Betagro Group receives ARE-QP Award for outstanding quality for life

Wednesday 22 November 2017 11:16
A combination of excellent process and excellent people has become an integral part for driving Betagro Group's corporate growth and propel it to a leadership position in food quality and safety, which are destined to benefit consumers in all walks of life.

At Betagro, the word "quality" is valued intensively and uncompromising. The Group has adopted a quality philosophy that ensures and maintains the highest quality in every process of operation. This is called TQM (Total Quality Management) which is being instilled in employees so that they are able to think and work in an effective and efficient way. Also, PDCA (Plan – Do – Check – Act) are being implemented across the organization, in conjunction with customer focus (paying attention to both internal and external customers) and dispersion (focusing on distribution and going into details instead of assessing only the mean or total value) as well as fact based and process oriented approaches.

Apart from TQM, the Group has adopted 7QC Tools, Kaizen, Total Productivity management (TPm), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Performance Analysis and Control (PAC) and Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) to assist in its daily operations, analysis and work improvement.

At the 15th Asian Network for Quality Congress, an international quality conference organized by Asian Network for Quality (ANQ) which involves non-governmental organizations from 17 countries in Asia working together to improve quality standards and adapt quality management to make human life better, the Betagro Group was presented ARE-QP Award 2017 (ANQ (Asian Network for Quality) Recognition Excellence Quality in Practice). The award signifies the Group's outstanding performance in quality both in terms of business administration and practice. There were only seven organizations in Asia receiving the award, including the Group's subsidiary B. Foods Products International Company Limited, 1 of 2 companies from Thailand who won this prestigious recognition.

Jakkrin Taepaisitpong, Senior Vice President at Betagro Group's Office of Sustainable Development, said, "One of the very first management approaches applied by Betagro was Kaizen (a Japanese word that means "improvement"), which aims to improve the overall performance at our production bases, especially

for raw chicken meat and cooked chicken products. With assistance from a dedicated team of consultants from Japan, it is found that an increase in profit did not stem solely from sales, but the lower rate of loss in daily work activities as well as operational efficiency plays an important part in our profit growth."

Moreover, the Group has adopted Total Productivity Management (TPm) primarily for fundamental administrative tasks with a focus on high efficiency. Many organizations lack or overlook some of these elements, including appropriate organizational structure, rigid goal setting and fact-based identification of responsible persons in the first six months of operation. These have enabled Betagro to achieve its common goal and specific goals of individual functions in a more systematic manner, and allow for improved visibility into action plans and more detailed planning. They also make it possible to clearly identify responsible persons and decide on the right collaborative approach of any central organization and business line more effectively. As a result, the Group can achieve the performance that is very close to the desired target and further increase its profitability.

Betagro Group has continued to noticeably improve its performance through the use of TPm over the past several years. Until now, the Group proceeds to more depth and complexity that leads to greater development of human resources especially in terms of practical knowledge and team spirit. Importantly, the Group's commitment to food safety has led to BQM (Betagro Quality Management), a management standard that concentrates on quality and safety of food products. It offers internationally recognized tools for strict monitoring and control of food safety standard every day around the clock (24/7) across the entire supply chain of every Betagro's production base. This ensures every stage of food production is in compliance with applicable quality and safety standards, which cover five elements including food safety, food quality, animal welfare, service excellence and social responsibility.

Moreover, Betagro Group has adapted this performance enhancement knowledge to help surrounding communities near its factories, thus strengthening and bettering the quality of life of villagers through a holistic–area based community development approach. By launching this initiative, member of the nearby communities are expected to enjoy promising jobs, good health, sound environment and a better society. They are expected to gain knowledge in conjunction with righteousness and effective solutions to poverty. A pilot project, which has been

recently launched in Tambon Chongsarika, Amphoe Pattananikom in Lopburi Province, intends all participating government and private organizations to take part in integrating the five elements into a holistic strategy and encourage a mechanism that allows for collaborations within the communities. Apart from achieving desired results that truly benefit everyone, it is expected that this approach can be applied effectively to other areas.

Next steps, Betagro Group continues its commitment to improving quality in every stage of production throughout the supply chain in order to deliver food products of the highest possible quality to consumers. The Group will also make a continuous attempt to grow and become a leading manufacturer of high-quality and safe food products – for a better quality of life of all people