CQI Scotland - NoS Reports
North of Scotland Branch ~ Visit to SEPA - April 2010
Visit to SEPA's new Inverdee facility in Aberdeen
Eight branch members were given the opportunity to look over SEPA’s new Inverdee laboratory facility at Torry, Aberdeen. This new building will bring together, under one roof, three of the main bodies in Scotland’s Environmental and Rural Services (SEARS) in the north east – SEPA themselves, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Joint Nature Conservation Consultancy. The main building has been completed and organisations have started moving in, although there is still work to be completed on the surrounding site, including housing as part of a joint initiative with Grampian Housing Association.
As befits a SEPA project, the building is rated “excellent” by BREEAM and building energy performance rating “A” – about as good as you can get. Members were shown some of the aspects to achieve this, including: heating by a biomass boiler, rainwater harvesting for grey water needs, solar panels, a wind turbine and a computerised building management system.
Inverdee: http://www.inverdeehouse.org.uk
SEARS: http://www.sears.scotland.gov.uk
BREEAM: http://www.breeam.org
North of Scotland Branch ~ Stakeholder Management- September 2009
A select number met at Expro's Aberdeen headquarters (http://www.exprogroup.com) to hear Len Taylor, Aberdeen FC's Youth Academy Coach, give a presentation on developing the next generation.
His impassioned talk, whilst describing how youngsters from 6 years old upwards are given the opportunity to develop their sporting potential the methods and philosophy can be equally applied to developing our successors in the world of work.
Refreshingly without the use of PowerPoint, many senior management teams could benefit from hearing Len.
Also, during the evening, Paul Naysmith was presented with his MCQI membership certificate by our Branch Chairman, Steve Coles.
Click on thumbnail to see larger image.
North of Scotland Branch ~ Performance Management or Learning Organisations - March 2009
Our March meeting was a presentation and discussion on "Performance Management or Learning Organisations: why do we find it so hard to make the right choice?" and the speaker, David McAra, was able to present the views of organisations at the forefront of performance management, with some surprising outcomes. Here's David's own view:
I was delighted to have the opportunity to explore these two ideas with a dozen members of the local branch of the Chartered Quality Institute. It occurred to me afterwards that both concepts have the same aim - to ensure that an organisation succeeds both now and in the future - but they see the challenge from different perspectives.
Performance Management sees organisations as machines and people as sophisticated, thinking components. Learning Organisations see themselves more as living organisms and communities. The sympathy of the Deming Learning Network and most of those attending lay with the more humane, Learning Organisation point of view although, to be fair, Performance Management was represented in its absence by an edited podcast from the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) website.
None of the CIPD commentators addressed the concern of their own academics about the "serious deleterious effect on teamwork" of systems emphasising individual performance. The European Head of reward at KPMG was proud to have brought the proportion of staff who perceived that their performance and their reward were fairly linked to about half. This was more or less the optimum, she thought, which seemed astonishingly complacent to me.
In the end, we wondered if "reward" was an idea that came from the wrong mindset with its hint of manipulation. Organisations need mutually respectful arrangements for arriving at fair and ethical terms for people with their diverse contributions.
David McAra
The Deming Learning Network Limited
The evening was enjoyed by all and we'll be extending our invitation to the Deming Learning Network to deliver another event for us next year.
Click on thumbnail to see larger image.
North of Scotland Branch ~ Credit and the Crunch - February 2009
"Credit and the Crunch" - a presentation by Colin Campbell and Ian Rattray of Subsea7 to a full audience at the joint CQI and WJS meeting on February 10th.
Over 30 members heard how Subsea7, one of the world's major subsea
construction companies plans to use some of its quality resources help it
weather the current financial climate.
When companies start to feel the
pinch, their quality departments are often amongst the first to feel the
squeeze - yet these are the very people who can keep a company profitable.
The message is to cut waste, and avoid the knee-jerk reaction to cut costs
by the quickest method.
After all, recent CQI research
(http://newsweaver.co.uk/cqi/e_article001323011.cfm?x=bf442Fn,b6Hg9f2P)
gives ample demonstration that companies are still wasting far more than
their profit margins - for many companies halving waste can double their
ROI.
Colin's slides are attached for anyone who would like to view them. CQI - Feb 08 Credit Crunch presentation (2Mb -pdf format)
Click on thumbnail to see larger image.
North of Scotland Branch ~ World Quality Day Branch Event - November 2008
The North of Scotland held its November meeting to coincide with World Quality Day and members were invited to Expro North Sea in Aberdeen to hear their experiences with Six-Sigma. The event was in very comfortable surroundings, as seen from the photograph, but the presentation (attached) gave members a practical view of the much vaunted six-sigma methodology. Our thanks to Expro for an excellent event.
A copy of the presentation can be seen here - Lessons Learnt from Six Sigma (1 Mb - pdf format)
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North of Scotland Branch ~ Another Deming - The Funnel Experiment - April 2008
A packed audience listed to Tony Miller of RGU (Robert Gordon University) introduce and review some of Deming's key points on variation, decrying the lack of understanding by the bulk of current management. He likened it to a young doctor of 150 years ago standing in front of eminent physicians who had just come through the American Civil War and introducing the idea of bacterial infection - something leading to the conclusion that more people had died from infections spread by the doctors themselves than were killed by enemy action!
Tony had two presentations. In the first he outlined problems in getting people (managers) to accept new ideas and thinking, moving onto variation and a demonstration of Deming's funnel experiment in the second. Without understanding variation and addressing its causes, success is a matter of chance and the best approach many managers can take is to do nothing - until you know the process variation, any "adjustments" are likely to lead to greater variation. The targets and benchmarking so beloved by the managers and the government will inevitably make matters worse - just look up lists of successful companies from 20 years ago and count how many are still seen as successes.
Ironically, Deming's ideas are being taught to engineering students, not those studying management - go think...
Click on the "Reality" thumbnail to see the first presentation and on the "Deming" thumbnail for the second one
(Note requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view 
)
North of Scotland Branch Visit to Technip's Westhill, Aberdeen - ROV facility - March 2008
Branch members were invited to Technip's Westhill, Aberdeen, complex for a visit to the company's ROV facility. As one of the world's leading subsea construction companies, Technip operate dozens of ROVs* from its boats around the world. Along with the traditional "eyeball" variety, much of their fleet are of the latest "work-class" models, able to operate down to 3000 metres.
The visit started with a tour of their workshop where units are maintained, refurbished or upgraded, followed by a presentation on the technologies employed and the types of work accomplished. Their open construction belies their sophistication and, in many respects, they match the technologies employed in aerospace - and the similarity continues with the terminology as they are "flown" by "ROV pilots".
Which brought us to the final part of the visit - a play with their latest ROV simulator. Modelled on the actual control station found on construction vessels, the simulator allows pilots to practice and hone their skills before deploying the "real-thing" in seas over a mile deep (and risk losing a valuable piece of equipment).
The photos show:
a) A modern ROV*.
b) ROV and TMS** being recovered from the sea.
c) ROV control room.
d) The world of an ROV.
Click on thumbnail to see larger image.
* ROV: Remotely Operated (subsea) Vehicle
** TMS: Tether Management System. The ROV and TMS assembly is lowered
to the work area by winch/crane on an armoured cable; the ROV then flies
around the work site, attached to the TMS by a short (and easily managed)
umbilical. This cuts out the drag of over a mile of umbilical tether and
isolates the ROV from surface swell.
North of Scotland Branch Visit to Garioch Distillery, Oldmeldrum - September 2007
The first meeting of the season began with a visit to the Garioch Distillery situated in Oldmeldrum. One of the oldest Scottish distilleries, established in 1797, it is now part of the Morrison Bowmore Group owned by the Japanese Suntory Company. We were met in the new Visitors Centre and treated to a "Wee Nip" before embarking on an extremely interesting and informative tour of the facility starting with receipt of the Barley and ending with the final barrelled product of pure malt whisky. Back in the Visitor's Centre a video of the process was shown while samples of Garioch whisky of various ages were tasted (all in the interest of Quality Control).
