National Convention on Quality and Productivity to be held in July

The Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Quality Productivity (SLAAQP) will hold the National Convention on Quality and Productivity (NCQP 2016) on 20 July at Construction Industry Development Authority (CIDA Auditorium) ‘Savsiripaya’, 123, Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 07.

This event is organised to promote quality and productivity enhancing techniques in Sri Lanka and encourage employee involvement and leadership role in excellence performance.  Improving quality and productivity on a national scale will deliver many benefits including better quality and higher reliability, improving competitiveness, reducing costs of production and service, thereby reducing the cost of living, and the improving service quality. In many countries including Japan voluntary and non-governmental organisations similar to the SLAAQP have made important contributions to the development of quality and productivity.

SLAAQP believes that the non-executive employees in the country have tremendous enthusiasm and knowledge and can make a significant contribution to the country. This convention is the only national convention in Sri Lanka that provides an opportunity for such non-executive employees to demonstrate their skills in a national stage. The Association, Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Quality and Productivity was founded in 1996 being the successor to the Quality Circle Association of Sri Lanka (QCASL) which was established in 1989. 

Both Associations took lead in promoting quality circles first and then an integrated approach to Quality and Productivity in Sri Lanka. QCASL was admitted to the International Coordinating Committee on Quality Circles (ICCQC) and later the SLAAQP has become the official representative. ICQCC is an annual convention organised by countries in Asia. Prestigious cities will host it in world-class convention premises. From the outset, ICQCC seeks to showcase the best international teams (called Quality Circles) by engaging them in a keenly-fought competition that is assessed by a team of experienced judges hailing from diverse nationalities and industries. 

ICQCC 2014 was held in Colombo, 2015 in Changwon, South Korea and 2016 ICQCC will held in August in Bangkok, Thailand. However participation of other Sri Lankan organisations for ICCQCs is still at lower level in recent years and identified as one of the biggest challenges for SLAAQP to promote quality circles in organisations in Sri Lanka and improve ICQCC participation.   

The convention; NCQP 2016, will be held under three main streams such as presentations on Quality and Productivity Improvement Team Works (quality circles, continuous improvement, Six Sigma, Lean or TPM), KAIZEN suggestions and Posters. Organisations will make presentations on Quality and Productivity Improvement Team Works based on a prescribed format and evaluated by a panel of judges. Organisations will submit up to six of the best Kaizen suggestions submitted by non-executive employees which already implemented. 

Those also will be evaluated and awarded. Poster competition where the organisation will submit up to six posters drawn by their employees and best poster will be awarded. All the participants will be augmented by the speeches conducted by professionals who have achieved turnaround.

Companies and organisations that are interested in entering their Quality Circles for presentation/competition and submit Posters, and Kaizen Suggestions could download the forms from the SLAAQP website www.slaaqp.org or call Administrative Officer, SLAAQP, tel: 0112678808 (Indrani) and request assistance. While the forms are free of charge there will be a registration fee for the company/organisation. Organisations/individuals who are willing to participate as delegates/observers could do by paying the delegation fee and for details please contact above. 

The award ceremony will take place in the evening of 20 July under the patronage of extinguished guests. The awards for competitions will include best team, 1st Runners up, 2nd Runners up, Gold Medallists, Silver and Bronze. All the teams will receive certificates for their achievement. 

In the current context where Sri Lanka is being positioned to take a major role in the global market place, a higher orientation towards quality and productivity would be a great asset.