OUHK Seminar on Balance and Precision Balls Calibration

The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK), Institute of Measurement and Control, Hong Kong (InstMC-HK) and Product Safety Engineering Society, Hong Kong Chapter (IEEE-HK Section) co-organized a Technical Seminar entitled "Balance and Prescision Balls Calibration" on 30 Nov 2013. The seminar covered the theory for mass measurement, requirement for proper operation of a balance, selection of a balance for an intended application and calibration of a typical precision steel ball set by the Standards and Calibration Laboratory (SCL). HKIE - Control, Automation & Instrumentation Division was one of supporting organizations.

In the beginning, Ir. SL Mak (OUHK) gave an opening remark and introduced guest speakers to us.

The first speaker was Mr. Chan Tak-kin (Senior Electrical & Mechanical Engineer, SCL) and his presentation topic was "Balance Calibration". Mr. Chan introduced 9 International System of Units (SI) such as meter (m), kilogram (kg), second (s), ampere (A), kelvin (K), mole (mol) and candela (cd).

The Mr. Chan introduced the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram (IPK) which defined at the 1st General Conference on Weights and Measures since 1889. IPK is a cylinder of 39mm in height and diameter, made of an alloy consisting of 90% platinum and 10% iridium (Pt-Ir) with a density of about 21,500 kg/m3 (where stainless stainless density is about 8000 kg/m3). IPK is being kept at Bureau International des Poids et Measures (BIPM) in France.

SCL is the holder of the copy no. 75 of the IPK. Reasons for choosing Pt-Ir alloy or its copies because of its good chemical passivity and high density (very small geometrical surface area).

For practical, the weighs are usually manufactured of stainless steel which less density than Pt-Ir alloy. It was required two main correction included air buoyancy (~100 mg for 1kg) and gravitational configuration effect. The following diagram demonstrated how to correct the air buoyancy.

Weight classification schemes usually followed OIML R111, or ASTM E-617 or NIST 105-1. It separated into classes E1, E2, F1, F2, M1, M2 to M3 (where E = Extra fine accuracy; F = Fine accuracy; and M = Medium accuracy). Physical and metrological characteristics included dimensions, shape, material, surface quality, nominal value, density, magnetic properties, maximum permissible error, construction and presentation. The following table showed the maximum permissible error. Moreover, classes E1 to F2 weights should not be handled with bare hands.

The balance location should be free from air movement, effects of heat source, machinery, electric and electromagnetic interferences, as well as, disturbance. Factors to be considered for balance selection included (i) Capacity (Max & Min mass to be weight) and (ii) Accuracy required (Resolution is usually 1/10 of the required accuracy). The following table used for calibration of balance based on balance capacity and resolution. (e.g. 6.1kg capacity and 0.1g resolution that n = 61000, where using class F1 weights are appropriated.)

Finally, Mr. Chan discussed the calibration of a balance based on (i) Repeatability, (ii) Linearity of scale and (iii) Eccentric loading. He said discussed how to interpret the data from calibration certificate included Limit of Performance (L).

The second speaker was Dr. Francis Seung-yin Wong (Electrical & Mechanical Engineer (Length), SCL) and his topic named "Calibration of Precision Balls". Firstly, Dr. Wong introduced the precision balls measurement included the size of a deep bore, angle of an internal taper, parallelism of the measuring faces of a micrometer, and essential components of critical engineering parts.

The following diagram showed the measurement for size of a long bore.

The tools for determining the angle of a typical Morse taper drill sleeve using precision balls were discussed.

Then the assessment of the parallelism of the measuring facess of a deadweight micrometer using a steel ball was introduced. There were 5 locations for this measurement included front, back, left, right and center.

After that Dr. Wong mentioned how to calibrate the precision balls (in different diameter) using Universal Measuring Machine (UMM). Its measuring Head range is from 0 to 100mm with resolution up to 0.1um and accuracy is 1um. However, it needs to use special developed handling fixture to hold the precision ball for measurement. (See diagrams below)

During the measurement (example 1mm ball), the fixture used soft material to cover the surface area in order to avoid any damage of precision ball during collision.

Finally, Dr. Wong explained its uncertainty estimation and model.

At the end, IEEE-PSES presented a souvenir to both speakers.

Reference:
OUHK: http://www.ouhk.edu.hk/WCM/?FUELAP_TEMPLATENAME=tcSingPage&lang=eng
IEEE-PSES (HK Chapter) - http://www.ee.cityu.edu.hk/~emc/pse/
InstMC-HK - http://www.instmc.org.hk/
HKIE - Control, Automation & Instrumentation Division - http://ca.hkie.org.hk/

HKQAA Symposium 2013 - ESG Management

HKQAA Symposium 2013 was organized by Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency (HKQAA) annually and it was held on 29th November 2013. Hong Kong Society for Quality (HKSQ) was one of supporting organizations since 2006. The event counted as the final activities in World Quality Month 2013. The symposium’s frame entitled “ESG Management - a Paradigm Shift in Business and Investment Strategies” and I summarized it below for sharing.

I took a photo with HKQAA friends in front of the symposium banner
(Left: Mr. KT Ting (General Manager, Market Research Business), I, Meico Cheong (Business Manager) and Mr. P.C. Chan (Chief Operating Officer))

Morning Session In the beginning, Ir. Dr. The Hon WK Lo (Chairman of HKQAA and Representative of the Engineering Functional Constituency of the Legislative Council) gave a welcoming speech. He mentioned the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues became more and more important in important on long-term benefit of enterprises.

The inaugural cooperation ceremony between HKQAA and Hang Seng for launching Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index Series was held. Group photo for all guests and HKQAA board members was taken.

Mr. Vincent Kwan (Director and General Manager, Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited) was the first speaker and his topic entitled "Relationship between ESG and investment in sustainable companies in HK and Mainland China". Mr. Kwan quoted "Sustainable Development as forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs."

Then Mr. Kwan mentioned Hong Kong coroporations ecology that there were 350,000 corporations and 2,824,000 employees in 2012 in which consumed 74% electricity and disposed 47% of solid waste at landfills. Therefore, corporation is a key stakeholder for developing a sustainable future for a society and the earth. Mr. Kwan introduced 5Cs (Corporation, Competition, Community, Corporate Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility) of Sustainability.

Mr. Kwan also briefed three routes to achieve Corporate Sustainability included "Regulation and Legislation", "Corporation's Initiative" and "Incentives". In addition, Responsible Investment is a driving force through providing incentive to a corporation for achieving sustainable development. It was found that Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) funds in Asia growing significantly. So Sustainability Index acts as a bridge for companies and investors, it is a tool to translate ESG factors into financial language that is comparable. The ESG ratings were showed as following diagram in which industry included Financials, Properties & Construction, IT, Telecommunications, Utilities, Conglomerates, Energy, Consumer Goods & Service, Industry Goods and Materials.

Ms. Connie Sham (Senior Manager of Strategic Business, HKQAA) was the second speaker and her presentation title was "Overview of Hang Seng Corporate Systainability Index Rating Model and Result of Hong Kong Carbon Performance Survey 2013". She said CSR was a moral issue in 2000 but it was an Strategic / profit issue in 2013.

Ms. Sham said CSR Advocate Index had launched since 2008 and HKQAA Sustainability Performance Assessment used new version of CSR index which was in line with the Hang Seng Sustainability Index Rating Model (See below).

Then Ms. Sham reported HKQAA-HKJC Carbon Disclosure e-Platform (CDeP) results. There were 20 organizations participated and total GHG emissions reported as of 31 Oct 2013 that was 76,402,687 tCO2e. The emission data summary was showed in the following diagram.

Finally, Ms. Sham concluded that many responding companies were committed in emission reduction. The scheme had many advantages such as reduced cost, increased productivity, strengthened brand and reduced risk can be observed. Let's join hands to work on CSR Index and Carbon Disclosure.

The third speaker was Mr. Timothy Hui (Director, GRI China) and his presentation named "Sustainability Reporting Landscape & GRI-G4". Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was launched by UNEP and CERES since 1997. GRI's Mission is to make sustainability reporting standard practice by providing guidance and support to organizations.

Mr. Hui introduced GRI Ten Principles to us. The Principles for Defining Report Content included "Stakeholder Inclusiveness", "Sustainability Context", "Materiality" and "Completeness"; and the Principles for Defining Report Quality included "Balance", "Timeliness", "Comparability", "Clarity", "Accuracy" and "Reliability". The diagram to visualize representation of prioritization of aspects was shown.

After networking break, the forth speaker was Ir. Sai-king Ho (Assistant Director (Building Services), Architectural Services Dept. (ASD), HKSAR) and his presentation topic was "Experience Sharing: The journey of G4 Sustainability Reporting".

Ir. Ho shared their experience with GRI G4 in sustainability included Resources Utilization, Conservation, Social Participation and Staff Development, as well as, Partnering with Stakeholder. The benefits achieved such as understanding their own sustainability status, meeting stakeholder expectation and demonstrating the commitment to sustainability and getting public recognition. The diagram of ASD reporting journey was shown below.

The last speaker of morning session was Dr. Nigel Croft (Chairman, ISO Technical Subcommittee on Quality Systems (ISO/TC176/SC2) and his topic named "Promoting sustainability using management systems - upcoming changes to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001". Dr. Nigel Croft asked us to dream of a sustainable planet included Economic growth, Environmental integrity and Social responsibility and then he commented simply dreaming was not enough but by what method to achieve it.

The Dr. Nigel Croft mentioned management system defined as a system to establish policy and objectives and to achieve those objectives that meant "Results Focused". So that ISO 9001 aimed "Consistent, Comforming Goods & Services"; ISO 14001 aimed "Prevention of pollution"; OHSAS 18001 aimed "Safe working conditions"; ISO 50001 aimed "Efficient energy usage" and ISO 22000 aimed "Safe food", etc.
Nigel's 3 core concepts were described:
1. Identify the processes needed to achieve the planned results
2. Continually monitor the risks (Cause and Effect)
3. Manage the processes and the system using "Plan-Do-Check-Act"
The different ISO standards positioning were demonstrated.

Finally, Dr. Nigel Croft concluded that ISO management system standards would be better aligned in future to facilitate integrated deployment and the revision process for ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 was underway and expected to be published in Sep 2015.

Panel Discussion was performed at the end of Morning Session and the guest moderator was Dr. Nigel Croft (ISO Technical Subcommittee on Quality Systems (ISO/TC176/SC2)).

Afternoon Session
Dr. Micheal Lam (CEO, HKQAA) gave an opening speech in the afternoon session. He introduced new sustainability Index and CDeP, etc.

Award ceremony of CRS index, ISO 50001 and ISO 22301 were performed and group photo was taken.

Panel Discussion entitled ESG Implementation, Energy Improvement and Business Continuity was performed in the beginning of Afternoon Session and the guest moderator was Mr. KT Ting (General Manager, Market Research Business) (in the middle). The first panelist was Ms. Katherine Lau (Fuji Xerox (HK) Ltd) and she shared her company's 3 pill that was Strong, Kindness and Interesting. Another panelist was Mr. Lewis Lam (Assistant General Management (Property Management), Kai Shing Management Service Limited) and he shared ISO 22301 experience such as "Backup on Backup" and FMEA implementation.

The sixth speaker was Mr. Victor Kwong (Head of Corporate Health, Safety & Environment) and his presentation topic entitled "Good Practice Sharing of Methodical Carbon Management". Mr. Kwong briefed Towngas corporate profile first.

The details of Towngas energy system was described. The vision and mission of Towngas were "Greening up your life" and "To be Asia's leading energy supplier and provider, with an environmentally friendly focus, and to strive for ensuring health & safety at work, and to minimize HSE and climate change risks."

Carbon Management System was introduced. It included:
- Carbon Management Taskforce
- GHG Inventory Accounting Procedures
- Carbon Audit
- Carbon Performance and Analysis
- Carbon Reduction Initiatives and Targets
- Carbon Disclosure
The effective cooking tips were discussed.

The seventh speaker was Dr. David Chui (Partner, XCES Capital Advisory (Associate Professor and Chairperson of Economics & Finance, Hang Seng Management College)) and his presentation named "Social responsibility governance: is it a sustainable investment strategy for hedge fund".

Firstly, Dr. Chui explained sustainable investment that "Sustainable investment in its simplest form is the ability to continue, and for a long-term investor, it is critically important. Long-term value creation requires the effective management of three forms of capital: financial, human and physical - this is why investors are concerned with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues." Secondly, he introduced Hedge Fund Strategies included Thematic (ESG is in season) below.

Thematic hedge funds included environmental protection; clean & efficient energy; sustainable infrastructure and development; health & well-being and social equity, Asia versus West, etc. The key issue is indicated if ESG incorporation put limitations on the risk and return objectives. One of challenges was barriers to ESG transparency in Asia.

The last speaker in afternoon session was Mr. KL Wong (CEO & ED, Hong Kong Housing Society) and his topic entitled "Sustainable Housing Development for an Aging Society - International Trends and Perspectives". Hong Kong population ageing was ranked number 9 (Median Age = 41.4) in World Population Ageing 2009, United Nations.

The following diagram demonstrated the demographics characterisitics in Hong Kong after 30 years. Elderly Units in Retal Estates demand would be increased seriously. Then Mr. Wong introduced Senior Citizen Residences (SEN) and Ageing-In-Place (AIP) schemes. Quality Retirement Living was the aim of Hong Kong Housing Society through Sustainable Housing development matching with Ageing Trend.

Panel Discussion was performed at the end of Afternoon Session and the guest moderator was Ir. C.S. Ho (Deputy Chairman, HKQAA).

At the end of the symposium, Ir. C.S. Ho (Deputy Chairman, HKQAA) gave a closing remarks.

Previous HKQAA Symposium:
2012: Part 1 - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2012/12/hkqaa-symposium-2012-part-1.html; Part 2 - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2012/12/hkqaa-symposium-2012-part-2.html
2011: http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2011/11/hkqaa-symposium-2011-performing-your.html
2010: Part 1 - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2010/11/hkqaa-symposium-2010-sustainability.html ; Part 2 - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2010/11/hkqaa-symposium-2010-sustainability_26.html
2009: http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2009/11/smaller-carbon-footprint-hkqaa.html
2008: http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2008/12/hkqaa-symposium-2008-green-day.html

Reference:
www.hkqaa.org
www.hksq.org

Lunch with Prof. Iizuka and Prof. Tsuru in Hong Kong Science Park

Prof. Yoshinori Iizuka (Professor Emeritus, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo) and Prof. Satoko Tsuru (Professor, Healthcare Social System Engineering Laboratory, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo) were invited by City University of Hong Kong to be keynote speakers in the workshop for Healthcare Quality Engineering. Hong Kong Society for Quality (HKSQ) executive committee members arranged a lunch meeting with Prof. Iizuka and Prof. Tsurur in Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP).

After the lunch, we walk around the Science Park. I led them to visit our Green 18 building to understand our building lab for implementing different environmental technology, as well as, visit to "Professor Charles K. Kao: The Father of Fibre Optics" Showcase. Some photos were taken for memory below.

Group photos in front of Charles K. Kao Auditorium (also known as the Golden Egg)

Roof of Green 18 building

Fibre Optics Application Showcase

Reference:HKSQ - www.hksq.org
HKSTP - http://www.hkstp.org/
Healthcare Social System Engineering, The University of Tokyo - http://www.tqm.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/

Quality Management makes people and organization SMARTER

We are honor to invite Prof. Yoshinori Iizuka (Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo) to give us a seminar named "Quality Management makes people and organization SMARTER" on 26 Nov 2013 as one of HKSQ World Quality Month activities. Prof. Iizuka explained why you and your organization to come smarter when seriously learnt quality management and master the theory and practice of quality management.

Dr. Albert Tsang (Former Chairman, HKSQ) gave a welcome speech and introduced Prof. Yoshinori Iizuka to our members.

In the beginning, Prof. Iizuka mentioned if you learn Quality Management, you become Smarter!. He used Donut phenomenon to explain quality management neglecting quality. After that Prof. Iizuka described what were "Smart" people like. He was not talking about "Good memory", "Sharp" and "Excellent Understanding" because these abilities were inherited. The smartness was defined to have four abilities that were "Purpose-oriented", "Cause and effect", "Essence" and "Learning".

Prof. Iizuka also shared an interview with healthcare professional. Medical experts asked why is quality about customer satisfaction. Prof. Iizuka quoted Zen dialogue* to express the idea that any business (including medical practice) is meaningless unless someone recognizes it or unless the customer considers it good. (*Zen dialogue: In a forest with nobody in it, a tree fell with a noise. Can you say there was a noise? It means nothing can exist unless someone recognizes it.)

Finally, Prof. Iizuka concluded that Smartness factors were very closed to Quality approach. Moreover, TQM is an excellent management tool for organizational improvement and innovation.

Q& A Session
Some interested questions were come from our members.
1) If patients did not know the treatment was good for them or not, but he was satisfied because of beautiful nurse. Why is quality about customer satisfaction? If the quality means on medical treatment.
2) If the failure was not able to repeat, so how do we identify the root clause? Prof. Iizuka said it must deeply understand of processes and have technology knowledge.

Mr. Karson Chui (Chairman, HKSQ) presented a souvenir to Ir. Daniel Ng.

After the seminar, we had a dinner in Hotel ICON of PolyU for italian food.

Reference:
HKSQ - www.hksq.org
The presentation is available at http://www.hksq.org/slide.htm
Hotel IC of PolyU - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_GsyyNhO7E