A recently held 'experience sharing' session, which provided an opportunity for senior Police officers to interact with a chief executive from the local private sector, has been described as a 'raging' success.

The session was held at the Senior Officers' Mess in late July. The guest executive was Dr Victor Fung Kwok-king, a MIT graduate with a Harvard PhD, Chairman of the Airport Authority Hong Kong, Chairman of the Hong Kong University Council and Chairman of the Li & Fung Group (a leading Hong Kong based regional trading company).

Dr Fung was invited to share his views on "The Pearl River Delta as the driver of Hong Kong's next phase of economic growth" with more than 80 officers of Superintendent rank and above. He used the 'Supply Chain Management' model to explain his views.

"The management of export supply chains plays an important part in maintaining Hong Kong's competitiveness," he said.

He went on to explain that Supply Chain Management is the act of optimising all activities throughout the supply chain, so that products and services are supplied in the right quantity, to the right location, at the right time and at the optimal cost; and the supply chain includes all activities and processes to supply a product or service to a final customer.

"It is vital to have careful planning and integration of every one of those activities," he added. In closing, Assistant Commissioner (Service Quality), Mr Wong Doon-yee, highlighted the potential value of applying the principles of Supply Chain Management in the provision of police services. To achieve best value for money, Police services also require an integrated and co-ordinated approach as well as a good partnership with the community.

"Certainly, there are lessons to be learned from the private sector," said Mr Wong.

To further enhance the sharing of knowledge, the whole talk has been videotaped. The tape can be loaned to formations for viewing by officers who were unable to attend the session.

If you want to know more about the concept of Supply Chain Management and how to implement Dr Fung's ideas on the subject, please contact SQW at 2866-6525 or 2866-6937 and get hold of the tape.

Dr Victor Fung Kwok-king explains the Supply Chain Management concept