Quality. Every company strives to be known for this trait—but how does quality come about? One way is through the sharing of vital information that has been tried and tested through the years by the experts and passed on to those who can use the information.

Technology has paved the way to make collaboration easier through quick and easy-to-access information. Enter—KEN, the Knowledge Exchange Network, a treasure-trove of knowledge that contains information on Total Quality Management, business excellence tools, internal/external best practices, and other related topics conveniently set-up within the confines of San Miguel’s vast technology infrastructure. KEN is administered by SMC’s Quality Systems group of Corporate Quality Management. A group of employees who have an explicit desire to bring relevant information to the SMC community. According to Cris Añonuevo, KEN’s Administrator, the system was developed to facilitate the sharing of information among the various SMC divisions and subsidiaries. There is a plethora of information on KEN—and it can all be located in one site. Through KEN, you’ll be able to view the latest quality and productivity trends, find information on training schedules and course briefings, as well as the available books in the corporate library. You’ll also have access to presentations, videos, and papers on local and international conferences and events without ever leaving your workplace. Experience the annual SMC Best Practices Forum by accessing presentations in various forms—videos, slide show, documents, and photos. Get significant data the minute it’s been posted. You can even link to the Strategic Information Center of Corplan and view articles on corporate and industry news, economic updates, and regional developments. KEN is your one-stop information site.

A few taps on the keyboard and a few clicks on the mouse are all it takes. This sharing of knowledge becomes vital in an organization that is rapidly growing. Employees can submit materials concerning any of the aforementioned topics to canonuevo@ smg.sanmiguel.com.ph. A few pointers: Name the source. Articles that are copyrighted must have written permission from the author to post the material. These are reviewed by Corporate Quality Management and posted online upon approval. Updates are also sent via e-mail when new topics are available for viewing. CQM’s Quality Systems Manager Marie Villar stresses that being able to capture information from various sources and sharing it to as many users as possible is the driving force of this technology. Wouldn’t it be nice to preserve and share what we know by contributing to this endeavor? As Corporate Quality Management Specialist Estela Valeriano puts it, “Knowledge is an asset and we want to be able to capture not only the explicit knowledge but also the tacit knowledge of our employees. We don’t want San Miguel to lose this knowledge when the employees leave the Company. With KEN, the employees have a venue or formal system to articulate and record their tacit knowledge.”

Indeed, KEN grows through people.