time of workflow of IC Design Tools booking and billing.
After defined Current Value Stream Map, I used Kaizen Blitz to improve 3 processes. They are:
1. Data Transfer Process
2. Data Upload Process
3. Approval Invoice Process

During Kaizen Blitz, wastes were identified and eliminated. The results were summarized:
• Current VSM:
– Value Added Ratios: ~13%
• Future VSM
– Value Added Ratios: ~15% (Increased 2%)
• Lead time reduction:
– Reduced ~ 18%

My future plans on Lean project are:
• Introducing the VSM to other units
• Short Term Enhancement – Improve FMS with limited resource
• Long Term Enhancement – Integrate IT Systems (company-wide):
– For customer related process, CRM will be employed.
– For operation related process, ERP will be employed.

The forth speaker was Ms. Zen (Continuous Improvement Manager, Littlefuse Phils, Inc.). Her project topic was “Improvement of MOV Inventory Turns from 3.2 to 7.0”.

She summarized Lean Tools used in her project as below.
Value:
- Voice of the Customer
Value Stream:
- Value Stream Map
- Activity Process Map
Flow:
- Bottleneck Identification
- Visual Control
- Six Sigma
- Quality at the Source
- Smaller Batch Size
- Layout
Pull:
- Demand Pull vs Forecast Push
Perfection:
- Lean Simulation / Training

After improvement, the value added ratio was found to increase from 0.05% to 0.11%, WIP decreased, and Layout improved.
She said there were three points learned from the lesson:
1. Walking through the process revealed not only technical information, but also the people’s mindset.
2. Batch-and-queue mentality vs. lean thinking is a bigger war than I have thought!
3. Starting with quick wins excited the team but focus on the top 80% kept up the momentum.

The key success factors were identified to be “Teamwork” and “Focus on the Target”.


The last topic was TOC success story presented by Mr. Alert Kwok (Director, Harbona Packaging Co., Ltd.). Albert is also my classmate in EngD (MEEM, CityU).

He told his decisions made on implementing TOC project was within 5 minutes. It was because he has known TOC for 20 years and had the following reasons:
- Stock investment is very high
- Reliability on delivery is very low
- Order status is uncertain, etc.
He also explained why use TOC (Theory of Constraints).
- They need an integrate approach for management system with holistic strategy for competitive advantage
- About right is better than precisely wrong in his company culture
- Result-based consulting with low risk

Production improvements by using Simplified Drum-Buffer-Rope (SDBR) & Buffer Management (BM) were shown as follows:
1. Training on TOC mind-sets in the whole team
2. Plan the production is based on customers’ orders
3. Re-prioritize the orders without sub-optimization (Local efficiency)
4. Manage the material release according to TOC DBR way
5. Monitor the Raw Material according to TOC dynamic buffer management

He shared the lessons learnt to us as follows:
· Management commitment
· Mind-set training is the first priority
· Technical training is the second priority
· Persistent in TOC decision making mechanism to avoid shifting into old paradigm
· Use TOC terminology for communication as fresh air of working relationship to resolve day-to-day conflict


Henry presented a souvenir to Albert.

Mr. Mike Sheahan presented certificate to us.

Finally, all CLM graduates had taken a group photo.

The seminars were very successful on 18 Oct and 22 Nov 2008.
For more information, please visit http://www.iscea.hk/ .

Visit to Hong Kong Yakult Co. Ltd.

Today, we have visited Hong Kong Yakult Co. Ltd.


When we arrived, we noticed a large logo with ISO 9001 certification in the entrance of the factory.

At the beginning, Yakult managers introduced the history and the benefit of Yakult product.
Hong Kong Yakult Co. Ltd. has begun operations since 1969. For more details of its history, please visit at http://www.yakult.co.jp/english/htm/index03.html .

The founder of Yakult is Dr. Minoru Shirota who succeeds in culturing and utilizing lactic acid bacteria (Laciobacillus casei strain shirota).

Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LCS) is a probiotic bacterium used in the production of fermented milk products and lactic acid bacteria preparations.
The composition of Yakult is including Water, Sugar Syrup, Fructose Syrup, Fresh Milk, Skimmed Milk Powder, Yogurt Flavor and Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota.

Benefits of Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota:
1) Promotion of Healthier Intestinal Activity to Improve Bowel Movements
2) Prevention of the Intraintestinal Growth of Harmful Bacteria
3) Prevention of Intestinal Putrefaction by Inhibiting Production of Harmful Substances


After introduction, we tasted the fresh Yakult.

Then we visited the Seed Tank and Production Line.

During the visit, some information is very interesting and summarized as follows:
1) Seek Tanks are used for incubation of LCS.
2) LCS will be killed at over 62oC and stop growth at refrigerator.
3) Productivity of their production line is 700,000 bottles per day (8hr / day)
4) The plastic bottle (using Polystyrene – PS) is produced by Yakult. They are molded at very high temperature, at about 250oC. After molding, they will be sent for disinfection using UV.
5) For assuring each batch with good quality, QC tests results are confirmed before the products sent to the market. Further, samples of each batch would be retained for 30 days (i.e. the shelf life) under room temperature.
6) The seal film is not only made by aluminum fold. It consists of seven layers and the last layer is a plastic film which helps to seal the bottle under microwave heating.
7) Milk powder is purchased from Australia which is guarantee without Melamine (C3H6N6).
8) How much sugar in each bottle? It is about 14g.
9) There are three pack size of Yakult, i.e. 100ml, 80ml and 60ml, for example, for Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan respectively. Why different size is packed? It is because of marketing consideration.

Finally, HKSQ chairman (Dr. Albert Tsang) presented a HKSQ flag to the representative of Yakult.

Before leaving, we took a group photo for memory.

There are some more interesting photos shown below.

I brought two package of Yakult in supermaket after this visit.

Risk Based Process Safety Management (PSM)

I had attended a technical seminar on the aspect of DuPont Risk Based Process Safety Management (PSM) organized by HKOSHA and co-organized by HKARMS, HKISA, SRSO and SSC on 6 November 2008 from 6:15pm to 8:00pm.

Mr. Jenny Wang (PSM Specialist, AP Engineering, DuPont China Holding Co. Ltd.) was the invited speaker to give introduction of DuPont Risk Based PSM to us.

PSM is an integrated management system to control different risks in order to prevent the catastrophic incident.

There are four key steps stated below:
1) Establishing a safety culture
2) Providing management leadership and commitment
3) Implementing a comprehensive PSM program
4) Achieving operating excellence through operational discipline

IHEEM (HK) Symposium

I am glad to join the symposium on “Advanced Design & Technology in Healthcare & Laboratory Facilities” organized by The Institute of Healthcare Engineering And Estate Management – Hong Kong Branch (IHEEM (HK)).

First, Ir. P.L. Yuen (Chairman of IHEEM (HK)) gave a welcome speech.


Then Ir. Dr. Raymond Ho (Rep. of the Engineering Functional Constituency, Legislative Council) gave opening address.


The keynote speech presented by Dr. Leung Pak-Yin (Director (Quality & Safety of Hospital Authority). He reviewed SARS situation and said the isolation function should be considered in air system.

My colleague, Mr. Kam Liu (Vice chairman of IHEEM (HK)) introduced different speakers.

The first speaker was Mr. Claus Schweinheim (Head of Specialized Products of Caverion GmbH) and his topic was “Design of biohazard level 4 facilities”.

He compared different international standards including BMBL, EN 12128, DIN EN 1620, etc.
And then realization of a ventilation system of class 3 and class 4 laboratory ventilation systems were introduced. Some examples were shared such as Germany project.

Mr. Adrian Turner (Managing Director of Static Systems Group Plc.) and Mr. Steve Robinson (Regional Business Line Manager of Beacon Medaes) were the second & third speakers and their talk was “Updated NHS standard in medical gas and healthcare communications” and “An Introduction to HTM 02-01”.

Mr. Turner introduced the device called “Nurse Call Advances” which was an adult in-patient facility.

Mr. Robinson introduced medical gas systems. The primary objective was to ensure the provision of a safe and reliable medical gas pipeline system and its efficient operation and use. Difference three sources of supply were reviewed.

Dr. Bing-Chuen Yang presented for Dr. Yie-Zu Robert Hu (Deputy General Director of Industrial Technology Research Institute) and the topic was “Taiwan experience in isolation ward design”. During SARS in 2003, ITRI under the instruction of the government had been in charge of 5 military hospitals’ renovations. ITRI had spent 14 days to remodel one of them to become the SARS special treatment hospital. Dr. Yang had also introduced the challenges for designing the Ambulance.

He concluded that distributed system air conditioning system for the insolated ward was proved to satisfy the requirement and the quick renovation for the designated purpose hospital have resulted the settle-down of spreading of SARS infections in Taiwan.

After completed the morning session, all speakers were invited for Q&A.

Mr. Stuart Ward (Chief Hospital Engineer, Clifford Hospital) was the fifth speaker and his talk was “JCI accreditation of hospital facilities in China. He introduced the Joint Commission International Accreditation (JCIA) – Standards for Hospitals.

There are 6 goals for patient safety:
1) Identify Patients Correctly
2) Improve Effective Communication
3) Improve the Safety of High-alert Medications
4) Ensure Correct-site, Correct-patient, Correct-procedure
5) Reduce the Risk of Health Care Associated Infections
6) Reduce the Risk of Patient Harm Resulting from Falls

The sixth speaker was Prof. Tu Guangbei (Tianjin University) and his topic entitled “National standard and T&C requirements of O.T. in China.

He introduced GB 50333-2002 “Architectural Technical Code for Hospital Clean Operating Department”, in which operation theater was classified into 4 levels.

One of argument was over estimated the degree of infection during operation related to operation theater class level.

The seventh speaker was Mr. Philipp Leicher (Managing Director of Bio-Oxygen Australia Pty.) and his speech called “Air purification in healthcare and laboratory environments”.

He introduced that indoor air quality control is very important as it not only provides healthy indoor air and prevents epidemics but it also helps to save energy. Several Bio-Oxygen bacteria test reports were explained and showing up to 100% bacteria reduction.


Mr. K.B. Leung (Director & Vice President of PBA Ltd.) was the final speaker and his topic entitled “Modern hospital design in Hong Kong”. He introduced different reference guidelines for design and summarized the modern hospital E&M system design objectives as:
1) Must be energy efficiency
2) Clean Hospital
3) E&M plant room location
4) Building service – operation, maintenance & expansion
5) Central sterilization system

After the afternoon session, all speakers were also invited for Q&A.

where the stand up speaker who was the sixth speaker (Prof. Tu Guangbei).