By DOROTHY CHISI –
METROLOGY is the art of accuracy that remains at the core of great civilisations: from Germany’s superior engineering to the dead accurate time pieces of the Swiss, not forgetting China’s super fast bullet train and other advanced transport systems that keep time up to the millisecond.
In Zambia, one company has taken metrology to another level.
Spruceland Technologies Group Limited, a Ndola based company, recently etched its name in the annals of history by winning the International Star for Leadership in Quality Award in the gold category.

• COMMERCE Trade and Industry Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe (right) listens to Spruceland Technologies Group Head of Sales and Marketing Mubanga Kapambwe (left) as Zambia Weights and Measures Agency Acting Director Adrine Muchimba looks on at the recent commemoration of the World Metrology Day.

Spruceland Technologies Group is a Zambian owned measuring, weighing and Information Communications Technology (ICT) service provider specialised in metrology or measuring equipment for a wide range of uses.
It promotes the use of accurate measuring and weighing equipment by both local and international institutions.
The company, which has been in existence since 2012, was awarded by the France based Business Initiative Directions (BID) as a leader in the provision of analytical, retail, light industrial, floor and xle scales, as well as road weigh bridges.
The city of Paris hosted this year’s BID International Star for Leadership in Quality Convention, where professionals and business leaders from around the world gathered to recognise excellence and success.
In particular, the convention celebrated quality in business and operations.
Award winners demonstrated commitment to the criteria of the QC100 TQM Model, which helps bolster customer satisfaction and cost efficiency across all areas of operation.
Spruceland Technologies Group Chief Executive Officer Dingiswayo Phiri and Accountant Nelson Kalunga received the award in France.
The company was recognised for its outstanding business achievements, its perseverance and leadership in excellence, and quality in accordance with the QC100 criteria.
The QC100 is a Total Quality Management (TQM) model developed by BID for the management of the communication structure between companies and their clients, organizations and their end-users, as well as suppliers and workers.
The QC100 implementation boosts the improvement of systems and processes, and helps companies and organisations concentrate their efforts in the most profitable areas.
The QC100 TQM model was designed by BID with the intention of offering a complete answer to the complex world of quality culture.
According to information posted on the BID website, BID founder José E Prieto worked in the international business environment in the area of quality, starting off by providing support and advice to businesses and organisations of the United States (US) to expand to Europe.
It was in these years when BID was founded in the US and in Spain in 1986.
From this point onwards, BID began to operate in Europe.
The process started with Paris. Next came Geneva, headquarters for United Nations (UN) in Europe, and heart of the international non-governmental activism, and lastly BID reached Frankfurt and London, Frankfurt being the German metropolis and the think tank and laboratory for Europe’s technology development, and the British capital, the hub for world finance.
Today, BID holds seven annual quality conferences.
Spruceland Technologies joins an exclusive group of international winners of the BID CQ 100 which include Turner Construction International; The Sheraton Hotel; Shahnaz Herbals; Hong Yuen Electronics – a company owned by the giant China Aerospace International Holdings Limited (CASIL); KBTM – an aerospace technology company; the mayor of San Antonio in Texas in the US; IOCL – the Indian Oil and Petroleum Corporation – just to mention a few.
Besides Spruceland Technologies Group, this years’  winners included Botswana Tourism Organisation, EYAD Catering and Restaurant Consulting from Russia, JHART International from USA, LLC Royal House Group of Ukraine and XIPHIAS Software Technologies from India.
Spruceland Technologies was singled out for being “the best example of a company that shows innovation and positive growth, and has thrived in a challenging global economic climate.”
Taking advantage of its global recognition, Spruceland Technologies has since started sensitising the public on the proper use of weighing and measuring equipment especially now when the country is preparing to open the crop marketing season.
Speaking in a recent interview, the company CEO said his organisation has a duty to promote the use of accurate measuring and weighing equipment by both local and international institutions.
“Currently, we are working with grain buyers and meeting farmer groups as well as cooperatives to enlighten them about the proper use of scales and the type of incentives we offer,” he said.
Mr Phiri said the company is conducting sensitisation tours aimed at raising awareness on the importance of using correct measurements and weights in purchasing goods and services.
“Some people do not know where to place scales; we want to ensure they are taught how and where to place these scales in order for them to have accurate readings,” he said.
Currently, Spruceland Technologies, which works with the Zambia Weights and Measures Agency, supplies measuring and weighing equipment to Dangote in Masaiti in Ndola; Lumwana Mine in Solwezi; Zambezi Portland Cement and other clients.
The company offers various incentives to its clients, such as warranties for value for their money.
Besides supplying scales and measuring equipment, Spruceland Technologies also provides various types of equipment to the mines, agriculture companies, abattoirs, processing plants and the transportation industry.
The company also delivers weighbridge solutions, besides supplying, installing and servicing measuring equipment for fuel pumps, fuel tanks, bulk flow metres, and etcetera.
It supplies platform, bench, butchery, counting and blab scales as well as machines for counting currency in form of bank notes and coins.
It also supplies stationery.
The company’s is currently working with a number of clientele that include the Zambia National farmers Union (ZNFU), Food Reserve Agency (FRA), DHL, Lafarge, Zambia Sugar, Novatek, Parmalat, National Milling Company and Superior Milling, Zambeef, Zambian Breweries PLC, Mpongwe Milling, to mention just a few.
According to Mr Phiri, winning global recognition will not make his company relent in its efforts to satisfy the changing needs of the market.
He said Spruceland Technologies will continue to employ innovation in its service delivery.
“We already have scales which work with solar,” he said.
He said in coming up with such devices, his company is trying to do away with the mechanical types of scales that have become obsolete.
The company wants to set trends and become a pioneer in latest scales on the market.
He further said Spruceland Technologies encourages its clientele to work closely with the Zambia Weights and Measures Agency so that they avoid being taken advantage off by unscrupulous service providers who use phoney scales especially in grain purchasing.
Spruceland Technologies has a presence in Lusaka, Kitwe, Chipata, Ndola and Mkushi.
A sixth branch would soon be opening in Solwezi.
As the country moves towards achieving industrialisation, wholly Zambian companies with a global reputation, like Spruceland Technologies, will be key in not only providing employment for local people, but also in providing local expertise in metrology.