First Hong Kong QFD Symposium

On January 14, 2012 Dr. Yoji Akao (founder of QFD) and I keynoted the Hong Kong QFD Association's First Symposium.

The Symposium was attended by over 100 quality specialists from Hong Kong, China, and Macao. Dr. Akao spoke of the historical development of QFD, while I described my favorite
project on the development of a automatronic dinosaur for Jurassic Park.

Other notable speakers included Dr. K.S. Chin of City University of Hong Kong who spoke on QFD and product development, Dr. Y.K. Chan of the Six Sigma Institute who spoke on the application of six sigma in QFD projects, and Dr. Catherine Chan, president of the HKQFDA who spoke on total quality management and QFD.

The HKQFDA was established in 2011 by Catherine, a QFD Black Belt®, whose enthusiasm for QFD has led to some very interesting approaches to capturing the Voice of the Customer.

Hong Kong is an ideal location for combining Western quality thinking and the concept of customer as king with traditional Eastern approaches to work and life. Both the harmony and friction of these cultures is sure to generate improved approaches to developing new products and services.

QFD activities have been growing in Hong Kong in recent years due to efforts by Dr. Bob Hunt of Australia's Macquarie University, and a QFD White Belt® course I led sponsored by the Six Sigma Institute. The HKQFDA is sure to take the lead in QFD's growth in the region.