While QUALCON 2011 offers something for all who are interested in quality management there are several issues that warrant critical attention. Issues such as risk, innovation, CSR, stakeholders, innovation and sustainability are not only important because they pervade quality management but also because they are yet to be described in a manner that is other than confused, confusing, ambiguous and downright misleading. As an example of the latter the Japanese word Kaizen (which often appears in discussions on innovation) does NOT translate to continuous improvement: Kaizen consists of the symbols kai meaning to change and zen meaning good. Together this means changing for the better or making those changes that add value to the organization. Organizations can continuously (or nearly so) engage with and monitor their environment to identify changes that would improve some aspect of their operation. However, as kaizen would suggest, the organization acts only upon those (good) improvements, i.e., those that would add value to the organization.
Prof Kevin Foley
National Patron AOQ Inc
Acn. Shan Ruprai JM
National President AOQ
Planes, Trains and
Automobiles, Oil rigs, banks and software, education and health... the last year
is one that many personnel working in these industries might prefer to forget. A
string of disasters - some fatal, near disasters, shoddy workmanship and greatly
inconvenienced customers have also often severely dented shareholder bottom
lines and corporate morale.
Surprisingly the issues for
each of these industries share familiar causes. The products and services
causing grief were all the result of otherwise apparently normal systems of
operation run in some cases for thousands of times without problems. Yet in
every case the resulting pain was the consequence of not one but a sequence of
events spiralling out of control.
Yet even in well functioning
Australian companies that are weathering the times there is another more
insidious dimension that affects the nation’s economic viability; by whatever
way it is measured, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is increasingly
reporting that after the early gains of the nineties and early noughties,
National productivity is now decreasing dramatically and recently has gone
negative.
Although seemingly very
different, there is one thing common to both situations above. Every business
today realises that in the face of increasing international competition, they
need to be lean and efficient. To do this the company’s systems and processes
need to work in with their suppliers and clients to produce their goods and
services cost effectively yet not to the detriment of quality and reputation.
Innovation is a key means to
underpin business productivity and to increase product and service reliability.
While innovation means many different things to many people it is undeniable
that the gradual and systematic improvement of systems and processes is the more
familiar way in which companies make progress.
Accordingly on behalf of the
Organising Committee of QUALCON 2011 and the Australian Organisation for
Quality, I invite you to this special conference devoted to the tools and
resources that can help your company continually improve the way you do your
business. We will have a variety of streams, with presentations covering all
aspects of continuous improvement from many industries and hands on workshops
covering the latest techniques. What I can guarantee is that, in line with the
theme of the conference, even if you come knowing nobody else, you will leave
having engaged with many colleagues. Registrants will come from a great variety
of industries, many with similar issues and with remarkably similar approaches
to the solutions. You will leave greatly enriched with new methods and
applications.
Mr Ron Mazzachi
President AOQ (SA) Inc
It gives me the greatest of
pleasure to offer you a warm welcome to Qualcon 2011 as National Chairman of AOQ, Vice President of AOQ
(South Australia) and Conference Convener.
On behalf of the Australian
Organisation for Quality, Qualcon 2011 Organising Committee, it is my pleasure to
extend an invitation to join us and participate in Qualcon® 2011 to be held in
Adelaide from 16-20 October 2011. The Conference theme is ‘Winning in the global
economy through collaboration, innovation, and excellence’.
The InterContinental Hotel
Adelaide and Conference venue will once again prove to be a sensational location
for AOQ’s National Conference. It offers the opportunity for quality and
business professionals and those working in other management disciplines to
develop and renew skills, network and share knowledge in best practices from
Australian and International organisations in a conducive conference environment
in the City of Churches, famous vineyards and the highest retail shopping per
square metre in Australia..
The four day programme
includes traditional daily plenary and paper streams consisting of both academic
and industry papers from variety of national and international speakers. The
social program encourages delegates and their partners, sponsors and exhibitors
the opportunity to mix in both a professional and social environment as well as
post Conference training workshops led by Australia’s leading practitioners.
An exciting new feature to the
Qualcon® 2011 programme will be the Continual Improvement Teams Competition
aligned to ISO 9001:2008, TS16949 and Business Excellence improvement projects.
Teams will have the opportunity to present their projects through A3 Storyboards
to a panel of experts judged against a Team Excellence Criteria being
established by Michael McLean (JM) an international Team Judge and author of the
Australian Team Award Criteria.
We encourage delegates to
bring their partners and spend some extra time visiting some of the iconic areas
of South Australia such as the South East, the Clare Valley and the Limestone
Coast.
Please direct any questions
you may have to: qualcon2011info_at_qualcon.com.au
we look forward to welcoming you to Adelaide in 2011.
Mr Craig Ottaway
National Chairman AOQ Inc
last update by Craig Ottaway 10/6/11