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Tuesday, 11 September 2012 01:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Quality and Productivity (SLAAQP), which is in the forefront of promoting the adoption of good techniques and practices for improving productivity and quality, embarked on a new program to visit factories with good practices.
As the first program, an observation program was recently conducted at the factory of Kelani Cables which has excelled in the practice of the Japanese technique of 5S and which has adopted a new program termed, ‘The Four Pillar Strategy for Performance Excellence’. Kelani Cables PLC CEO Mahinda Saranapala presented a paper on this theme at SLAAQP’s National Convention in March, and many members evinced an interest in visiting the factory.
The factory visit included an explanation on the ‘Four Pillar Strategy’ by Saranapala, a visit to the factory to observe the implementation of 5S, Kaizen and Lean Management. A group of 22 participants who were either individual members, staff of Organisational members, and staff of Institutional members composed the group.
Honorary Secretary of the Association Sakunthala Durairatnam says, “The participants were extremely happy with the learning outcomes of the visit, and wanted the Association to organise such visits on a monthly basis.”
She added that the next visit will be to Lanka Harness Ltd. factory which is producing a very critical component for an automobile manufacturer in Japan and which has ensured a quality level even higher than the most stringent Six Sigma quality level. This has been achieved by creating a Japanese style culture within the factory, where employees even bow like a typical Japanese worker.
Durairatnam further added that the association has to unfortunately restrict the number of participants to around twenty since the host companies cannot provide facilities for a larger group.
The SLAAQP is an association comprised of professionals and enthusiasts in productivity and Quality, and has been in the forefront of promoting quality and productivity concepts, techniques and practices in Sri Lanka, including many Japanese techniques such as Kaizen, Quality Circles and 5S.
It has links with similar international bodies and is a member of the International Co-ordinating Committee which organises the ‘International Convention on Quality Circles’ in an Asian country each year. Sri Lanka last hosted this convention in 1998.
The SLAAQP is an association comprised of professionals and enthusiasts in productivity and Quality, and has been in the forefront of promoting quality and productivity concepts, techniques and practices in Sri Lanka, including many Japanese techniques such as Kaizen, Quality Circles and 5S.
It has links with similar international bodies and is a member of the International Co-ordinating Committee which organises the “International Convention on Quality Circles” in an Asian country each year. Sri Lanka last hosted this convention in 1998. The Association has an Advisory Board and is run by a Council. The current main office bearers of the Council are as follows: President Sunil G. Wijesinha, Secretary Sakunthala Durairatnam and Treasurer Sajeewa Ranasinghe. The administrative functions of SLAAQP are handled by the National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka.
