Seven companies win top honours at 22nd Qimpro Convention

The 22nd Qimpro Convention which saw 35 teams from across companies in the manufacturing and services sectors compete for QualTech and BestPrax Prizes in their respective categories was held at the Taj President on the 23 and 24 September.

Setting the context for the event in his welcome address, Suresh Lulla, managing director, Qimpro Consultants and Founder & Director, BestPrax Club said, ''Qimpro Convention is dedicated to recongising middle-level managers' achievements as teams. The competition associated with the process improvement leads to the QualTech Prize for project teams that have successfully implemented six sigma and lean methodologies in solving chronic process problems. Similarly, the competition for innovative practices leads to the BestPrax Prize for teams that have used structured approaches for ideation, resulting in an innovative managerial practice.''

This year 43 organisations entered the competition with 84 entries of which 35, the highest number so far made the cut to the finals. The applications from across players in the manufacturing, services and healthcare sectors were assessed for merit by five examiners from across the country.

Speaking of some prominent trends likely to influence Qimpro format over the coming years, Suresh Lulla pointed to the active participation of the healthcare sector in continual quality improvement, the paradigm shift in the leadership and strategic intent of organisations as a result of environmental concerns and action being increasingly embraced by large and small organisations and the awareness of the importance of carbon footprints at the enterprise and individual levels.

The focus on the first day of the convention was on improvement and innovation in the manufacturing sector with 20 presentations from Godrej & Boyce, Titan Industries, ACC, Sterlite Industries, Reliance Infrastructure, Abishek Industries, Moser Baer, Hindustan Zinc, L&T, Secure Meters, Hindalco, Piramal Healthcare, Apollo Tyres, Kansai Nerolac Paints, Reliance Industries, Birla Copper and Birla White.

The presentations spread across seven sessions through the day served to showcase some of the major quality initiatives in Indian manufacturing sector.

The roll of honours in the manufacturing sector included Godrej & Boyce, Mohali and Moser Baer Photovoltaics and Secure Metres for the Qualtech Prize 2010 and Titan Industries for the BestPrax Prize.

The roll of honour in the Service sessions, held on the second day,  included Firstsource, and Motilal Oswal Securities for the Qualtech Prize and YES Bank for BestPrax Prize.

See: Godrej & Boyce: Eliminating jam to reduce compressor defects
See: Moser Baer Photo Voltaic: Reducing solar cell breakage from laser to shrink wrap
See: Titan Industries: Strengthening customer loyalty 
See: Firstsource: Reducing transfers
See: Motilal Oswal: Reducing account opening TAT
See: YES Bank Focused information-based service delivery