Highlights: Swiss Quality Day 2017
The "Swiss Quality Day", held on 10 May 2017 by the SAQ (Swiss Association for Quality) and SQS (Swiss Association for Quality and Management Systems) in the Kursaal Bern, provided timely responses to the Digital Transformation and "New Dimensions of Quality".
Yesterday was a very special day for Switzerland. Not only was the new 20 note presented in the Swiss media, but on 10 May 2017 over 340 participants, mostly quality managers and specialists, met to redefine a Swiss success formula. Xaver Edelmann, SQS President, emphasised right at the beginning of the event:
"Digital is everywhere - in the federal government, at the World Economic Forum, at think tanks and finally also in areas of quality management." Quality in times of digital transformation challenges not only the attitude towards networked processes, but also human skills.
What keeps us together?
The introduction to the "Swiss Quality Day" already started with a great thought-provoking impulse. Joël Luc Cachelin, book author and think tank expert, said: "Our mission is to increase the interconnectedness of the universe.
The expert discussed three dimensions:
1.) We are all part of the network
2.) We network with things
3.) We engage in machine-to-machine communication - where machines learn much faster than humans.
The speaker stressed that we should not be afraid of a developing human-machine symbiosis. On the contrary: digitality increases the quality of life, improves "our social mission", and also allows us to shape many things "more intensively (more peacefully, more simply, more correctly, more authentically)", if we think of social potentials such as the sharing economy, smart technologies or co-working spaces.
Innovative services?
Well-travelled and eloquent speakers such as Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerald Winz also provided fundamental insights into "Intercultural QM" and everyday professional practice. Josef Maushart, CEO of Fraisa Holding SA, for example, explained that the programming of factory areas leads to greater efficiency and expertise.
Until a few years ago, Fraisa ran a 3-shift operation with auxiliary workers. Today, nationwide ERP and unmanned set-up cycles would facilitate the work. The more than 500 factory employees of Fraisa SA now work specifically on weekdays; over the weekend, highly digitalized machines "take over" the production of precision tools.
Josef Maushart is committed to ensuring that his operators receive good wages and that adult employees also continue their education on their own or in teams. - The speakers at the "Swiss Quality Day" agreed: Digital innovation does not require short-term quick fixes, but rather mutual trust and a positive willingness for change - possibly also intercultural and structural deficiencies in order to push high performance and the pursuit of excellence.
Spam and attention
The event was also convincing due to speakers such as Bettina Hübscher from the HSLU and, last but not least, the bestselling author and power speaker Anitra Eggler, who dealt with flexible forms of work and behaviour. Anitra Eggler once again made clear how distracted and one-sided the mobile society acts and works. She even provoked with a thesis, "the digital revolution is already over", if you take a closer look at the dominating but "toxic" offers of the biggest internet players like Google-Co. - More on the topic "enslaved by mobile phones, driven by e-mails" can be found in the interview with Anitra Eggler, in the circulating issue (05/2017) of Management und Qualität.
Ruedi Lustenberger, SAQ President, concluded the highly interesting and stimulating event by saying that Swiss solidity and Swiss entrepreneurship mean "unity in diversity". The SAQ President expressed his sincere thanks to the popular TV presenter Eva Wannenmacher for moderating the event, as well as to the members of the association who came from all parts of the country.
Seghezzi Prize 2017
This year's Seghezzi Prize of the Swiss Foundation for Research and Education "Quality" (SFAQ) went to a young doctoral student at the University of St. Gallen. Dr Christian Mänder received the 10th Seghezzi Prize (value: CHF 10,000) for his comprehensive work "Quality as the Foundation for Excellence - Insights from the Pharmaceutical Industry". The next prize is to be awarded on "Swiss Quality Day 2018", which has been announced for 30 May 2018.
Read more about the "Swiss Quality Day"As well as further insights from the speakers, you will soon be able to find them online again on the MQ site. You will find the detailed review in the June issue of Management und Qualität, which will be published on 15 June 2017.
