Quality Alchemist (品質煉金術師): The 24th ANQ Congress Chengdu, China 2026 – Day 2 (Part B

2026年9月17日星期四

The 24th ANQ Congress Chengdu, China 2026 – Day 2 (Part B – Closing Ceremony)

Asian Network for Quality (ANQ) Congress 2026 was held by China Association for Quality (CAQ) in the Chengdu, China from 14-18 Sep 2026. The congress theme was “Integrating Asia and the World: Igniting a Quality-Driven Sustainable Future”. The closing Ceremony was held on 17 Sep 2026 afternoon. Minda and I arrived the venue.

Then Dr. Jane Wong (HKSQ), Dr. Duan Yonggang (段永剛) (Chairman, ANQ) and I took a photo for memory.

Photo with SQI team.

Closing ceremony started, Ms. Wang Lin (王琳) reported there are 127 papers submitted by 17 countries and regions. It’s distribution of service (62%), Manufacturing (31%) and others (7%) were mentioned.

After that Mr. Janak Mehta introduced the Ishikawa-Kano Award – Silver Medal to be awarded to professionals from the field of quality management who made outstanding contribution to the cause of quality in their respective country and in Asia over a long period of time.

The first awardee was Dr. Zhu Guosen (Deputy General Manager of Shougang Group Co., Ltd.). His representative received the certificate.

Then Dr. Zhu presented through video recording.

And then Mr. Janak Mehta announced the second awardee was Dr. Lotto LAI. The statement in the certificate showed as follows: "This is to certify that Lotto Kim-Hung LAI has distinguished career advancing quality excellence through visionary leadership at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP), transformative stewardship of the Hong Kong Society for Quality (HKSQ), and unwavering dedication to the Asian Network for Quality (ANQ) Congresses, fostering widespread dissemination of quality principles and practices across Asia."

Mr. Janak Mehta and Dr. Duan Yonggang (段永剛) presented the certificate to me.

I then gave the IKA-Silver Medal Acceptance Message.

I reviewed the history of studying with Dr. Kano.

And then I reviewed all ANQ Congress since 2003.

Finally, I concluded that “Quality is not just a standard of compliance; it is the engine of innovation and sustainable growth.”. The future of quality in Asia should be included but not limited to AI, Innovation and Sustainability.

After that Mr. Johnson Tan Swan San (SQI) presented Asian Service Award and ARE-QP award to different industries.

Group photo of awardee of ARE-QP award.

And then the best paper announcement. It is below 10% of total papers elected as the best paper.

Best paper awardees group photo was taken.

The first closing session keynote speaker was Dr. K.N. Subramanya and his topic was “Quality by Design: India’s Higher Education Story for a Sustainable Asia”.

He introduced five pillars and they were Access, Equity, Quality, Affordability and Accountability in vibrant knowledge society.

Finally, Dr. Subramanya shared their core metrics and KPIs for quality management in his university.

The second keynote speaker was Dr. Paulo Sampaio (President, European Organization for Quality (EOQ)). And his topic named “Beyond Digital: Rethinking Quality in the Transformation Era”.

Then Dr. Paulo Sampaio reviewed technology trends 2205-2030 through the Future of Jobs Report 2025.

He then mentioned the Quality 4.0 stands for Quality Tools & System, User-certric, Automation, Leadership, Integration, Technology and You, plus 4.0 which driven by the 4^th industrial revolution.

Finally, Dr. Paulo Sampaio raised a formula for Quality 5.0 and they are Q4.0 x Innovation x Sustainability x Humanistic Culture.

The last speaker was Mr. Willy Vandenbrande (IAQ Academician) and his presentation title was “Quality at a Crossroad”.

In the beginning, he mentioned the scale of quality things including to manage system, reduce defects, eliminate waste, increase productivity and reduce cost.

Finally, he concluded that quality professionals at a cross road should define progress as increase quality of all life, to promote cooperation, to combine evidence-based decision making and to contribute to a quality-driven economic system.