2012
STANDARDS
Service Sector Now Tops For ISO 9001 and 14001 Use
The International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) newest survey reveals service sectors are now by far the biggest users of ISO 9001, the quality management system (QMS) standard, and ISO 14001, the environmental management standard.
The survey shows the situation at the end of 2004, which was the first full year after the three-year period allowed for transition to ISO 9001:2000. The worldwide total of ISO 9001 certificates issued was 670,399, an increase of 35% over the previous year and 64% over 2000, the year before the transition to the 2000 version of the standard began. Certificates had been issued in 154 countries compared to 149 at the end of 2003.
The 90,569 ISO 14001 certificates at the end of 2004 represent an in-crease of 37% over 2003, the largest increase recorded so far in the 10 ISO surveys that have included ISO 14001. The certificates were issued in 127 countries, up from 113 in 2003.
For the first time, the survey provides data on two ISO standards that include the requirements of ISO 9001 plus sector specific requirements.
At least 10,056 certificates in 62 economies have been issued to ISO/TS 16949:2002, which gives QMS requirements for international automotive industry suppliers. At least 3,068 certificates have been issued to ISO 13485:2003, the sector specific QMS standard for the medical device sector.
These numbers are estimates because ISO does
not issue certificates, conduct audits or control certification
personnel. For more details on the ISO survey, go to
http://www.iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/otherpubs/pdf/survey2004.pdf.
EDUCATION
Oklahoma School Applies For State Award, Eyes Baldrige
Oklahoma’s Northeast Technology Center (NTC) is pursuing the Oklahoma Quality Award, the first of three steps the school is taking to improve itself.
In 1997, the school started identifying its strengths and weaknesses through staff and community surveys and focus groups. Since then, NTC has changed its operating procedures and physical campus. Most recently, changes have focused on customer satisfaction, including a more professional staff dress code and phone etiquette classes for staff.
The final step is to eventually apply for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Sixteen organizations applied for the Baldrige award in the education category in 2005, making it the second most popular category behind healthcare.
Short Runs
ASQ MEMBER JORGE L. ROMEU is conducting a short survey on how practicing engineers acquire statistical knowledge. The survey is an extension of a paper he is presenting at the International Conference on Statistics Education slated for July 2-7, 2006, in Salvador, Brazil. Romeu is a research professor at Syracuse University, a Senior Member of ASQ and vice chair of the Syracuse section. He is also a member of the statistics, reliability and education divisions. To respond to the survey, go to http://web.syr.edu/~jlromeu/SurveyICOTS.html.
THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS, through its Engineers Week program, has announced an international call for nominees for its New Faces of Engineering 2006. Final deadline for nominations is Nov. 23. Engineers Week will be Feb. 19-25, 2006. Addi-tional information and nomination forms are available online at http://www.eweek.org/site/engineers/newfaces2006/nomination.shtml.
A2LA IS NOW a National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Conference (NELAC) recognized proficiency testing provider accreditor and oversight body. NELAC, a voluntary association of state and federal agencies, establishes and promotes performance standards for the operation of environmental laboratories.
THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE (NCQA) is asking Congress to support pay-for-performance programs in Medicare. Medicare already has several pilot pay-for-performance programs in place, but Congressional support is key for making such efforts more widely used, NCQA president Margaret E. O’Kane recently testified to the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPac). O’Kane said pay-for-performance programs in the private sector had resulted in quality improvements and cost savings of between 10% and 15%. MedPac is an independent federal body that advises Congress on Medicare issues. For more information, go to http://www.ncqa.org.
A NEW PATIENT SAFETY FOCUS is being added to the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians’ certification exam. The group has worked with the National Board of Medical Examiners to write new exam questions in patient safety categories. New subjects included in the exam include Six Sigma, national patient safety initiatives and organizations, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and process redesign. Check out http://www.abqaurp.org/newsroom.asp.
THE SAE INTERNATIONAL FASTENER STANDARDS
MANUAL, 2005 edition, is now available. It
includes one new standard and 19 revisions covering all types of
industrial fasteners plus factors such as decarbonization,
surface discontinuities, torque tension procedures, protective
coatings and steels. To order, go to
http://www.sae.org/servlets/productDetail?PROD_TYP=BOOK&PROD_CD=HS-4000/2005 (case sensitive).
PASSENGER VEHICLE TIRE QUALITY has im-proved since last year, according to ratings released in September by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The agency rates more than 2,400 lines of passenger vehicle tires based on traction, treadwear and ability to resist heat. The ratings can be found at http://www.safercar.gov/tires/pages/tireratings.cfm.
DEC. 5 IS THE DEADLINE to apply for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Foundation’s scholarships and fellowships for 2006. For details or to apply, go to http://www.sme.org/.
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF SIX SIGMA PROFESSIONALS and the Supply Chain Council will hold a forum on combining Six Sigma and lean deployments with SCOR (the supply chain operations reference model) to achieve efficiency across supply chains. The event will be Nov. 7-8 in Dallas. For information and registration, go to http://www.isssp.com/index.asp?page=product_profile&show=4638.
THE INSTITUTE FOR SUPPLY MANAGEMENT has developed a professional certification to reflect the expanded education, skills and experience needed to be a successful supply management professional. For details, go to http://www.ism.ws/certification/index.cfm.
AWARDS
NQI Names Canada Excellence Award Winners
The National Quality Institute recently named the 2005 winners of the Canada Awards for Excellence (CAE).
The CAE Quality Award winners are 3M Canada Co., NuComm International, Xerox North American TeleWeb, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver and Purolator Courier Ltd. The Healthy Workplace Award was presented to Homewood Health Centre and Buffett Taylor & Associates Ltd.
Print Audit, Venngo Inc. and Vubiz Ltd. received the Customer Service Awards for Small Business. Education Awards went to R.H. King Academy, Vincent Massey Public Schools and St. Luke Catholic Elementary School, which is located in Missauga, Ontario.
AWARDS
Baldrige Program Recruits Examiners for 2006
The Baldrige National Quality Program is looking for applicants with quality, senior management, food manufacturing, nursing, healthcare and education experience for its 2006 Board of Examiners.
Volunteers serve on the board and evaluate award applications. Baldrige officials say the examiner experience benefits both careers and organizations of participants by providing networking and educational experiences.
For details, visit http://www.baldrige.nist.gov/Examiner_Booklet/asq.htm (case sensitive) or apply online at www.baldrige.nist.gov/Examiners/asq.htm (case sensitive) where a 2006 application will be posted in early November.
CAREERS
Aging Workforce Offers Companies Pluses and Minuses
The Conference Board recently issued a report saying the rapidly aging global workforce poses new opportunities and challenges for companies.
Some of the report’s findings are:
- About 64 million workers—more than 40%—of the U.S. labor force is poised to retire by the end of this decade.
- Companies that are adapting by recruiting, retaining and developing flexible work schedules for these workers, many with skills difficult to replace, are ahead of competitors who view the aging workforce largely as a strain on pension plans and healthcare costs.
- Companies that fail to understand the complexities or recognize the opportunities associated with the aging workforce may risk their ability to stay competitive.
- More older workers want to remain in their jobs for both personal fulfillment and financial reasons.
- Industries feeling the greatest pain in terms of skill shortages are oil, gas, energy, healthcare and government.
- About half of companies interviewed for the report believe the departure of mature workers presents potential knowledge vulnerabilities.
- The technology and pharmaceutical industries generally express particular worries about this brain drain.
- Flexible programs are generally present in industries that consider the maturing workforce to be a significant issue.
The board recommends strategic ideas and actions to manage the risks posted by a potential exit wave of mature workers, including identification of potential gaps and knowledge transfer needs, broadened succession planning thinking, building of retiree networks and benefits of interest to mature workers.
The working group that produced the report included representatives of major organizations, such as BP American, Ernst & Young LLP, Ford Motor Co., IBM, JP Morgan Chase and Shell International. For more details, go to http://www.conference-board.org/utilities/pressdetail.cfm?press_id=2709.
ASQ
Quality Press Releases Two Books
ASQ Quality Press recently released two new books.
Smart Teaching—Using Brain Research and Data To Continuously Improve Learning by Ronald J. Fitzgerald is described by Quality Press as a “workshop in a handbook” for K-12 teachers and administrators. The 132-page book comes with a supplementary CD-ROM. The author is a recently retired teacher and superintendent of schools.
Get It Right—A Guide to Strategic Quality Systems by Ken Imler takes readers on a journey through the evolution, basics and applications of quality methods. The 179-page book provides ways for creating, evaluating or reengineering an existing quality system. The many examples provided are composites of practices the author has seen during his 30 years of quality application experience.
Both books can be ordered online at http://www.qualitypress.asq.org.
HEALTHCARE
Study Shows Electronic Medical Records Adopted Slowly
Computerized medical records, despite their advantages, are being adopted slowly, according to a study published in the September/October issue of the journal Health Affairs.
According to RAND Corp., the research organization that conducted the study, no more than 25% of U.S. hospitals and 20% of doctors’ offices have adopted computerized medical records, which could cut medication errors and save money. Among the hospitals and offices that do keep electronic records, the records are often hospital or doctor specific, meaning they can’t be easily accessed by other healthcare providers.
One of the reasons for the slow adoption of the technology is that doctors are concerned insurers and the government will benefit from the savings—and doctors won’t, according to researchers.
RAND researchers created a statistical model to predict the potential savings from electronic medical records if 90% of hospitals and doctors took part in such an initiative. They estimated conservative savings of $81 billion per year, with $77 billion from improved efficiency and $4 billion from fewer errors and side effects, said RAND lead researcher Richard Hillestad.
Replacing paper records with an electronic network would cost hospitals about $98 billion and doctors about $17 billion, Hillestad said.
CERTIFICATION
RABQSA International Accepts CQA for QMS Auditors
RABQSA International and ASQ, encouraged by ASQ’s Quality Audit Division (QAD), recently agreed to recognize ASQ’s certified quality auditor (CQA) qualifications as meeting part of the certification requirements for the accredited competency based RABQSA quality management system (QMS) auditor certification scheme.
This agreement allows ASQ CQAs to achieve RABQSA certification through a streamlined process that involves passing a gap exam based on ISO 9001 and the definitions in ISO 9000.
After passing the gap exam, ASQ CQAs certified by RABQSA will be listed in its international register of certified auditors. For more details, go to the QAD website at http://www.asq.org/audit and click on Quality Auditor (CQA) under the Browse heading.
RABQSA International also announced a strategic agreement with Korean based International System Quality Registrars to develop accredited personnel and training certification programs and related professional development services throughout South Korea.
The FACE of Quality
Name: Franklin Schargel.
Residence: Albuquerque, NM.
Education: Bachelor’s degree with major in history and master’s degrees with majors in secondary education and secondary school administration and supervision, City University of New York.
Introduction to quality: Attended an ASQ conference in New York City, where Frank Caplan agreed to serve as his mentor and teach him quality processes, tools and principles. He introduced Schargel to other quality practitioners, including educator Myron Tribus, Ed Bales of Motorola University, Mark Gavoor of Colgate-Palmolive and Laree Richelieu, superintendent of Mount Edgecome, AK, schools. In the true spirit of quality, they all served as mentors and teachers.
Current job: Senior managing associate, School Success Network, a Web tool that uses a Baldrige based school self-assessment to generate a feedback report within 10 business days.
Previous job: New York City teacher, counselor and administrator.
ASQ activities: Senior Member, former chair of Education Division and member of Service Quality Division.
Other activities: Author of five books dealing with at-risk youth and dropout prevention strategies; along with the National Dropout Prevention Center, developed 15 dropout prevention strategies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education; presents workshops on school reform, at-risk youth and dropout prevention in the United States, Latin America and Europe.
Recent honor: Crystal Star Award from the National Dropout Prevention Network for demonstrating clear evidence of success in dropout recovery, intervention and prevention.
Personal: Married to Sandy, an interior decorator; two adult sons, no grandchildren but “grandpuppies and grandcats.”
Favorite ways to relax: Travel, reading mysteries, plus presenting workshops and writing, which he doesn’t consider work.
Quality quote: Schools need to be as globally competitive as businesses are. The best school graduates from Milwaukee are not competing for jobs against the best graduates from New York City but against the best graduates from Singapore, Japan and Finland. At the same time, we need to realize that by using quality tools and practices we are improving the system for those who “survive” the system. According to the latest data, 181 U.S. school buses leave schools every school day loaded with children never to return—our daily school dropout rate.
ASQ News
TEXTILE DIVISION DISSOLVED The ASQ Board of Directors recently voted to dissolve the Textile and Needle Trades Division because of inactivity and lack of member leaders to direct operations.
TEAMWORK AWARD APPLICATIONS DUE DEC. 19 The Teamwork and Participation Forum’s deadline to apply for the International Team Excellence Award is Dec. 19. The 2005-2006 guidelines and criteria and entry forms are now available at http://www.asq.org/teamwork/docs/05-06-guidelines-and-criteria.pdf.
BORAWSKI SPEAKS AT IAQ ASSEMBLY ASQ executive director Paul Borawski presented a program on the ASQ futures study at the International Academy for Quality’s triennial assembly during the International Quality Conference in September in Tokyo. Shoichiro Toyoda, honorary chair of Toyota Motor Corp; Yoon Woo, vice chair of Samsung Electronics Co.; and A.V. Feigenbaum, U.S. quality guru, were among the conference presenters.
PHARMACEUTICAL TRAINING IN MEXICO ASQ has established an agreement with Terra Farma S.A. de C.V., a management training services provider for the pharmaceutical sector in Mexico. Through the agreement, Terra Farma will provide ASQ courses in Spanish, certification exams and Quality Press books.
NEW COURSE OFFERED An Excellence in Eight Dimensions course is being offered by ASQ—first in Atlanta Nov. 7-8 and again preceding the World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Milwaukee April 29-30, 2006. The course covers a structural approach to developing and deploying customer focused improvement initiatives using practices such as cycle time reduction, Six Sigma, lean enterprise, ISO 9000 and the Baldrige award criteria.
100 ATTEND STAKEHOLDER DIALOGUE About 100 managers and executives in manufacturing who are interested in using lean and Six Sigma in less traditional manufacturing areas attended a recent stakeholder dialogue in Chicago. Potential areas in which to use the methods outside the manufacturing process include front office (customer relationship management, sales forecasting, quoting and estimating), business performance management (workflow, management reporting and business intelligence), distribution (shipping and warehouse management) and back office (financials, purchasing and cost accounting).
