Dr. Rulon Stacey, Chair of the Baldrige Board of Overseers, admired the experience of King Abdulaziz Quality Award (KAQA) during the events of the second day of the Quality and Excellence Best Practice Forum organized by the General Secretariat of KAQA at Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh. He said that what he had seen made him feel that the Saudi leaders want to achieve quality and excellence as an objective of the Saudi Vision 2030.
He also added that he had been to 6 continents and talked about quality and excellence. He noted that what is done through the award is very unique and largely benefits the country. He pointed out that he had seen excellent pioneering experiences of the winners of KAQA, stressing that these models should be imitated and increased, particularly that the award's standards are greatly similar to those of international awards. Furthermore, he noted that he had seen that the leadership in the Kingdom directs manufacturing, which will lead to the achievement of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 and will guide the National Transformation Program 2020.
The sessions of the second day of the forum reviewed a number of experiences. Reviewing such experiences aimed at stimulating production and service sectors to implement the foundations and techniques of comprehensive quality in order to raise the performance quality level, activate continuous improvement of their internal operations and satisfy beneficiaries. One of these experiences was Fine Hygienic Paper Company Experience, the winner of KAQA, introduced by the Operations Excellence Manager, Mr. Mohammad K. Barakat. He clarified that the company's products are available in more than 45 regional and international markets. The company introduced the SteriPro technology which is one of the innovative, unique solutions in the world of health products. This technology ensures providing the highest level of sterilization and quality for consumers. Dean of Quality Assurance at Effat University, Dr. Eman Mohammed, presented the university's experience , the winner of KAQA for the category of private higher education. She stressed that the university has strong scientific relationships with many excellent international universities. These relationships aim at supporting development and growth, leading to the development of practical curricula and the exchange of expertise among students. The university currently seeks to obtain international academic accreditation for the institution itself besides its different programs. Furthermore, Mr. John Wu highlighted Huawei's experience, the winner of China Quality Award.
Mr. Kensaku Yamamoto drew attention to the experience of Japan Quality Award. He explained that the purpose of the award is to evaluate the administration from the customer's perspective and encourage institutions to continue finding the value required by the customer through self -innovation. Over 20 years, the age of Japan Quality Award Council, 233 companies and institutions have competed for its highest award: Japan Quality Award (JQA). 36 companies and institutions have won the award. Additionally, the experience of British Orchard Nursery, the winner of Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award, was introduced by Julie Kutepova, Business Support Manager.
The Director of Japan Quality Award Promotion Center, Mr. Naoyuki Yanagimoto, invited the KAQA officials to attend JQA ceremony. In this regard, he clarified that JQA was created under the supervision of Japan Quality Council, and it is similar to KAQA. He added that the JQA has contributed to the flourishing of Japanese economy and increasing of evaluation and inspection levels. He called for a mutual understanding between who is evaluating and companies requesting evaluation. Also, he mentioned that the council has developed a system to choose companies which are qualified for the JQA. He stressed that the council has focused on the improvement of human resources in institutions competing for the award; in other words, if the company does not improve its human resources, it will not gain consumer satisfaction. Furthermore, he demonstrated that the objective of the award is to motivate Japanese companies to improve.
At the end of the forum's events, CEOs of KAQA winners underlined their experiences in quality and organizational excellence field in a panel discussion moderated by the Governor of the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, Dr. Ghassan A. Al-Suleiman.