The Royal Thai Government's Productivity Institute Visits Memphis: Home of the "King" of Rock 'N Roll in Celebration of MSQPC's 25th Anniversary

The Mid-South Quality Productivity Center (MSQPC) is hosting a visit from the Royal Thai Government's Productivity Institute comprising a group of CEOs/executives in honor of the center's 25th anniversary. MSQPC is a partnership of the Greater Memphis Chamber and Southwest Tennessee Community College and also a Tennessee Board of Regents Center of Emphasis. The Thai entourage will visit Memphis' "Best Global Practices" organizations.

Elvis Pressley Enterprises is going "all-out" and giving the Thai officials a special "Royal" VIP Tour of their operations. Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a musician himself, and Queen Sirikit are avid Elvis Presley fans. They visited Paramount Studios in Hollywood during the 1960 filming of the Elvis movie, G.I. Blues. King Adulyadej has served on the throne of Thailand since 1946 – six years longer than the reign of Queen Elizabeth from England.

The study group from the Federal Thailand Productivity Institute (FTPI), an agency of the Royal Thai Government which is located in Bangkok, will tour a line-up of "world-class" organizations, most of which are being led by each organization's chairman of the board, CEO and/or a senior vice president. The FTPI Study Mission's theme for 2013, "Managing Change for World of Quality," consists of two highlights: Study Visit to World Class Organizations – located in Memphis and the 2013 American Society for Quality (ASQ) World Conference on Quality & Improvement – being held in Indianapolis, Indiana, with objectives: (1) to explore best practices, knowledge, and expertise related to quality, productivity, innovation; and (2) to create, expand networks and engage with global organizations on the leading edge of performance excellence and innovation.

Several organizations distinguished for Best Global Practices will participate in the Royal Thai Government's site visit to Memphis including Southwest. No other community college in the U.S. has hosted such royal presence. The list of world class organizations included in the site visit are:

  • FedEx World Hub at Memphis International Airport tour of full Hub operation at night
  • Nike Distribution Center – Order Picking Methods
  • ALSAC/St. Jude Children's Research Hospital – Global cancer Research and fund Raising efforts
  • Buckman Labs – Continuous Improvement (CI) and Environmental initiatives
  • Smith & Nephew – Innovative medical technology products and services
  • City of Germantown – Global efforts to become a sustainable government through Six Sigma initiatives and sustainable knowledge
  • Elvis Pressley Enterprises(EPE) – Business-Side of managing and protecting Global trademark and copyright initiatives
  • Southwest Tennessee Community College – "World-Class" Culinary Arts facilities and Workforce Development initiatives

The mission of Mid-South Quality Productivity Center is "To be globally renowned for performance excellence and corporate sustainability by offering Baldrige-based assessments, benchmarking, knowledge management, innovative training, and consulting initiatives with emphasis on Memphis and the Mid-South Region."

###

Attached: The Federal Thailand Productivity Institute Memphis Tour Agenda (Adobe PDF require's Adobe Reader, Size: 550 KB)