Close to 300 employees of URC’s various business units packed the main ballroom of the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria as the company held its 2nd Quality Summit on July 16, 2019. Carrying the theme “Quality at the Source: Driving Excellence,” the day-long event featured several guest speakers who discussed the importance of having a culture of quality and the suggested methods to obtain it. The annual Quality Summit augments the various quality programs that URC has implemented companywide over the years.
Jesselyn Panis, URC Vice President for Quality Assurance, opens the 2nd Quality Summit.
Kicking off the program was a speech by Jesselyn Panis, URC Vice President for Quality Assurance. In her remarks she noted, “Quality is the genuine pursuit of excellence. Trying to be the best, we get ahead of the competition. If we have a good quality reputation, we will earn the trust of our consumers, which is now, more than ever, very crucial to any business.”
Gilbert Enriquez, HR group manager of URC-AIG; Ellison Dean Lee, VP and GM of URC Flour & Pasta; Renato Cabati, VP and GM of URC Sugar & Renewables; and Irwin Lee, URC President and CEO, pose beside the lighthouse, symbolizing the lighting of the way towards quality throughout URC.
Business Unit heads from the company’s different divisions were then called onstage to switch on a model lighthouse, symbolic of the company’s aspiration to light the way towards quality. Leading the ceremony was URC President and CEO Irwin Lee, accompanied by Renato Cabati, VP and GM of URC Sugar and Renewables; Ellison Dean Lee, VP and GM of URC Flour and Pasta; and Gilbert Enriquez, HR group manager of URC-AIG (representing Vincent Henry Go, VP and GM of URC AIG).
Addressing the audience, URC President Irwin Lee emphasized how quality issues can be solved more easily when they are spotted or dealt with at the start of the manufacturing process. As URC took steps to increase the quality of its output since the first quality summit, supply chain concerns came to light. “What we are finding out, a lot of issues go back upstream, to the source. Our issues start with raw material quality. A lot of our issues come about with our processes, which has to be dealt with at the source of manufacture. It’s very difficult to deal with quality issues when you catch it in the end. The theme [of quality] being at the source is very relevant.”
Award-winning scientist Dr. Alonzo Gabriel from the University of the Philippines.
According to Mr. Lee, the lighthouse is symbolic of the power of social media as well, as consumers now have the ability to shine a light on every problem they see or negative experience that they encounter. In the modern era, “our measure of quality is complaints,” said Mr. Lee. He went on to say it’s not enough that the company’s quality auditor approves of the product, because at the end of the day, it is the consumers who give the most important feedback.
URC Chairman Lance Y. Gokongwei, who was unable to attend the event, shared his thoughts through a video message. He acknowledged the presence of delegates from URC International, who attended the Quality Summit for the first time, and congratulated everyone in the company for the great strides it has made to improve quality. “I think this kind of progress certainly encourages your leadership team to support our continuing efforts to ensure that quality and URC are synonymous with each other. Let quality be our brand,” said Mr. Gokongwei. “As you all know, quality is not the job of the QA department alone. Quality will only work if the entire URC organization, from myself and the board, the CEO, all the way down the entire team, and likewise our suppliers, the dealers and the like, are working together to ensure that URC represents a quality brand.”
Janette Zhou, Vice President-Quality of Danone Water China, spoke about transforming an organization's culture to embrace quality.
Throughout the day, guest speakers enlightened the attendees on a variety of quality-related topics. In the morning session, the award-winning scientist Dr. Alonzo Gabriel from the University of the Philippines presented his study, “Food Security & Protection for Products & Consumers through the Food Flow.” In his talk, he revealed that quality is no longer just about meeting product specifications, it has to keep pace with latest trends. Echoing the thoughts of URC’s CEO on the subject, he said the advent of technology and social media have made consumers’ voices louder and increased the awareness on food safety. Dr. Gabriel also spoke about food defense, food safety and food fraud and the role they play in food sustainability, as well as the sustainability of our business.
The next speaker, Janette Zhou, Vice President-Quality of Danone Water China, gave a presentation titled, “Quality Culture Transformation.” Here she shared Danone’s journey towards attaining a culture of quality. In her experience, a company’s quality culture transformation is anchored on leadership emphasis, employee ownership and engagement, and rewards and recognition. In Danone, this transformation resulted in fewer product defects, better productivity and increased customer satisfaction.
JC Chiong; Ellison Dean Lee; Wally Tavora-Mateo, VP and Head for Global Quality Management of Jollibee Foods Corporation; Pamela Forshage, VP Quality Systems and Food Safety of URCI; Ana Tongco.
Wally Tavora-Mateo, VP and Head for Global Quality Management of Jollibee Foods Corporation, showed how customer feedback, whether positive or negative, contributes to the improvement of products and services. Modern feedback mechanisms can empower front liners to better understand, assess and handle customer experiences, which drives immediate actions and initiatives for continuous quality improvement.
Businessman, columnist, and motivational speaker Francis Kong. F
Getting a multigenerational team to understand each other and deliver quality work was the topic of Francis Kong, a renowned motivational speaker, businessman, and columnist for the Philippine Star. He said that understanding the behavior of different generations leads to the better management of teams with varied age groups. The importance of leadership skills, including critical thinking, emotional intelligence, values and ethics, creative processing, managing ambiguity and communication skills, come in handy when dealing with such teams.
Pamela Forshage, VP-Quality Systems and Food Safety of URCI, wrapped up the summit with a summary of key take-aways from each of the guest speakers. Forshage also reminded the audience that each position, role, or function in the company plays a part in ensuring the quality of URC’s products, going back to a point mentioned earlier by URC’s chairman. By committing to being more customer-centric—placing greater focus on the needs, desires, and expectations of its consumers—URC ensures that it provides consumers only with products of the best quality and value.
For more information on URC and its products, visit www2.urc.com.ph
