CQI Seminar "Quality is a Matter of Life or Death"

A seminar named "Quality is a Matter of Life or Death" was organized by Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and co-organized by Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) Hong Kong Branch, Hong Kong Q-Mark Council and Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI) on 8 July 2013. Slips in quality management would not only impact on profit but would also damage brand image which may not be rebuilt even though a long time. The seminar aimed to update the industry with the latest development of quality management local and international markets.

Before the seminar, we took a photo with Mr. Simon Feary (Chief Executive, CQI).
(Left: Mr. Leslie Lee (Secretary and Honorary Chairman, CQI-HK), Mr. Simon Feary and I)

In the beginning, Dr. Lawrence Cheung (General Manager, Automotive & Electronic, HKPC) gave an opening remarks. Dr. Cheung said "Quality is continuous struggle." that indicating the seminar theme "Quality is a Matter of Life or Death".

Then Dr. Cheung presented a souvenir to Mr. Simon Feary and Mr. Bernie Ting (Chairman of Hong Kong Q-Mark Council, FHKI).

The first speaker was Mr. Bernie Ting (Chairman of HOng Kong Q-Mark Council, FHKI) and his presentation entitled "Q-Mark: Symbol of Quality for 35 years".

Mr. Ting started the Q-Mark story since 1978. The objectives of Q-Mark are to enhance product quality, service, and Green Mark standard among local enterprises; to encourage enterprises to focus on quality and environmental protection when establishing their own brands, and to establish Q-Mark into a well recognized and trusted quality mark. There were three Q-Mark Schemes included Product, Service and Green Mark Certification.

Then Mr. Ting mentioned that there were 138 companies certified under the Q-Mark Schemes where 58 under Product, 62 under Service and 18 under Green Mark Certification. After that Mr. Ting briefed some famous local brands whose certified under different mark scheme below.
Q-Mark Certified Products: 獅球嘜 Healthy-oil, Maxim's, LEE KUM KEE, 斧頭牌 AXE, etc.
Q-Mark Certified Services: 3D-GOLD, Amway, 大快活 Fairwood, MTR, etc.
Green Mark Certified Companies: LEO Paper Group, Sino Property Services, KMB, etc.

After that Mr. Ting shared some turning points such as Food Scandal and Brand Development among local manufacturers. After conducted survey, it was found that Q-Mark could enhance quality and brand which recognized by consumers. Lastly, Mr. Ting quoted Dr. Deming statement as conclusion that only a commitment to a process of continual improvement truly rewards.


Mr. Simon Feary (Chief Executive, CQI) was the second speaker and his topic named "Why Quality is Important - a matter of Life and Death". Mr. Feary briefed the history of Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) which was founded in 1919 and awarded Royal Charter in 2006.

Firstly, Mr. Feary asked us what do Quality People do? There were many quality's vocabulary but Simon selected three of them represented the role of the Quality Professional. They were Governance, Assurance and Improvement. He said our businesses and projects could be ensured because of having appropriate Governance, adopting effective process and product Assurance to identify and mitigate business & project risks, as well as, embedding a culture of continuous Improvement. Moreover, quality professional role included to protect your brand, to improve your processes and to reduce waste.

Then Mr. Feary explained the consequences of many cases when quality had ignored. For example, Sanlu Mike Power caused 6 babies deaths and financial loss upto RMB20bn. The company was no longer exist. Another example was Apple Map. Their reputation compromised and financial loss significant (US$34bn) and loss of market share.

At the end, Mr. Feary discussed the quality contribution in UK Economy and it showed about 6% of total GDP using the report from Centre for Economics & Business Research. In addition, Mr. Feary gave use key messages that "Quality failures can literally mean life & death" and "CQI working to reposition Quality".

Q&A
I asked how to calculate the economic contribution of quality to get 9% of GDP in UK. On the other hand, the testing and certification industry contributed only 0.3% of GDP in HK. Simon said the full report with details could be download in CQI website (see reference).

Reference:
HKPC - http://www.hkpc.org/
CQI-HK - http://www.thecqi.org.hk/
CQI-UK - http://www.thecqi.org/
The economic contribution of quality - http://www.thecqi.org/Knowledge-Hub/Research-and-reports/The-economic-contribution-of-quality/
FHKI - http://www.industryhk.org/
Hong Kong Q-Mark Council - http://www.industryhk.org/english/fs/fs_qmark/fs_qmark_prod.php
CQI Blog "The CQI in Hong Kong" - http://blog.thecqi.org/index.php/2013/08/22/the-cqi-in-hong-kong/