For Immediate Release
ASQ to Bring Quality Improvement and Product Safety Seminars to China
Courses to Help Manufacturers Avoid Unsafe Products and Recalls
Milwaukee, Wis., December 18, 2007 – Though a number of stories are appearing in the media about safety incidents involving products made in China – ranging from toxic lead in toys to exploding computer batteries – companies all over the world are faced with these problems. Nevertheless, these outbreaks and their ensuing recalls have been financially damaging to both American and other global importers, as well as to the Chinese companies involved.
Since many American companies have partnerships with Chinese manufacturers it is important for Chinese firms, as with all companies, to strengthen their quality improvement process as well as build a positive reputation and strengthen consumer confidence. The American Society for Quality (ASQ) will offer a seminar to manufacturers throughout China beginning in 2008. The "Improving Quality and Product Safety"; seminar will enable Chinese companies to improve product quality and safety, and make their overall operations more efficient.
Randall L. Goodden, chair of ASQ's Product Safety & Liability Prevention Interest Group, and an internationally recognized expert on product liability prevention, will conduct the seminars. The courses, which were developed by Goodden over the past 12 years, make a connection between systematic quality practice and product liability avoidance. He has presented these sessions to top executives with companies such as Siemens, ThyssenKrupp and Carl Zeiss International.
Goodden points out, ";these seminars are an opportunity for Chinese suppliers to understand what their customers are expecting in terms of quality. These manufacturers will be introduced to techniques that will greatly reduce the potential for error and lead to significant improvements in overall quality."
ASQ is bringing these sessions to China in conjunction with the Shanghai Association for Quality. Since 2005 ASQ has been working with Chinese quality professionals through its ASQ China, a wholly- owned subsidiary of ASQ, located in Beijing. ASQ-authorized training is currently being offered in major cities in China.
According to Goodden, "Quite likely this will be the first time Chinese companies will be exposed to a seminar of this unique nature, and how product safety is solidly linked to quality programs. This is the only seminar of its kind, and manufacturers throughout the United States, Europe and the rest of the world have been attending it."
In China, the "Improving Quality and Product Safety" seminars will be presented initially in Shanghai on January 25-26 and Hangzhou on January 29-30. Future seminars will be announced. For information, visit the ASQ Web site at www.asq.org/global/.
The American Society for Quality, www.asq.org, has been the world's leading authority on quality for 60 years. With more than 93,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement and knowledge exchange to improve business results, and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners and everyday consumers, encouraging all to Make Good Great®. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., ASQ is a founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.
