Through his vast knowledge and experience, Noriaki Kano-a world-famous quality guru, distinguished professor at the University in Tokyo, lecturer, writer and consultant-has developed a customer satisfaction theory best known as the Kano model. His rudimentary classification differentiates between basic and advanced attributes relating to the concepts of quality as perceived by customers. "There are many facts that need to be taken into account when discussing the proper attention to quality," he says. "In general, we could say that the trend is negative as today's senior managements frequently (only) consider the lowering of costs - wherever possible - and quality management often makes this list. Such an approach is highly dangerous and I believe that the organisations who abide by it have no chance of survival in the long run. I think that organisations should invest in the retraining of their managers and quality managers."

Many people forget that the final decision is up to the customer. While it may seem that the companies spread their messages are the ones getting the most attention, quality is actually a strong attribute that simply cannot be denied."Customer expectations are exceptionally high and their impact is so powerful that no company or organization can do business successfully without catering to their customers' expectations," Kano says. "Aside from this, it has been proven that customer satisfaction is not enough for success in business-customers have to be delighted with our products and services. This calls for a giant step forward from customer satisfaction to customer delight."

Bureau Veritas, a brand with traditions spanning over more than 190 years, is organizing two events for everyone interested of the importance of quality.

The traditional BV Quality Day will take place on April 17 at the Congress Centre in Brdo, where the participants will be familiarised with the novelties and success of practical solutions.The event will also provide an opportunity for mingling with customers certified in accordance with the ISO standards. Noriaki Kano will be a key note speaker, while several other lecturers will follow his introduction speech covering customer satisfaction based on the Kano model.

During the followig two days, Kano will deliver a comprehensive two-day Toral Quality Management seminar. It will be held in Radisoon Blu Plaza Hotel on 18th and 19th April. Kano strongly advocates for the concept of promoting and maintaining all kinds of quality. "With the dawn of the industrial era, quality assurance first became a major topic in the function of quality, and later in the broader management within the development environment, both in terms of sales and services. Thus, it has become part of the comprehensive mangement and leadership process. Moreover, in this century, customer satisfaction has become the objective not only in industrial companies, but also in all kinds of organisations, providing services including government authorities."

The 24th annual event, Quality day organised by Bureau Veritas, has become the synonym for integrity and technical excellence-two notions advocated by the company. Participants, quality managers and everyone who works and deals with quality will get first-hand advice on how they can re-establish quality from the top of to the bottom of their company hierarchies.