Over 200 delegates from the private and public sector will next week
attend an international standards certification conference to help their
organisations compete globally. PHOTO | FILE
Over 200 delegates from the private and public sector will next
week attend an international standards certification conference to help
their organisations compete globally.
Kenya
Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and Kenya Institute of Management (KIM) have
partnered with Asia Pacific Business Excellence Standards (APBEST) UK
to host the conference.
The
international conference is being hosted in Africa for the first time,
and will mainly teach on International Standards Organisation (ISO) and
Total Quality Management (TQM) standards. Normally, it is held annually
since 1996 at the Leicester Business School, De Montfort University, UK.
“Government
ministries and the public sector in Kenya transform service delivery
through performance contracting, and ISO is used to evaluate presence of
standards and continuance excellence,” said KIM executive director
David Muturi.
ISO dates its origin to
1946 when delegates from 25 countries first met at the Institute of
Civil Engineers in London and decided to create a new international
organisation “to facilitate the international coordination and
unification of industrial standards.”
GOOD FOR BUSINESS
Assimilate standards
The
forthcoming 19th ICIT (International Conference on ISO and TQM) will
help assimilate global management standards into the country’s mode of
management through its organisations. The standards remain unique
because they do not certify organisations; rather, they provide
standards against which organisations can be measured for conformity to
globally acceptable and sound management practices and product features.
Speaking
during a media briefing on the conference at Boulevard Hotel in
Nairobi, Charles Gachuhi, director in charge of standards at KEBS,
affirmed that such standards favour companies and government agencies
during trade facilitations, especially in cross-border trade agreements.
“We
are the custodians of the standards and will ensure that the
international conference will benefit both government and private sector
to be on top of emerging global trends,” said Mr Gachuhi.
The
University of Nairobi, National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and Kenya
Private Sector Alliance are among local organisations expected at the
conference.
The standards will help
instil world-class classification of products, services, and systems to
ensure quality, safety and efficiency.
Standard of measurement
ISO
acts as an objective standard of measurement that organisations can use
to compare themselves to their counterparts globally. ISO standards
ensure that products and services are safe, reliable and of good
quality. For business, they are intended to be strategic tools that
reduce costs by minimising waste and errors, and increasing
productivity.
Scholars and
practitioners worldwide have carried out research to establish actual
benefits of ISO to organisations. One such a study was carried out in
2012, for the Asian region.
It looked
at the economic benefits of standard 9001, focusing on credibility and
purchaser perceptions. The study found that implementation of accredited
certification to ISO 9001 had positive results for the certified
organisations and their customers, and the economies.
This
makes it an objective standard of measurement that organisations can
use to compare themselves to their counterparts globally.
The
conference will be held between April 7 and 9 at Safari Park Hotel,
Nairobi. The theme is “TQM for National development — The African way”.
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