HKIE MI Symposium – Innovation and Technology for Business Evolution

The Annual Symposium theme entitled “Innovation and Technology for Business Evolution” was organized by Manufacturing & Industrial Division (MI) of Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE), and co-organized by the Institute of Systematic Innovation, Hong Kong (ISIHK) and Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on 28 March 2014. Hong Kong Society for Quality was one of supporting organizations. The objective of this symposium would showcase the integrated power of innovation and technology in translating ideas to new products, high quality services and efficient practices, etc.

In the beginning, Ir. Prof. Keith CHAN (Professor and Head, ISE Dept., PolyU) gave a welcome speech.

Ir. Victor CHEUNG (Senior Vice President, HKIE) gave an officiating address.

Ir. Daniel CHENG (MH, JP, Deputy Chairman, Federation of Hong Kong Industries) was the keynote speaker and the topic named “Business Evolution with the Future China”. Firstly, Ir. CHENG reviewed the past three decades of China economic and manufacturing. It observed the labor cost rose 12% annually (from 2002 to 2012).

He said China moved toward higher end products, cleaner production and to grow R&D expenditure today. Moreover, Daniel quoted Justin Yifu Lin (Chinese economist and former Chief Economist and Senior VP of the World Bank) predication that “China would relocate its labor-intensive factories to Africa in next 30 years.” If you don’t want to go to Africa, we needed to move toward automation, robotics, energy-nuclear, coal gasification, space technology, mass transportation and electric vehicle, etc.

Ir. Peter CHAK (Past Chairman of HKIE – MI Division) was moderator of the first panel discussion and he introduced guest speakers.

The first speaker was Ir. Dr. Victor LO (Founding Director, ISIHK) and his topic entitled “Development of a Practical Innovation Model for Problem Solving”. He introduced PKIR (問知創行) innovation model and its implementation tools. Dr. Lo defined Innovation should contain Needs, New, Function and Value-added (NNFV). (Dr. Lo also brief it in HKSQ & ISIHK seminars at http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2013/12/hksq-seminar-on-innovative-total.html & http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2013/08/isi-seminar-summer-networking-2013.html )

Dr. Lo said Plan-Do-Check-Act had been used since 1960s. Now he added Innovation element into PDCA to PKIR model. He believed the butterfly effect that “A small innovation initiative may change the future of a company”. Finally, he said why people can’t be more innovative because “Fear of being judged”. We needed a dream zone without fear to generate new ideas. The next speaker would show how this idea implemented in Towngas.

The second speaker was Ir. James TO (Principal-Towngas Engineering Academy, The Hong Kong and China Gas Co. Ltd.) and his presentation named “We shape lives by revolutionizing the way things are made”. Ir. James To introduced the history of Towngas and it established in 1862.

Ir. To said Towngan was a dynamic organization and they implemented TQM in 1992, BPR in 1996, Key Management Focuses in 1998, We Deliver scheme in 2003, Go for Launch for 2003 to 2007, Reaching New Heights from 2008 to 2012, and Expanding New Horizons was planned from 2013 to 2017. The Towngas Culture was that “Effective Management Structure improves Quality, Productivity & Efficiency Continuously.”

Then they introduced PKIR model (Systematic Innovation thinking) into Superior Quality Service (SQS) and became Innovative SQS (iSQS). There were six steps to iSQS included Culture, CT Model, SQS Tool, Ecosystem, Motivation and Management System. One of top management commitments was to create innovative ecosystem named Dream Zone. Lastly, Ir. James To stated Towngas’ Growth is equal to Innovation times Implementation (G = I^2).

The Third speaker was Mr. Vincent LAM (Consumables Business Manager, Stratasys AP Ltd (3D Printing)) and his topic entitled “We shape lives by revolutionizing the way things are made”. Mr. Lam introduced the background of Stratasys and its key technologies included PolyJet, Thermoplastics, etc. He said the requirement of the world design about first in the market, fast at getting there, confident and cheap. Time to Market (TTM) was the most important but shorter the TTM didn’t mean lower quality assurance. It was because 3D printing could be “Compression of Time”, reducing “Cost of Error”, “Creativity” and “Confidentiality”. In future, Stratasys vision was to be 3D printing plant, Home-Use 3D Printer and Fashion Demonstration with color capability.

Coffee Break
Photo with 陳琳女士(副總經理-三魚通海洋(集團)有限公司) and 何紹華博士(廣東省電子商務市場應用技術重點實驗室) (Left)

(Left: Victor Lo (ISI), Victor Tse (HKIE), Richard Tse (Chairman, MID, HKIE), I and Ho Sau Chiu (Deputy-Chairman, MID, HKIE))

(Left: Richard Tse, Victor Chan (HKSQ member), Dr. YM Wong (Past Chairman, MID, HKIE) and I)

Ir. Dr. Michael LI (Founding President, ISIHK) was moderator of the second panel discussion and he introduced guest speakers.

Ir. Norman CHAN (Director of Sales & Marketing, Ka Shui Group) was the fourth speaker and his presentation topic was “R&D as a Core Competent for Manufacturing Enterprise Sustainability”. He brief his company milestone from 1980 to 2010. They performed different material research included Rare earth magnesium ally with high fluidity for heat sink product and also high strength rare earth magnesium alloy for mobile case. He also mentioned their surface treatment research named Composite Deposition Technology (CDT) for metallic appearance and rich colors. Finally, Mr. Chan mentioned his company extended to Light Fixture Product Line because 40% of components related to casting and heat sink materials.

Ms. Karen CHAN (Executive Director, German Pool Group Co., Ltd.) was the fifth speaker and her presentation was “From Manufacturing to Branding”. She introduced the meaning of GERMAN POOL brand name as follows:
G – Good to Great
E – Explore
R – Roots to Revolution
M – Mainland
A – Awards (e.g. 香港名牌十年成就獎)
N – New Products New Business

P – Promotion
O – Offline
O – Online
L – Leader

Finally, she said Leader should have five characters included Brave (勇敢), Perseverance (堅忍), Commitment (承擔), Intention (用心), and Do One’s Best (盡力).

Dr. David ZHENG (Head of Technical Operation, GP Battery) was the sixth speaker and he presented the topic “Innovative Development of High Capacity Lithium Ion Batteries”. In the beginning, Dr. Zheng introduced Gold Peak Company and then discussed the technology trend of Lithium Ion Battery which included high capacity, safety power output and durability.

The Summary of Lithium Ion Battery Cathode materials were discussed in the following table. Lithium rich layer oxide was found a very promising material for Electronic Vehicle (EV) to achieve 300km drive range. Moreover, Si anode offered the highest capacity but with huge volume expansion. Lastly, Dr. Zheng discussed impact test (UL1642), Crush test and nail penetration for safety

The last speaker was Ir. Prof. K.L. YUNG (Professor and Associate Head, ISE Dept., PolyU) and his presentation topic named "Innovative Development of Prevision Space Tools for Planetary Exploration".

Prof. Yung introduced the space miniature grinder and soil preparation system (SOPSYS). The challenge of this device was to overcome the grind & Sieve Rocks under no gravity! The technology deployment included Crushing, Liquid Powder, Energy Conversion and Property of Materials.

Group Photo with guest speakers

Ir. Richard TSE (Chairman of HKIE-MI Division) gave a closing remark.

Reference:
HKIE MI - http://mi.hkie.org.hk/
ISIHK - https://sites.google.com/site/iofsihk/our-mission
ISE Dept., PolyU - http://www.ise.polyu.edu.hk/
HKSQ - http://www.hksq.org/