The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) are the gatekeepers of people’s final journey, they serve the public with dedication and commitment in providing the cemeteries and crematoria services. In coping with the immense pressure of ever-increasing demand for cremation services in recent years, the FEHD and the EMSD have strived to introduce new technologies to enhance the operational efficiency of crematoria, with the aim of providing reliable services for the public.

Open to Views to Provide Outstanding Public Services

The FEHD and the EMSD are receptive to the views of the public. They proactively gathered the opinions of different stakeholders through regular inter-departmental meetings, consultation sessions for the funeral trade, visits to the innovation and technology industry, etc., for continuous enhancement of services to meet the needs and expectations of the public.

Digital Services Marking a New Milestone

The FEHD and the EMSD worked together to design and implement a number of new management and operation systems. They deployed technological innovation to optimise the workflow for handling the post-funeral arrangements. Some major systems include:

“Online Cremation Application and Pre-paid System” (OCAPS)
Applicants can submit applications and make payment for cremation services online, thereby saving the time for processing payment of fees at counters and manual data entry.

“Cremation Queue and Smart Management System” (CQSMS)
Operation teams of crematoria use the digital system to monitor the whole cremation process in real time, therefore achieving paperless operation. The system enables flexible deployment of cremators, expedites the cremation process and lay the foundation for big data analytics in the future as well.

“iCremation”
An artificial intelligence system has been developed to conduct image analyses to the condition of cremation process inside cremators. It helps to optimise the process for each cremation with a view to increasing the number of daily cremation sessions available for use.

Active Response to the Needs of the Community

During the fifth wave of the epidemic, the FEHD and the EMSD proactively addressed the community’s pressing needs for cremation services. They communicated closely with the funeral trade and different stakeholders, and disseminated information via multiple channels to update the public on the latest measures and arrangements. With high flexibility and responsiveness as well as the adoption of innovative measures, the FEHD and the EMSD effectively streamlined the workflow for crematoria services and enhanced the work efficiency. Even though the cremation demand surged to triple its normal level, the two departments managed to provide the necessary cremation sessions while achieving the service level of "zero fault" and "zero complaint", thus reinforced the trust and recognition from the public and the trade.