Quality in Ireland Conference

Quality Professionals Gather to Discuss Operational Excellence in the Workplace

Tuesday, 21st October 2014: Today, more than 100 leading quality professionals from Ireland and the UK have gathered at the Radisson Blue Hotel & Spa, Lough Atalia Rd, Co Galway for the third annual ‘Quality in Ireland’ conference, organised by NSAI in association with Quality Ireland and IT Sligo.

The full day event – Quality in Ireland 2014, Operational Excellence focuses on the importance of operational excellence and how to sustain it in a risk adverse work environment. The conference was organised by NSAI to mark World Standards Day, which took place on Tuesday, 14th October.

“I’m delighted to see so many quality professionals, including the winner of the 2014 Shingo Prize – the highest award for operational excellence, gathered together today. As a society we trust quality professionals to protect us by ensuring that that the right things are done right in key industries and institutions. Standards allow businesses to operate at the highest possible level in a competitive environment where companies are expected to continuously update and improve their products and services,” said Maurice Buckley, CEO, NSAI.

“Today’s conference is a chance for quality professionals from around the country to discuss ideas for the future, share experiences and hear from international experts in key sectors. Existing standards help companies to innovate and improve products and services and they are also becoming a pre-requisite in many industries including construction, engineering and food,” continued Mr Buckley. 

NSAI has brought together expert speakers from key industries for the informative seminar.  Attendees will hear from leading experts in the quality field, including Mike Price, Managing Director of The Manufacturing Institute UK, Gordon Crowley, Director of Regulatory and Quality at Novate Medical LTD, Galway, Michael Tarrant, Business Excellence Manager, Abbott Vascular, Clonmel, and Fergal O’Byrne, Head of Business Excellence Certification, NSAI. 

“Quality has undergone various evolutions and revolutions to respond to and indeed anticipate changing expectations; it has come a long way from inspection and control alone. While these are still important, they have become embedded in the processes and systems we create.  In the last few years we have seen a growing interest in operational excellence and this highlights Ireland’s commitment to standards that allow Irish businesses to compete on the international stage.” said Dr Bob Kennedy, Institute of Technology, Sligo. 

Delegates attending the Quality in Ireland 2014, Operational Excellence conference represent a broad range of sectors including  healthcare, medical devices, energy, hospitals, third level institutions, state bodies, security, engineering and construction. Attendees travelled from around the country to hear leading quality experts speak about industries such as medical devices, healthcare, and manufacturing.

NSAI invites members of the business community and the general public to get involved in the development of standards by visiting Your Standards, Your Say on www.nsai.ie