RIYADH, 9 February 2007 — Enhanced customer perception has necessitated application of stringent quality control standards by the manufacturers and suppliers today and the criteria set by the International Standards Organization continue to help keep checks on sub-standard products.
This was stressed by the speakers at a quality awareness seminar organized by the Contact Pakistan group here.
Addressed by the officials of ICON-Real Consult and Moody International, the event was attended by a large number of professionals from across the country.
Explaining the 1:10:100 notion, Mobin Sheikh, marketing manager, ICON-Real Consult, stressed that arresting and fixing a problem in a product while it is still in supplier’s compound is easier and much less expensive than when the package has left the supply zone.
However, he emphasized, fixing a product while the defect has been discovered by the customer is the most difficult task, a situation which should always be avoided by the supplier.
Speaking about the significance of quality control measures, he emphasized that International Standards Organization had, among others, ensured strict criteria in occupational health, food safety, laboratory accreditation and IT services systems.
Ian Graham, Regional Manager for Moody International, a group involved with the procedures for ISO accreditation, noted in his lecture that in order to gain customer confidence, suppliers and manufacturers needed to be certified.
However, he noted, they need to beware of the large number of fake certification bodies that abound in the market today.
In their review of the lectures, quality assurance and general managers of Coca-Cola, Saudi Ceramics, Al-Rajhi Banking, Herfy Food and Abdullah Fuad Holding groups stressed that, with the country’s induction into World Trade Organization, Saudi manufacturers and importers had a daunting task of ensuring product quality and hoped that SASO would continue supervising them.