Laying the Cornerstone for Sustainable Development with Improved Quality Management System

At CTCI, we have a vision to become "the most reliable global engineering services provider." To achieve that vision, we relentlessly improve our management practices and introduce innovative management strategies; we take a systematic approach in improving our management mechanisms and make our organizations more resilient and flexible. Doing so ensures the sustainable operation of our business, which is a key element of corporate social responsibility. Apart from our vision, we have a mission to "provide high-quality engineering services sustainably and insist on meeting the needs of customers of the times." This means that we are creating high-quality, environmentally-friendly green engineering projects that align to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

In a globalized economy, businesses always face global and fierce competitions. As the economic and trade condition changes, the supply chain arrangement becomes more complicated. Such challenging prospect is undoubtedly a major concern for company development, which is why many companies have already begun to transform, upgrade, or rebuild their businesses by adjusting business models, so as to enhance their competitiveness. CTCI is no exception. Based on the corporate vision and mission, we are putting continuous efforts to stay competitive. Staying competitive requires quality work, and in this respect, our goal over the years has always been "Do the Right Thing and Do It Right the First Time"— we are able to achieve this goal by setting a sound quality management system based on the ISO 9001 international quality management standards, as well as seeking continuous improvement to make the system more effective.

In this article, we are going to talk about three areas that CTCI’s Quality Management Department has helped improve the company’s quality work, which include "improving customer satisfaction", "strengthening intellectual property protection and control", and "improving engineering and construction quality." They are examples of continuous improvement that help strengthen CTCI’s quality culture and achieve our goal of sustainable development.

Improve Customer Satisfaction by Listening to Their Voice

Improving customer satisfaction begins by listening to the voice of customers, so that a company can know what customers want, and thus be able to improve its products and services to meet customers’ needs and expectations. CTCI’s Quality Management Department collects all opinions and suggestions, external and internal customers alike, through satisfaction surveys and feedback platform. These opinions help us improve our product and service processes within the company. All suggestions and opinions are thoroughly discussed and communicated at cross-departmental meetings held by senior executives. Operation management work and project feasibility are also on the agenda, which considers whether the operation management practices and project execution are feasible. Once revisions and improvement solutions are confirmed, they will be incorporated into standard operating procedures.

At CTCI, we have regularly held a semiannual seminar called "Communication on Regulations/Procedure Updates and Project Execution Feedback" since 2017. The main purpose is to make sure the department heads and all project team members clearly understand the background, key points, execution methods, and expected results of the regulations/procedure revisions. During the seminar, the project teams can share their project execution experience and offer their opinions, so that the revision of the regulations/procedure documents becomes more in line with actual operational needs.

Due to the increasing involvement of CTCI’s subsidiaries in CTCI projects, there is a need to improve overall quality awareness and horizontal communication. Therefore, we have additionally included staff members from subsidiaries who are involved in such projects to our seminar since 2022. As trainees, they are required to attend the seminars simultaneously and remotely to ensure that they understand CTCI’s latest quality management mechanism and the key points of operation execution, before carrying out the projects accordingly.
 

Improve Corporate Governance with Stronger Intellectual Property Protection

Major and renowned companies are now paying more attention to intellectual property (IP) management, as they try to seize key technologies and stay competitive in a globalized world, where client demand and market strategies change rapidly. Throughout the world, IP management and control has become the key to enhancing companies’ competitiveness. To keep up with the trend, CTCI continues to introduce advanced IP management measures. Specific measures in recent years include IP leak prevention, reinforcement of construction site IP management and control, formulation and revision of regulations/procedures, IP cognitive evaluation for all employees, and lectures. We do a good job safeguarding our IPs in our daily work and at the project sites. Through lectures and evaluations, we educate people so that they have correct understanding. The sustainable operation of our company relies on keeping our competitive edge and good governance. Raising IP protection awareness can help us maintain such competitive edge, while improving IP protection mechanism can ensure good governance.

Improve Construction Management to Prevent Risks

With a CTCI spirit of always providing the “Most Reliable,” high-quality services to customers, we continue to improve our engineering quality and take the initiative to ensure good engineering quality control. Common malpractices in Taiwan’s civil engineering include forgery of inspection and test records, untruthful report of material quantity, and cutting corners during construction, which have adverse impact on engineering quality, project schedule, cost, and company reputation. To prevent such risks, CTCI has put forth various improvement strategies. First of all, in concealed works, civil engineering bulk materials need to be supplied by CTCI. Secondly, materials need to go through lab tests that are entrusted by CTCI. Thirdly, RFID chips are implanted into concrete test samples. With an improved quality management mechanism comes with better quality management performance. We can thus prevent quality defects and increase customer satisfaction. In turn, customers trust CTCI even more. Management synergy and value increase as a result, while greatly reducing manpower and time cost for inspection .

Conclusion

Continuous improvement in quality management brings a differentiated competitive edge for CTCI. The driving force behind a comprehensive increase in quality management effectiveness lies in the improvement of the quality management system. Through the aforementioned measures and management mechanisms, we at CTCI Quality Management Department never stop striving for a better quality management system. On the one hand, this allows us to provide customers with satisfactory products and quality services. On the other hand, this serves CTCI's sustainable development goal. In the long run, a sound quality management system becomes a company’s core value and helps establish a quality culture. It also helps strengthen the practice of Total Quality Management (TQM) and improve an organization’s management performance. Once the quality culture is deeply rooted in the hearts of the employees, quality management will become something that all employees take part in and will be implemented in daily operations. With excellent quality, CTCI gains an upper hand in sustainable development and can lead sustainable quality management to a new milestone. With a mission to fulfill corporate social responsibility, we will continue to provide global customers with the "Most Reliable" engineering services.