Review on the 2011 edition of Sibiu Quality Days

Quality management is a topic that is becoming increasingly important in Romanian companies. This became evident from the talks and discussions at the 2nd edition of Sibiu Quality Days on 4th and 5th November in Sibiu.

About 30 participants attended the conference on „Top-quality products and steady processes – the element of success for quality“ Top companies from the automotive sector such as Continental Automotive Systems, Bosch Rexroth, Wittenstein, Hartmann and Mecanofin sent their quality management executives to the gathering.

It started with a tour of the production areas of Sibiu-based company Flaro Prod whose CEO Stefan Almasan received exactly at this day the company´s ISO / TS 16949 certificate. By the summer the auto supplier went through the quality certification process with the support of Werner Seeger Quality Management – which could now be completed successfully.

Following the visiting we continued the actual conference at the conference hotel. The speakers Petra Cioran, Head of Quality Department of Quin Romania SRL, Mihai Etcu, a specialist in leadership at HR Analytics, Werner Seeger, Director of the Werner Seeger Quality Management Romania, and Augustin Moldovan, Head of Quality Assurance at Hartmann România, introduced the participants into the topic.

The topics presented here were „Reduce risk, improve quality and organization with the ISO/TS 16949“, „Increased efficiency and effectiveness through controlled processes“, „leadership as a tool for motivating employees“ and „Customer orientation, the key to success“ that were worked out in more detail on the second day of Sibiu Quality Days in four workshops. In addition, the lawyer Dr. Julian Teves informed about liability issues of companies.

Workshops

Reducing risks, improving quality and organisation with ISO/TS 16949

Speaker: Petra Cioran,
QMB – RMC, Quin Romania SRL

By means of structural and procedural organisation, as well as the targeted use of tools and methods, the increasing demands from society and competition can be met effectively. Practical solutions will be developed and discussed under the guidance of the speaker.

More efficiency and effectiveness through standardised processes

Speaker: Werner Seeger,
Managing Director, Werner Seeger Quality Management România, Cisnădioara

Regardless of company size, standardised processes guarantee constant efficiency and effectiveness. The increasing demands of the competition and therefore of the customers set a high standard for company management and staff. Essential factors, as well as practical approaches for a useful process management, will be developed under the guidance of the speaker.

Leadership as a tool for staff motivation

Speaker: Mihai Eţcu,
Consultant and specialist in Personnel Management, HR Analytics, Sibiu

In an increasingly competitive and fast-changing business world, motivated and dedicated staff is vital for companies with high-performance standards. The art of motivating employees is crucial for all managers nowadays, especially since their own attitude sets the tone for maintaining motivation. In this workshop we will examine together the different types of motivation, how to assess the motivation level of individuals or teams, how to counteract demotivation and effectively reward good performance.

Customer orientation, the key to success

Speaker: Dipl. Ing. Augustin Moldovan,
Head of Quality Management, SC Hartmann SRL, Cisnădie

The causes for deficient customer orientation lie mainly in the “corporate culture”, in the structure of the organisation and in corporate processes that lack both effectiveness and transparency. How customer-oriented are you really? It shows ever so often that companies don’t make full use of improvement opportunities in the field of customer orientation. A regular, systematic recording and analysis of the wishes, needs and expectations of customers, as well as how all these translate into products, services and interactive processes are setting the trend. Practical approaches will be developed and discussed under the guidance of the speaker.

Liability in companies

Speaker: Dr. Julian Teves
Lawyer, Teves Rechtsberatung, Sibiu

The setting up of a company also marks its liability, be it for the company as a whole, or for the management. Liability issues may occur during setting up, but especially later during normal operation on various levels. Within the limits of this technical presentation different aspects and legal sectors affected by the issue will be described.

Speakers

Werner Seeger is a mechanical engineer and has been working for about 25 years in the field of quality assurance/quality management. After holding management positions in this field in various industries, since 1994 he is working as a freelance consultant, coach and interim manager for quality management, enjoying international success. Furthermore, Werner Seeger is active as Senior Consultant with a focus on process organisation. He has obtained qualifications from the German Organization for Quality (DGQ), as quality manager and quality auditor from the European Organisation for Quality (EOQ) and works among other things as 3rd party auditor in the automotive industry. As managing director of Werner Seeger Quality Management he runs the organisation of „Sibiu Quality Days“.

Petra Cioran has many years of practical experience in quality management as a TS 16949 auditor of the VDA and as quality management representative. Her core tasks include the development and implementation of document systems according to DIN EN ISO 9001 / ISO TS 16949. She has held consulting sessions and trainings on quality management systems of industrial enterprises in all fields for Werner Seeger Quality Management since 2006. As a consultant and auditor, Petra Cioran has successfully advised numerous companies from different industrial sectors on their way to certification according to DIN EN ISO 9001 / ISO/TS 16949.

Mihai Eţcu has been leading the office of HR Analytics Sibiu since 2005. His professional career began in 2001 in an non-governmental organization and so far he has been in charge of staff recruitment for various projects as an external consultant for companies. Working for HR Analytics Eţcu accomplished projects for acquisition, evaluation, training and team building for various multinational companies from various fields. Since 2008 he has been primarily responsible for training programs on communication, time management, leadership and management. Mihai Eţcu attended regularly training courses and qualified himself thereby e.g. as „Practitioner Coach“ at the Noble Manhattan Coaching Institute (UK).

Augustin Moldovan began his professional career in quality assurance at Oltchim , where he has significantly contributed to the first external certification according to ISO 9001 in Romania at the time. Through his trainings, he expanded his professional horizons in the field of quality management and gained important experience in the implementation of total quality management (TQM) system through cooperation with TÜV. Since 2000 he has worked as a consultant for quality and environmental management. Over the years, he supported several Romanian companies as a consultant for the implementation of quality, environmental and TQM systems. As head of Quality Assurance Department at the company of Eduard Hartmann Romania in Cisnădie (Heltau), since 2004 he has been responsible, among other things, for compliance with the ISO/TS 16949, for national and international supplier audits, technical assistance in relocation of production to Romania, quality assurance for exported goods, as well as for preparation of the company for customer audits. Augustin Moldovan has published several articles in specialist journals in the field of quality management and among others has helped develop training materials in environmental management for the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca.

Dr. Julian Teves started his career as legal expert and adviser in a company from Sibiu in 1982, after completing his commercial law studies. In 1988 he immigrated to Germany, where between 1990 and 1997 he worked as legal adviser for strategic investment in an electronics company in Herford. From 1997 to 2003 he was an associate of the international company Lovells in Frankfurt. Since 2003 he has been managing director of Teves Rechtsberatung GbR, in Herborn, and member of the Bar Councils in Frankfurt and Sibiu. Mr Teves has broad experience, especially in the field of commercial, employment and tax law, as well as in publishing on legal subjects in magazines from Germany and Romania. As managing director of Teves GbR he has advised numerous German companies on legal matters concerning their activity in Romania, and of late he has advised more and more Romanian companies that do business in Germany.