THE attainment of ISO 9002 certification for a portion of one of its divisions simply marks the beginning of a process for the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD).
The Medical Electronics Projects and Procurement Sub-Divisions will officially receive the honour at a ceremony today.
'This first certificate is a milestone and we will be continuing to apply quality management on a selective basis to many department activities,' said Hugh Phillipson, the department's director.
The official ISO certification ceremony will take place at a Hong Kong hotel. Along with a presentation ceremony, speeches and a cocktail reception, there will be a mini-exhibition featuring articles and photographs of the department's work.
This is not the first government department to receive the internationally recognised certification for its quality system. That honour went to the Housing Department and then the Architectural Services Department.
'Our approach has been different because we are much wider-ranging in the services we do,' Mr Phillipson said. 'It is much more complicated to do the whole department at once.' The ISO 9000 system involves documenting procedures to ensure all aspects of a company's work are done properly by trained staff and with a focus on providing quality to the customer.
'Having a quality system doesn't mean we provide a service that is super-expensive or deluxe,' Mr Phillipson said. 'It means giving the quality that's absolutely right for the purpose and that's absolutely what the customer wants.' It took the 12-member Medical Electronics Projects and Procurement Sub-Divisions about 18 months to complete the certification process.