The 3rd Pilot SMEs Training Workshop was held on 12th and 13th of April 2010 in the city of Qingdao, one of the leading industrial centers in the Bohai Basin area and host to 2 blue chip home appliance manufacturers in China – Haier and Hisense. With the technical support of Hisense R&D Center, the training workshop gathered more than 30 participants, including representatives from the project pilot companies in the Qingdao region, local suppliers as well as relevant expert teams of Hisense such as its R&D, Human Resources and quality management departments.

The agenda of the 2-days workshop consisted of detailed presentations by partners and experts on eco-efficiency, OHS and CSR measures detailed in the project’s Standards Guidelines and Conformity Model concept, interactive exercises and an Action Plan brainstorming session. The European project manager Mr. Igor Darbo gave a comprehensive introduction of the project latest status and answered questions raised by companies’ representatives regarding the expected commitments and benefits entailed by their participation in the capacity building programme. Observer companies were indicated how to register for joining in the project activities. Mr. Mu Dejun from the Procurement Strategy & Quality Management Center in Huawei Technologies Co.,Ltd introduced Huawei’s experience in sustainable supplier management and CSR strategy. Detailed presentations on eco-efficiency were delivered by project expert Karsten Schischke from the Fraunhofer Institute on Reliability and Microintegration who introduced the state-of-play of EU legal and regulatory requirements for EE sector, market incentives for eco-design, and an eco-efficiency comprehensive toolbox for SMEs. Key challenges of OHS management and a methodological framework tailored for Chinese SMEs consisting of case studies and learnt lessons of OHS and CSR practices in China and abroad were presented by Business for Social Responsibility expert Mr. Wei Dong Zhou.

Representing the pilot company Shandong Tongfang Luying Electronic Co., Ltd, Mr. Su Qiang gave a presentation on the enterprise’s energy efficiency and resource management. In his capacity as Manager of the Corporate Management Department, Mr. Su also expressed Tongfang Luying’s expectations in terms of further technical assistance from the project as well as their commitment to actively participating in further project activities e.g. assessment and audit. Following the pilot SME’s introduction, a Q&A session and free discussion with the experts panel went on with a view to sketching out possible Action Plans and most suited improvement measures for each SME in the areas of eco-efficiency, compliance with EU/Chinese WEEE and RoHS, CSR reporting, etc.