Quality programme can lead to success
In a service-oriented economy such as Hong Kong, quality assurance of services and products rendered to customers is a key issue that companies have to tackle, especially when the local economy is in a tailspin and firms are fighting for survival. 'Quality is tied up with the organisation, and a good knowledge of it can guarantee success,' said Sam Ho Kong-ming, founder and chairman of Hong Kong 5S Association, which promotes quality assurance across industries through a management practice involving structure, systematisation, sanitisation, standardisation and self-discipline. It is better known as the 5S practice, and is an effective tool for quality management.
'Operational management is a big thing for many SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] that need something simple,' Professor Ho said, adding that the 5S practice had increased interest in industries that involved human contact and material handling. 'Most of the large construction companies have implemented the 5S practice,' he said.
'The manufacturing industry is the sector with the widest adoption of 5S for their production lines in factories, but in recent years the biggest growth has come from restaurants and food stalls. There are more than 20,000 of these in Hong Kong. The practice has become [part of] the culture of food stall operators in Hong Kong.'
A leading philosophy of the practice is housekeeping with a defined objective, and it addresses key issues most SMEs face, such as inventory control and space utilisation.
'With better stock control, wastage of goods and resources can be significantly reduced, and with better space arrangement and utilisation in the workplace, workers can save a lot of time locating things when the information [on] every item is accurately labelled with names and has its own place,' he said. 'If companies don't have this system in place, they will encounter shortages of stock, or customers won't be able to find what they want, leading to loss of sales. Space utilisation is especially important in minimising costs. With Hong Kong's rents among the highest in the world, it is important for companies to use minimum space to do maximum business. Convenience stores are a good example.'
Professor Ho's first encounter with the 5S concept goes back 20 years when he worked on a search project in Japan for Asian Productivity Research. The 5S practice was already popular among Japan's manufacturing industry and left him with the impression that 'everything was kept clean and in an orderly manner'.
Companies set to implement the 5S practice can refer to a 50-point check list developed by Professor Ho to identify problem areas. A major challenge to successful adoption of the practice is how to motivate employees and change their mindset, helping them to develop the right working habits. According to Professor Ho, training is important to achieving the desired results. 'The implementation of the 5S practice requires commitment from management and everyone in the organisation,' he said. 'It is all about changing workers' behaviour and attitude and building a good working habit which ensures workplace safety and health, high hygiene standards and consistent quality of service offered.'
Professor Ho, who is also a programme director at Hang Seng School of Commerce, said the 5S quality management system was widely practised by Hong Kong companies with business operations on the mainland. 'Workers on the mainland are more receptive to following management's decisions than their Hong Kong counterparts,' he said, adding that mainland employees tended to spend more time in their jobs and stayed close to their workplace.
Tao Heung Holding, a major Chinese restaurant chain with 25 outlets in Hong Kong, introduced the 5S practice to its mainland restaurants, and sent Hong Kong executives there to learn from them. The experience was later fully implemented at all the group's Hong Kong outlets, and achieved remarkable success.
'To get the best results, everybody in the organisation, including the boss, has to be involved in the training process,' he said. 'Staff know where the problem is only when it is pointed out [to them] on the spot and shown how to rectify it. People can simply carry out the procedures step by step against the check list ... When you do the audit, any problems will show up.' People can become certified 5S practice auditors and assessors when they have completed more advanced training in quality management.
The Hong Kong 5S Association has grown to 1,000 corporate members and 20,000 individual members since it was founded in 1998. It provides a basic two-week training programme. Armed with the knowledge, companies can do internal audits that involve writing up a report and taking digital photos to keep records. 'With the digital photos, you have solid information to identify and rectify problems,' Professor Ho said.
Big companies may already have a well-organised management structure on which to operate, which Professor Ho said was a magnified version of the 5S practice. And the easy-to-implement housekeeping practice offered the right kind of tool to ensure quality service and work efficiency.
