ASQ announced the winning teams at its World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Seattle. Now in its 33rd year, the International Team Excellence Awards brought together 23 entrants from eight countries to present their real-life applications of quality that made valuable improvements in areas such as customer satisfaction, waste reduction, and employee morale — all leading to improved profitability or other organizational benefits.

Max Life’s gold-level winning team used quality tools to reduce life insurance policy discrepancies from 28% to 13%, which reduced policy contract grievances by 53%.

Max India Limited’s Senior Director of Quality and Service Excellence Prashant Hoskote said ASQ’s ITEA process “offers great support to Max Group’s quality program, and sets a healthy internal competition among the Group companies.”

Each of Max Group’s operating companies conducts its own annual Project of the Year competition, which then culminates into a Group-level competition called Max Excellence Day. Winning teams on Max Excellence Day get nominated for the ASQ ITEA process.

“(ITEA) has greatly improved the quality of team preparations, and results in substantial tangible and intangible benefits,” he said.

Team Reduction in New Business Discrepancies Project Mentor, Anjali Kalaskar, commented “as a quality professional, preparation for ITEA was a tremendous experience with measurable value.”

Hongmei Xue, quality engineer for the Virtual Rubik’s Cube Team from Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, said the recognition achieved in Seattle will encourage other teams to participate in the ITEA process. Xue said their project improved efficiency, improved accuracy, and shortened automotive product development lead time.

Since 1985, thousands of teams worldwide have participated in this team recognition process. Organizations such as Alcoa, Anheuser-Busch, Bayer, Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Johnson Controls, and Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company have showcased proven results with long-term implications, resulting in collective cost savings of billions of dollars.

Next year’s International Team Excellence Award Process final round will be held at ASQ’s 2019 World Conference on Quality and Improvement, May 20–22, 2019, in Fort Worth, Tx. The deadline for 2018-19 awards program intent to submit form is July 1.

For information on how to participate in the 2018–2019 International Team Excellence Award Process, visit asq.org/team-excellence.