Asia Pacific Quality Organization

The APQO was founded in Beijing, China before it was conceptualized in Manila, the Philippines in 1981, where its Secretariat is situated. The APQO is a technical, autonomous, non-profit, scientific, and non-political organization built in an Asia Pacific region administered by the Core Council. Its main purpose is to have its members work together in harmony which is what we drive at Aristo Sourcing.

One of its projects helped create the Walt L. Hurd Foundation intended to honor the memory of APQO’s pillars and to give recognition to the world’s quality leaders.

The main mission of APQO is to become an Asia Pacific scientific and technological organization whose country organizations and individual memberships collaborate to achieve continual quality improvement of goods and services. The goal will be accomplished through a systematic and methodical organization, promotion, and creation of appropriate ways to meet with other associations, institutions, groups, and persons concerned with and/or involved in activities related to improving the quality of goods and services. APQO is affiliated with fifteen other quality or standards organizations around the world and is listed in the World’s Selected Quality Institutions.

Benefits Of APQO Member

The benefits APQO members get are as follows:

Develop and practice leadership skills in managing a multinational organization – the Asia Pacific Quality Organization (APQO).
Participate in national and international research and publishing with the opportunity to present the results in an international forum-APQO Annual Conference.
Host a world-class International Quality Conference, training sessions, and workshops in your country jointly with the APQO-Annual Conference. Receive company and individual quality awards and recognition for excellence through the Walt L. Hurd Foundation.
Your organizational and individual participation as a representative of the APQO results in driving continuous improvement and measurable results in your country’s economy and also assists other economies in the region.
Your organization, its quality efforts, and successes are highlighted on the APQO website and our organizations can link to/from our respective websites.

How is APQO organized?

The APQO Secretariat is based in the Philippines, where it was founded. It is currently administered by a Secretary-General who assists APQO Core Council member countries in establishing networking with one another as well as with other international quality and standards organizations. The Secretariat is funded primarily from membership fees and contributions from Sustaining, Core, Associate, Corporate, Individual, and Life Members. The APQO website keeps members informed about one another’s progress as well as upcoming global quality events.

The elected officers and members of the APQO during the Conferences are responsible for ensuring that the Committees under their supervision run well. They have been charged with keeping the organization they represent informed about key quality events among the Core Council membership, as well as global quality directions, which they are obliged to keep up with.

What Impact Does APQO Have?

The beginning of APQO began at the First International Quality Conference held in the Philippines in 1981, facilitated by the Philippine Society for Quality. Countries that are APQO members partake in the obligation of taking turns hosting the yearly international conference in the Asia Pacific. The First APQO Conference (1985) was held in China (which was their First International Quality Conference) under the leadership of CQCA; the Second (1988) in Korea led by the Korean Standards Association (KSA); Third (1991) in New Zealand hosted by New Zealand Organization for Quality (NZOQ); Fourth (1994) in Malaysia through the Institute of Quality Malaysia (IQM); Fifth (1996) in the Philippines hosted by the Philippine Society for Quality (PSQ); the Sixth in 1998 was held in Seoul, Korea through KSA; the Seventh ( 2000) hosted by ASQ in Arizona, USA; the eight (2002) in Beijing, China; the ninth (2003) in Mexico City; tenth (2004) Manila, Philippines; eleventh (2005) Hanoi Vietnam; twelfth (2006) Sydney Australia; thirteenth (2007) Shanghai, China the reason why there are yearly international conferences in the Asia Pacific is due to the allocation of information regarding scientific and technical advances in quality.

Who Belongs to APQO?

The APQO has varying member grades that determine which country belongs to which. To date, here are the member grades: the Sustaining, Core, Associate, Corporate, and individual and the Life member.

Core Council Members:

American Society for Quality
Australian Organisation for Quality
China Association for Quality
E-TQM College, United Arab Emirates
Indonesian Quality Management Association
Instituto Mexicano de Control de Calidad, México
Institute of Quality Malaysia
Indian Merchant’s Chamber, India
Iranian Society of Quality Managers, Iran
Korean Standards Association, Korea
National Productivity Corporation, Malaysia
Network for Quality Productivity and Competitiveness Nepal
New Zealand Organization for Quality
Philippine Society for Quality
PIQC Institute of Quality Standards, Productivity & Innovation Board, Singapore
Sri Lanka Association For Quality
Shanghai Association for Quality
Thai Quality Society, Thailand
Vietnam Directorate for Standards and Quality

Corporate Members:

Bina Bin Saman Company – Rahimi Zadeh Nahavandi, Mohammad Hassan, Iran
Philips Semiconductors Philippines, Inc. – Moersheim, Thomas, Philippines
Quality Control Services Limited (QCSL) – Levy, David S., Hong Kong
Saveh Sanat Baspar Company – Seyed Mehdi Jasbi, Seyed Hassan, Iran
SHAFAGOSTAR – Nejat, Ehsan, Iran
Syarikat Sesco Berhad – Hipli, Petehi Bin, Malaysia
Sairan Telecommunication Industries Co. – Shirazi, Mehran, Iran
TETA Company – Salimi, Jafar, Iran
Thai Acrylic Fibre Company, Limited – Maheshwari, Ambish K., Thailand

Life Members:

LM 0001 USA, HARRINGTON, James H.
LM 0004 CHN, TANG, Xiaofen
LM 0006 JAPAN, KONDO, Yoshio
LM 0007 KOR, LEE, Seung Bae
LM 0008 ARG, BERTIN, Marcos E.J.
LM 0009 USA, WATSON, Gregory H.
LM 0012 USA, HINDELANG, William J.
LM 0013 PHIL, GATCHALIAN, Miflora M.
LM 0014 SING, MAN, John
LM 0015 THAI, MITTAL, Deepak
LM 0017 MAL, SENG, Yong Kok
LM 0018 AUS, MAGRITZER, Lou A.P.
LM 0039 PHIL, DE LEON, Sonia
LM 0062 CAN, SAVARD, Jean-Claude
LM 0084 USA, CASE, Kenneth E.
LM 0113 NED, HOYER, Paul K. M.
LM 0119 SING, SINGH, Harnek
LM 0071 PHIL, VELOSO, Zenaida T.
LM 0140 USA, VORA, Manu K.

Where Does APQO Hold Annual Meetings?

The APQO Core Council meeting was supposed to be in conjunction with the triennial Conferences, but with the increasing activities, the Core Council meetings should be done annually. Dr Nguyen Huu Thien, Director General of DSQ, volunteered to be the first host for the 1955 meeting (6th annual meeting) in Hanoi, Vietnam. The 7th annual meeting was held in the Philippines. The 8th annual meeting was held in Guadalajara, Mexico, hosted by IMECCA. The 9th meeting was held in Seoul, Korea. The 10th annual meeting was in Colombo, hosted by Sri Lanka Association for Quality (SLAQ) in conjunction with their First National Quality Convention. The 11 th will be in Scottsdale, Arizona on Sept. 11-13, 2000 in conjunction with the 7th APQO Conference hosted by ASQ’s Service Division; the eighth (2002) in Beijing, China; the ninth (2003) in Mexico City; tenth (2004) Manila, Philippines; eleventh (2005) Hanoi Vietnam; twelfth (2006) Sydney Australia; thirteenth (2007) Shanghai, China. Sharing of scientific and technical advances in quality is done through these Conferences and at APQO annual meetings hosted by Core Council Member Countries. The purpose of these annual meetings is to inspect past performances, and policies, and to plan directions of APQO. The individual members may also participate in these annual meetings by means of request.

Who Can Bid For Hosting The Yearly Conferences?

Any member of the Core Council can submit a bid to host the Conference. Written government support should be included with the bid if it is requested by some nations. If all requirements are equal, the Council makes its decision mostly based on when the bidder last sponsored a conference.

APQO’S Walter L. Hurd Foundation

The Walter L. Hurd Foundation was created to commemorate the honor of Walter L. Hurd who was once an ASQ President and Chairman of Its Board. He was a member of the prestigious International Academy for Quality and much-awarded Quality Executive/Professional. Several known figures were already awarded the Walt Hurd Executive Medal (for Top Quality CEO) and the Harrington/Ishikawa as respective medals from 1997 to 2008.

What Is APQO’S Lates Project?

The Asia Pacific Quality Organization established the International Asia Pacific Quality Award (APQA). APQO is a non-profit umbrella organization that seeks to unite all of the main quality of professional societies from countries bordering the Pacific Ocean or Asian nations. The prize is handled by the “Walter L. Hurd Foundation,” which was established by APQO. The International Asia Pacific Quality Award Council provides management supervision for the awards.

APQO Conferences

The annual conferences of APQO are held in various parts of the world, a congregation of sorts to discuss any possible scientific and technological discovery breakthroughs that would help countries to thrive in their economic trading with their neighboring countries. Moreover, there is the inclusion of a set of activities that would deliver the rise of a country’s goods and resources to the trading market. Furthermore, listed below are the countries where APQO conferences were held over the years.

13TH APQO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE (October 18-20, 2007 – Shanghai,China)
14th APQO / ISQM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE (August 23-25, 2008 – Tehran, Iran)
15th APQO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE – 2009, THAILAND
16th APQO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE – 2010, MEXICO
17th APQO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE – 2011, HAWAII
18th APQO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE – 2012, INDIA
11th International Convention on Quality Improvement (ICQI 2007) – Pakistan
8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF QUALITY MANAGERS (July 15-16, 2007 First Round (for international and local attendees) (July 17-18, 2007 Second Round (for local attendees)
Asian CAMP (Create Alignment to Maximize Performance) – Nepal Club Himalaya – Nagarkot, Kathmandu – September 04 – 08, 2007 DOWNLOADS : Invitation Asian CAMP 2007 | Information_Asian CAMP 2007
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON QUALITY CONTROL SERVICES (ICQCC) 2007 ”QC Circle – Popularization, Intensification, Innovation” (October 23 – 27, 2007) http://www.icqcc2007.org.cn
QUEST_Nepal is going to organize the 3rd National Convention on Students’ Quality Circles in the Month of November 2007 with more vigor and focus. Little Angel’s School, Hattban, Kathmandu, which is one of the top school of Nepal is going to convene the Convention.
5th International Conference on Quality and Reliability 5-7 November 2007 – Hotel Imperial Maeping, Chiang Mai, Thailand http://www.icqr2007.org/

Additionally, here is the minutes of the meeting:

8thAPQO Minutes (September 16, 2002)
9th APQO Minutes (October 01, 2003)
10th APQO Minutes (Sept. 14 to 15, 2004)
11th APQO Minutes (Oct. 27 to 28, 2005)
12th APQO Minutes (Oct. 27 – 29, 2006)

APQO @ 20

The Asia Pacific Quality Organization (APQO) was conceived in Manila in 1981 during the First Asia Pacific Quality Congress (APQC ’81). The founding of the APQCO was recognized by the signing of its constitution at the Great Hall in Beijing, China, in October 1985. Until 1994, when the Core Council opted to hold the conferences biennially or every two years, the conferences were held every three years.

In 1996, the Walt L. Hurd Foundation was established by an APQO project to remember the memories of APQO’s pillars and to annually acknowledge the world’s quality leaders. The Harrington-Ishikawa Medal was created by the Walt Hurd Foundation to recognize the two individuals who accepted the position of APQO Honorary President, Dr. Kauro Ishikawa (deceased 1992) and Dr. James Harrington. The Foundation recently held the “International Asia Pacific Quality Award” (IAPQA) to recognize the finest of the best businesses in the region. Only National Quality Award winners are eligible to compete for the IAPQA trophy. In the year 2000, the first group of honorees were honored at the 7th APQO Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona.

After existing and functioning for three years, APQO have added the following members: Five (5) Core/Associate — Iranian Society of Quality Managers of Iran, National Productivity Corporation of Malaysia , Quality and Productivity Society of Pakistan, eTQM College of United Arab Emirates and Thai Quality Society of Thailand. Five (5) Life Members, Five (5) Corporate Members, One (1) Sustaining Member and Seventeen (17) Individual Members. The APQO continue to develop and improve their services and organization to be recognized as the universal prime movers who are cultivating a united front to deliver good quality of goods and services and for the betterment of the people in Asia Pacific Region.