On January 25th, forty five men and woman embarked on a journey that none of us will ever forget. No we weren’t taking a trip to Australia to see who can survive amongst the crocodiles and snakes. We weren’t cast away on a desert island forced to find our own food and fend for ourselves. We did however, jump on a tour bus and traveled around the GTA in search of award winning best practices.

Armed only with our pens, pencils, and a copy of the ‘Framework for Business Excellence,’ we were ready to hear some incredible stories. The ‘Excellence Tour de Force’ was an opportunity to visit the year 2000 Canada Awards for Excellence winning organizations. We were lucky enough to hear from all but one of the year 2000 CAE recipients. Unfortunately BC Transplant Society was not able to join us on our tour.

Day 1 - January 25, 2001

First Destination: Delta Chelsea Hotel

Delta hotels is a firm believer in the fact that ‘People make it Happen.’ As a company and at each “managed” hotel location, the commitment is to the Quality Journey which began in 1996. The company’s Quality Statement defines the journey; “Quality at Delta is the right people using the right process to deliver the right product at the right price.” Being in the hospitality business Delta’s natural area of focus is centered on Customer and People activities.

Their challenge of deploying the Quality Journey to more than 37 “managed” hotels across Canada with a demographically complex employee work group has required a systematic and consistent effort by all of Delta’s Leadership team. Clearly they have achieved this goal as the employees at Delta demonstrate a real passion and enthusiasm for the Hotel, it’s customers and each other.

During the presentation at Delta, Bill Pallett, Senior Vice President, People and Quality, left us with some good advice for our own quality journeys.

- Select a strategy to meet your cultural needs
- Create ‘buy-in’ with all senior management
- Create an ‘inclusive’ approach
- Prepare to educate
- Be PATIENT!

Second Destination:
Lawrence Heights Middle School & ATS

Lawrence Heights Middle School molds the lives of 280 children between the grades of six to eight. Their primary goal is to foster the development of the whole student personality during this most influential time and to guide them into young confident adults, capable of coping with and contributing to our society.

To achieve this, a student centered approach is necessary. The student is presented first and foremost with a comprehensive curriculum built outwards and evolves around the student. Lawrence Heights’ Boys to Men, Project Pride, Sisterhood, PowerSnack, SOAR, BASE and Foodation programs are just some of the examples of the dynamic activities taking place at this vital and vibrant school. In their quest to serve the school vision, Lawrence Heights will continue to grow, adapt, evolve and strive to take the lead in education. Their future mandate is to create an enriching environment by reaching out to students of diverse backgrounds, teaching to different learning styles, offering opportunities with technology and breaking new ground with their social emotional curriculum.

During our visit to Lawrence Heights we saw first hand the passion and dedication it takes to drive the NQI Criteria through a public school. In the last five years since the school has focused on quality and more specifically student continuous improvement, the school has undergone a complete transformation.

Aeronautical and Technical Services

Instead of taking the journey to Ottawa, Aeronautical and Technical Services or ATS joined us at Lawrence Heights Middle School to tell us how it feels to be the first CAE winner from the Federal Government. ATS is a division of Natural Resources Canada and publishes Canada’s official aeronautical charts, provides cartographic imaging and printing services to the Government of Canada’s mapping agencies and quickly produces maps needed in emergency situations.

For more than 60 years, civilian and military pilots, air traffic controllers and government planners have relied on ATS’s expertise. The charts that ATS produces are essential to aviation safety in Canada and over the North Atlantic, particularly as air routes become increasingly busy. Its organization, processes and systems are geared to meeting the demand for accurate, reliable and timely charts. This is the foundation of ATS’s international reputation for excellence.

In their presentation, Neil Grant, Quality Manager of ATS shared with us some lessons learned from their quality journey.

- Senior Management Commitment is essential
- Information (Fact) Based Management is very important
- Documentation is key (Process Mapping/Ownership)
- Place the Bar at 4’ not 6’
- Beware of New Technology (not always the answer)

Day 2 – January 26, 2001

Third Destination:
Honeywell Limited Water Controls Business Unit

Honeywell Limited Water Controls Business Unit is responsible for providing strategic marketing support, product development and manufacturing of products for the worldwide Water Controls market. The sales and distribution of such products is accomplished through the regional worldwide Honeywell Affiliates. The Scarborough

Manufacturing Operations is the principal supplier of these products. Over 90% of the factory output is exported. The Honeywell Water Control Unit provides good examples of team-based approaches to the organization of work, inventory management through partnership with suppliers and employee empowerment. All of these strategies, when coupled with enlightened leadership and the company-wide will to win, have launched Honeywell into the stratosphere of success.

During the tour John MacMillan shared with us some very valuable best practices that helped Honeywell win the CAE Trophy.

- Management that “walks-the-talk”.
- Goal alignment.
- Voice of the Customer.
- People, People, People.
- Manufacturing Excellence.
- Process oriented but driving for results.

Final Destination – SKF Canada Ltd.

Since 1907, SKF has been the world’s leading manufacturer of ball and rolling bearings. Its expansion into Canada began in 1917 and quickly spread across Canada with its inauguration of its head office and distribution centre in Scarborough, Ontario in 1982. It is from this location that products are shipped to SKF authorized distributors across the country. Today SKF successfully maintains and demonstrates industry leadership with 80 production sites in 23 countries worldwide producing 227, 000 bearings per hour. Canadian customers from coast to coast have easy access to the wide range of product types offered by SKF. Through increased interaction with customers and suppliers, SKF has improved products and delivery cycles. Now looking at future market trends will help continue the business planning cycle and improve customer service.

During our visit Doug Dekker, Director, Quality & Operations for SKF Canada Limited, shared with us the benefits of moving beyond ISO 9000 on their excellence journey.

- Change in Culture
- Change in Business Practices
- Consistent Focus on all Aspects of the Business
- Identifying Opportunities for Improvement
- Are more Profitable and Proactive

Conclusion

On our journey we saw a basketball game between two rival middle school teams, we saw the swimming pool on the top floor of Toronto’s largest hotel, we saw factory workers working together on teams to get the job done, we saw a laundry mat that handles 17,000 pounds of laundry a day, we looked through low altitude maps over Canada and the North Atlantic, and we saw a 7 foot tall ball bearing. The logical question is ‘What do all these things have in common?’ The answer is that all these organizations regardless of their sector or line of business have used NQI criteria in their own way to focus on continuous improvement. The contrast between each of the organizations in terms of what they do is huge but the strategic focus on excellence is the same for all of them. When the ‘Tour de Force’ came to an end the real journey for most of the participants had just begun. These forty-five men and woman returned to their workplaces armed with good practices to help them move forward on the never-ending journey to excellence.

If you would like additional information on NQI events and training, contact Adam Stoehr, Manager of Educational Services at [email protected]