New National Quality Award launched

GINA, GUYANA, Wednesday, October 12, 2016

The National Quality Awards was launched today at the Georgetown Club as part of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards’ (GNBS) list of activities in observance of National Quality week.

The implementation of the National Quality Award Scheme will recognise business organisations in Guyana for their commitment and dedication to implement standards, allowing for the provision of quality products and services.

Candelle Walcott-Bostwick, Executive Director, Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS)

Candelle Walcott-Bostwick, Executive Director, Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS)

The Award will be presented by the GNBS to local businesses based on an assessment of having met pre-specified criteria under the quality awards scheme.

The Awards scheme aims to have increased quality of goods and services through competitiveness at regional and international levels, create public awareness on the importance of quality goods and services and promote quality culture.

The scheme will provide business recognition, adopt the principle of continual improvement and create a platform for businesses to continuously evaluate their operations in conforming to standards.

Business will be assessed in areas of customer focus 25 percent, leadership 15 percent, engagement of people 15 percent, use of process approach 20 percent, improvement seven percent, evidence based decisions 10 percent and relationship management eight percent.

GNBS, Executive Director, Candelle Walcott- Bostwick, explained to those gathered at the launch that the Award recognizes efforts of companies to provide quality goods or services.  “At the GNBS and also through CROSQ it is an initiative to recognise businesses and also to encourage our local businesses to embrace standards and quality,” she said

A National Quality Award promotes the quality management principles of ISO90001 certification for quality management systems applicable to any business or service. This certification ensures that products and services consistently meet customer’s requirements and that the quality is consistently improved.

The GNBS provides access to a number of standards that may be relevant to various  sectors including the manufacturing, service providers

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality, (CROSQ) Deryk Omar

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality, (CROSQ) Deryk Omar

and other sectors.

“We are seeing this initiative as a stepping stone to encourage and to inculcate in our business community the language and the culture of standards and quality; it must not only be the benchmark when we are going to shop for quality for ourselves,” Walcott-Bostwick stated.

Caricom Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality, CROSQ, the network for quality and standard bodies in the Caribbean, has now developed and promoted all aspects of quality infrastructure in the region.

Chief Executive Officer, of CROSQ, Deryk Omar,  said, “In our CARICOM region, the only country that regularly hosts a national quality awards is our sister nation Jamaica. To this region, Guyana will today be seen as the leader in the development and promotion of a quality culture being the first country within the last 10 years to step forward and make this declaration of intent in the coasting of the quality award.”

The logo complementing the award was unveiled by new Executive Director of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards, Candelle Walcott- Bostwick, in the presence of other stakeholders including National Standards Council Chairperson, Vishnu Durga and Caricom Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), Chief Executive Officer, Deryk Omar.

The first Quality awards ceremony will be held in October 2017 recognising small, medium and Large businesses with platinum or gold awards in categories of Manufacturers’ award for Quality and Service award for quality.

 

By: Delicia Hyanes

CATEGORIES
TAGS