Congratulation to GPOR for achieving CMMI from MDec!

We are proud to note that GPRO Technologies Bhd is amongst the first few Malaysian owned MSC Malaysia Status companies as well as Quality Excellence for Software and Technology SMEs (QUEST) Programme participants to achieve this prestigious SEI CMMI Maturity Level 2 rating

GPRO Technologies Achieves World Class Maturity
Level 2 Rating

GPRO Technologies has been successfully appraised to CMMI Maturity Level 2 Rating on the 17 th August 2006. The appraisal was a SCAMPI Class A assessment conducted with a SEI certified appraiser.

With this rating, GPRO Technologies is currently among the first 2 participants out of 20 companies in the QuESTS programme to have been rated at a Maturity Level 2 successfully.

The process improvement initiative was kicked off in April 2005, as part of the QuESTS programme sponsored by MDeC for small medium enterprises (SMEs).

Originating from the renowned Software Engineering Institute at the Carnegie Mellon University, Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI) is a process improvement approach, consisting of actual best practices, that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective processes. The entire model consists of five stages of capability or maturity levels.

The continuous process improvement initiative ensures an adequate improvement foundation has been laid for other process improvement initiatives, minimizing the organization’s process improvement investment while maximizing benefits for the organization. This will help to further improve software quality, planning and management processes, efficiency, return on investment, and effectiveness throughout the development process.

For more information about CMMI, visit the SEI website (http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi)

IT boosts manufacturing sector (full article visit website)

Management information is a major concern for Karl Ting, GM for the Crystal Group's Information Services Department. Crystal Group designs and manufacturers fashion garments for many of the leading international brand names. With 25,000 employees and manufacturing facilities located in twelve countries across Asia, the group produces 180 million garments a year.

RFID streamlines Hanoi factory flow
Another interesting project managed by Ting is the adoption of RFID devices to replace smart cards in providing information on work in progress (WIP) in the company's new Hanoi factory.

Crystal Group uses a real-time shop floor application from Malaysia's GPRO Technologies Berhad: GPro for WIP tracking. "In a competitive market, we wanted to reduce lead time on customer orders, and also obtain more real-time information on defects to support our quality drive," said Ting. "We decided RFID was the answer."

Washing data
The RFID devices cost more than smart cards, but are re-usable and don't wear out as they don't have to be physically swiped. But unsurprisingly, when bundles of garments go through a washing stage, the RFID devices must be removed. "Our laboratory is developing a waterproof type that can withstand high temperatures, stone and chemical wash," said Ting.