newsdigest
by Dirk Dusharme
European Commission Wants Companies to Rethink
ISO 9000's Use
NIST Budget Update
Federal Quality Institute Set to Close
Quality Association Folds
Measurement Drives Change
NIST Program Provides Competitive Edge
Internet Resources Update
How do you define: Teamwork
Shingo Prize Winners Announced
ASQC Announces Ishikawa Winners
Employees Prefer Praise Over Money
Chemical Company Sees Green
Plans Underway for Deming Stamp
European Commission Wants Companies to Rethink
ISO 9000's Use
A new policy proposed by the European Commission could change the way European
Union countries view ISO 9000 registration. The policy, still in its draft
form, is primarily designed to help generate a European image of quality,
but several elements of the document contain language that indicate the
EC's intent to put ISO 9000 registration into its proper perspective-as
a tool rather than a ticket.
According to the document, "A European Quality Promotion Policy,"
Europe's global competitiveness is hampered by a lack of cohesion between
national and regional quality programs among EU member states. There is
no such thing as a perceived "European" quality image, the document
points out. Therefore, perceptions of product quality are closely tied to
nationalistic bias, which can lead to restricted movement of products between
member countries, and even of products outside the EU-such as the United
States.
A "European" quality culture will lessen this effect, says Jacques
McMillan, one of the document's authors and chief of the Senior Standards
Policy Group for the EC's Directorate-General III for Industry, which oversees
quality and certification.
"The minute you come up with a national image, the person on the other
side of the border is going to look for the national image that he is familiar
with," explains McMillan. "In Europe, that means that you keep
on favoring the continued existence of psychological barriers to trade.
If we can come up with a European image, it will help reduce the psychological
barriers and strengthen the global competitiveness of European industry."
Although the document outlines several ways that the EC hopes to build this
European quality image, a recurring theme is the EC's goal to educate European
industry to shift their emphasis from ISO 9000 registration as a ticket
for doing business to its use as a quality tool.
While acknowledging that customer demands often drive ISO 9000 certification,
the document debunks the idea held by some customers and suppliers that
certification improves quality. Citing a yet-to-be-released survey of European
companies regarding the value of third-party certification, the document
reports that "more than two-thirds of the companies state that there
is no significant difference between certified and noncertified suppliers
with respect to the reliability of deliveries, to the quality of products
and to the number of complaints."
Despite this type of information, both McMillan and the document stress
the importance of implementing an ISO 9000 system as a "first step"
in a quality process. The biggest problem with ISO 9000 is not the system
itself, but the often abused requirement for third-party registration, says
McMillan. The proposed policy addresses that situation.
"A lot of firms are going for a certificate because they believe they
have to," explains McMillan. "Sometimes their customers are asking
for a certificate when their customers don't need a certificate in the first
place. The [European Quality Promotion Policy] will be there to signal operators
that ISO 9000 is a tool like any other and to give the message to users,
customers and public administrations: 'Don't ask for registration if you
don't need it.' "
If McMillan and the EC can drive home that point, it may go a long way toward
helping U.S. companies do business in Europe. Things like registration costs
and multiple registration for companies doing business in several European
countries often prove to hinder U.S. industry, particularly small companies.
As a part of engendering European quality, the document also suggests that
a formal program be implemented to train and qualify auditors to one European
level as opposed to auditors being trained at multiple national levels.
For suppliers who must have ISO 9000 registration, this should be good news.
It could mean the end of nightmarish multiple registrations or trying to
find a registrar who has mutual recognition agreements with all the countries
that a company is trying to do business with.
Although McMillan says that he has received negative feedback from some
European registrars who have reviewed the document, none of the half-dozen
ISO 9000 registrars, European and North American, interviewed for this story
had any problem with the document's thrust. One even went so far as to imply
that, in the end, the proposal could actually enhance business for registrars.
"The true added value of registrars is not that they register but that
they, as independent licensed auditors, can help to assess the true performance
of organizations," points out M.N.D. de Vries, director of KEMA, a
Dutch registrar. "This means that the good registrars will get plenty
of new opportunities to help their customers improve their processes. The
ISO 9000 business as such may change or even disappear, but the auditing
and assessment business will flourish."
McMillan is currently accepting comments on the draft document and hopes
to have a reference document, which will form the basis for formal documentation,
finished by the end of the year.
For more information or a copy of "A European Quality Promotion Policy,"
contact the European Commission, Directorate General III, Industry, Rue
de la Loi 200, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium.
NIST Budget Update
If the Baldrige National Quality Program receives proper funding next year,
it will be due in no small part to outcry from the quality community.
As we reported last month, NIST was facing a possible one-two punch to their
budget from both a rescission bill and the proposed 1996 budget that could
have severely impacted the health and education pilots, and even the Baldrige
program itself.
"Largely due to strong support from the community, we understand that
the authorization subcommittee of the House was inundated with phone calls
and mail from supporters of the Baldrige program," says Baldrige Deputy
Director Harry Hertz.
As it stands, the current set of bills, although not entirely embracing
the Baldrige program, do allow for the program to continue. Particulars
include:
Unlike an earlier rescission bill vetoed by
President Clinton that recommended cutting $16.3 million from the Manufacturing
Extension Partnership and Baldrige together, a new rescission bill does
not specifically target the Baldrige program.
An authorization bill passed by a House authorization
subcommittee authorizes $3.4 million for the Baldrige program (same as 1995),
including $600,000 for the health and education pilots, and increases the
number of awards from two to four per Baldrige category. It also removes
the Commerce Secretary's authority to add new Baldrige categories, meaning
Congress would have to pass a law to create categories.
Though not specifically mentioning the Baldrige
program, a House appropriations subcommittee has OK'd a 1996 NIST budget
that includes $263 million to cover the bulk of NIST's budget, some of which
"could fund quality," says Hertz. The proposed budget also calls
for $81 million to fund NIST's Manufacturing Extension Partnership and $60.1
million for construction of research facilities.
The budget proposal did not fund NIST's Advanced Technology Program, a move
that Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown called "deeply disappointing."
"The zero funding of the Advanced Technology Program is unacceptable,"
says Brown. "Limiting and eliminating key technology functions and
programs at Commerce affects the ability of the United States to create
jobs for U.S. workers, now and in the future."
On a different note, "The Department of Commerce Dismantling Act"
(bills H.R. 1756 and S. 929) proposes transferring the Baldrige Award to
the National Science Foundation.
Federal Quality Institute Set to Close
Just weeks before the Annual National Conference on Federal Quality in August,
the Office of Personnel Management officially announced the September 30
closure of the Federal Quality Institute and transfer of FQI functions to
OPM's Office of Executive Resources.
On July 3, OPM Director Jim King announced that the Office of Executive
Resources would take over the principal responsibilities of the Federal
Quality Institute. In addition, the OPM will coordinate and produce the
Annual National Conference on Federal Quality and the President's Quality
Award program. The purpose, according to King, is to enhance FQI's functions
and do it at lower cost.
"The integration of these OPM
operations represents our unwavering commitment to the development and implementation
of quality-management programs," says King. "Quality-management
education and delivery systems will be continued, enhanced and further developed
under the OPM umbrella."
But some FQI staffers fear that although OPM is the administrative head
of FQI, they may be too far removed from FQI's operations to understand
key operational aspects, e.g., the important role of volunteers or the difference
between consulting and training.
"We don't do training," says an FQI employee. "We collaborate
with the leaders and guide them through the process. Training is minimal.
OPM wants us to just deliver our training materials to the Federal Executive
Institute and management development centers."
FQI staff won't be transferred to OER intact; layoff notices for FQI's already
thin staff are coming, says the OPM. FQI has 10 paid staff and 10 detailees
from other agencies that handle all FQI functions. By contrast, the Baldrige
office has 24 full-time staff.
Three days after OPM's announcement, FQI fired off a press release noting
that the FQI closure, which has been OK'd by a House subcommittee, had not
yet been voted on by the Senate.
That may not really matter, says an OPM spokesperson; King's decision is
pretty much a "done deal."
Quality Association Folds
After 16 years of service to the quality community, the Quality & Productivity
Management Association has closed. Citing a string of general economic and
programmatic factors, the association, which has been in existence since
1979, closed its doors early this June.
According to a June 2 memo sent to QPMA's 1,200 members, a variety of factors
led to the association's dissolution: "Companies cutting back on their
membership and training expenses and their quality starts as well; the proliferation
of competitors in the TQM field; and the saturation of our members with
TQM knowledge."
The final straw, however, was simply an act of fate-the bombing of the World
Trade Center in 1994. QPMA had scheduled their fall conference for the Vista
Hotel in New York. The Vista's ballroom was destroyed by the bomb blast.
A series of relocations followed with the conference finally being held
in Orlando, Florida, but drawing only half the usual crowd.
All the factors added up to a "serious cash-flow problem" and
insurmountable debts with no possible means to recoup, says QPMA President
Jerry Gass.
"We just don't have the type of corporate backing that other organizations
do," says Gass. "We had no choice but to dissolve the organization."
Gass and other QPMA leaders will meet with the American Productivity &
Quality Center to discuss a possible membership agreement between ex-QPMA
members and the APQC. Meanwhile, the APQC will pick up QPMA memberships
until the end of 1995.
Measurement
Drives Change
The last thing most companies address in their change programs is their
system of performance measurement, writes Steven Hronec in his book Vital
Signs (Amacom, 1995). But measures can drive change throughout an organization.
Hronec gives a few benefits of performance measures:
Satisfying customers. People act as they're
measured. Without a continual drive toward customer satisfaction, a company
will not know the product characteristics or service elements necessary
to remain competitive.
Monitoring progress. Actual process improvement
is key to long-term performance. The right performance measures make process
improvement continuous.
Benchmarking processes and activities. Performance
measures make possible "management by facts." They should provide
the information needed to compare your company's performance with others
to identify and apply best practices.
Driving change. The right performance measures
help companies change successfully as they break down barriers and facilitate
communication within a process and throughout a whole organization.
NIST Program Provides Competitive Edge
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is inviting nonprofit
organizations to submit proposals for new manufacturing extension centers.
These centers form the heart of the NIST-managed Manufacturing Extension
Partnership, a nationwide system of services and support for the 381,000
smaller manufacturers (less than 500 employees).
There are currently 42 centers in 32 states. Each helps link sources of
improved manufacturing technology to clients that need it, tailoring their
services to meet the needs dictated by their location and manufacturing
client base. Services commonly include assisting in quality management and
work force training, as well as helping manufacturers assess their current
technology and business needs, define avenues for change and implement improvements.
In 1994, 610 firms responding to surveys from 13 MEP centers indicated that
benefits totaled about $167 million, according to NIST. Average benefits
per company included 5.5 jobs added or saved, $43,000 savings in labor and
material costs, and an increase of almost $370,000 in sales. All this with
a federal investment in the 13 centers of just $20 million.
For more information, including a list of MEP centers, telephone MEP at
(301) 975-5020, fax (301) 963-6556 or e-mail MEPinfo@micf.nist.gov.
Internet Resources Update
Interest among quality professionals in the Internet is growing fast, and
Quality Digest continues to get reprint requests for our March 1995 "Cruising
the Internet" article. To keep up with the interest, we will continue
to provide updates on Internet quality-related resources.
If you need more information on how to access these sites and no longer
have the March issue, please contact Quality Digest for a photocopy of the
"Cruising the Internet" article. Call us at (916) 527-8875, fax
(916) 527-6983 or e-mail scott_paton@qof.com.
Updates
Deming Electronic Network
New address
Getting on:
To: den.list-request@
deming.eng.clemson.edu
Subject line: subscribe
American Productivity & Quality Center
The APQC now has a web site, which includes information on benchmarking,
TQM and more.
Getting on:
http://www.apqc.org
The Benchmarking Exchange
Now available via worldwide web. Membership fee required for full access
to this rich benchmarking site. Free access to a wide array of quality resources,
including U.S. Navy Best Manufacturing Practices.
Getting on:
http://www.benchnet.com
System Dynamics for Kp;12
New address
Getting on:
To: k-12sd@sysdyn.mit.edu
Message: Ask them to sign you up.
New Forums
Quality Systems Behavior Newsletter
Description: A monthly newsletter dealing with behaviors within organizational
cultures that support quality-management systems.
Getting on:
Send e-mail requesting newsletter to markkus@delphi.com. Include your name,
e-mail address and the organization's name.
Global Strategic Systems Newsletter
Description: A monthly newsletter dealing with organizational systems such
as ISO 9000, ISO 14000 and other information-processing systems.
Getting on: Same as above.
tqmedu-l
Description: This is a relatively busy forum dealing with quality in education.
Getting on:
To: listserv@admin.humber.on.ca
Message: SUBSCRIBE tqmedu-l
New Web Sites
American Society for Quality Control
Description: This ASQC site will contain general information on quality
issues as well as information unique to the ASQC. A new addition is the
Registrar Accreditation Board directory of more than 2,600 certified quality
system auditors.
Getting on:
http://www.asqc.org
QualiNet
Description: Forums and information for quality professionals. Includes
conference and chat rooms, quality information base, demos and shareware.
Getting on:
http://www.netview.com/qualinet
Quality Function Deployment
Description: A rich site for QFD. Topics include voice of the customer,
quality function deployment, technology deployment, cost deployment, QFD
in the narrow sense, comprehensive QFD, bibliographies and reference material.
Getting on:
http://mijuno.larc.nasa.gov/dfc/qfd.html
ISO Easy
Description: A wide array of ISO 9000-related material, including training
resources, registrars and lists of reference materials. Extensive links
to other quality-related resources.
Getting on:
http://www.exit109.com
NIST
Description: Everything NIST. News and information, laboratory programs,
measurement services, NIST campus information, Advanced Technology Program,
Manufacturing Extension Partnership, etc.
Getting on:
http://www.nist.gov
How do you define: Teamwork
Teamwork is the cooperation of a group of individuals working together,
combining knowledge and effort to reach common goals.
-Tricia Gieseke
Quality Assurance Specialist
Hytel Group Inc.
Hampshire, IL
The output by an organized group whose success is determined by the degree
of understanding and application of action and reaction efforts on a given
task which has a defined goal.
-Michael S. Payne
Director of Quality
Continuum Technology Corp.
Fletcher, NC
Teamwork is the completion of a task in which more than one person contributes
ideas and/or suggestions in the problem-solving or continuous-improvement
process. Teamwork enables better decisions to be made by less people. Teamwork
ties an organization together with a dynamic web.
-Russell F. Watkins Jr.
Quality Facilitator
Unisun Insurance Co.
Charleston, SC
Teamwork is not forcing a group to think and behave the same. Rather, it
is utilizing the individual's strengths and personalities, and uniting them
for a common purpose or goal.
-Cobey Bartlett
Quality Manager
LaVanture Plastic Extrusion Technologies Inc.
Elkhart, IN
Teamwork is the process of assembling together two or more people for the
purpose of producing a desired work outcome. Teamwork enhances problem identification
and resolution, and results in a sense of well-being.
-A. Weis
Quality Assurance Manager
J&G Steel Corp.
Sapulpa, OK
Teamwork is the effective mutual efforts of two or more entities, intended
to achieve a common goal.
From two children working to get their ball off the roof to nations working
toward lasting peace, this definition applies. Note that the requisite mutual
efforts to "groupwork," an inferior, though more common rendition
of its more fruitful and productive cousin.
-Larry McCloskey
President
Investigative Research Consultants
Albany, OR
A group of individuals with dedication and commitment to a common goal.
Not to forget the ultimate element, pro-active communication. This is the
human race's greatest hurdle, and once you have conquered all communication
barriers, teamwork will eventuate.
-Pamela K. Krumrel
Ironwood Plastics Inc.
Two Rivers, WI
A collective understanding of professional goals, and accomplishment of
those goals with integrity and honesty, ignoring personal differences and
concentrating on the delivery of our service.
-Jackie Brown
Business Administrator
Gage Center Dental Group
Topeka, KS
Teamwork is a group of individuals working together toward a common mission,
with the support of upper management.
-Michael A. Nowakowski
Corporate Quality Manager
Berry Bearing Co.
Lyons, IL
Shingo Prize Winners Announced
A diverse group of companies and publications marks this year's winners
list for the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing. Shingo Prizes
are awarded annually to manufacturing companies that demonstrate outstanding
achievements in manufacturing processes, quality enhancement, productivity
improvement and customer satisfaction.
This year's winners are:
The Foxboro Co., Intelligent Automation Division,
Foxboro, Massachusetts. Industrial process control automation systems and
services.
LifeScan Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company,
Milpitas, California. Blood glucose monitoring products.
MascoTech Forming Technologies-Braun, Detroit,
Michigan. Powertrain and chassis components, and aftermarket products.
Nucor-Yamato Steel Co., Blytheville, Arkansas.
Low-carbon steels for large structural applications.
Tennalum, a division of Kaiser Aluminum, Jackson,
Tennessee. Aluminum rod and bar products for automotive and aerospace industries.
Vintec Co., Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Car seats
and headliners.
For books and monographs:
The Handbook of Productivity Measurement and
Improvement (Productivity Press) edited by William F. Christopher and Carl
G. Thor.
Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business
Competition (Harvard Business School Press) by B. Joseph Pine II.
Strategic Industrial Sourcing-The Japanese
Advantage (Oxford University Press) by Toshihiro Nishiguchi.
For more information on the Shingo Prize, contact Ross Robson, College of
Business, Utah State University, telephone (801) 797-2279 or fax (801) 797-3440.
ASQC Announces
Ishikawa Winners
The American Society for Quality Control announced two Ishikawa Medal winners:
Paula Brooks Sommer, regional director with the Social Security Administration
in Fort Worth, Texas, and Horst Schulze, president and CEO of The Ritz-Carlton
Hotel Co.
The ASQC awards the Ishikawa Medal to individuals or teams that achieve
outstanding leadership in improving the human aspects of quality throughout
the organization over an extended period of time.
According to the National Commissioner of the Social Security Administration,
Sommer received the award in recognition of her "contributions to the
research and development of a leadership style credited with improving service,
raising morale and increasing the efficiency in the Dallas region."
The Fort Worth district has more than 1.2 million social security customers
and 120 employees.
The ASQC awarded Schulze an Ishikawa medal for his "strong moral leadership,
genuine caring about people and providing people with high skills and public
appreciation."
Schulze led the company to win the 1992 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality
Award and today spearheads the company's quest for 100-percent guest retention
and 100-percent customer satisfaction.
The Ritz-Carlton operates 31 business and resort hotels around the world
and employees about 16,000 people.
The medal was named in honor of the late Kaoru Ishikawa who was best known
for empowering employees at the working level.
Employees Prefer Praise Over Money
Why do people leave their jobs? In a recent survey, 34 percent of executives
cite a lack of praise and recognition as the No. 1 reason, according to
Robert Half, founder of Robert Half International, a temporary staffing
service specializing in accounting, finance and information technology fields.
"Companies that believe money is an employee's sole motivation for
working are destined to lose some of their best people," says Half.
Survey results in response to the question: "Which of the following
is the single most common reason employees leave a company?"
Limited recognition and praise 34%
Compensation 29%
Limited authority 13%
Personality conflicts 8%
Other 16%
Chemical Company
Sees Green
At the Gillingham, England, site of Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd., applying
for environmental management system standard BS 7750 was a very green move.
The company identified energy savings worth about $55,000 per year.
In 1992, Akzo Nobel, the world's ninth-largest chemical company, compared
their internal EMS to BS 7750 and found it lacking, says Ken Jordan, process
and quality control manager at the company's Gillingham site. Akzo Nobel
upgraded its system and applied for BS 7750 through Bureau Veritas Quality
International registrars and were certified in late 1994. BS 7750 is the
national EMS standard for the United Kingdom. Along with other national
standards, BS 7750 formed the basis of ISO 14001 development.
"BS 7750 makes you look at all your processes," says Jordan. "Buildings,
raw materials, products, everything you do on-site, and decide if something
has an environmentally significant effect."
This can translate into savings. For instance, last year Akzo Nobel looked
at their steam boilers and found a way to reduce energy consumption by about
17 percent, resulting in less pollution and significantly decreasing fuel
oil usage. They also reduced electricity consumption by about 4 percent.
The $55,000 per year savings more than offset the management time spent
on implementing the standard, says Jordan. But that isn't the point.
The plant, which produces potentially explosive organic peroxides, is located
in an environmentally sensitive area with houses in front of them and a
million-dollar yacht marina next door. And although having an EMS in place
doesn't guarantee that the company will not have an environmental incident,
it does reduce the chance, says Jordan.
"Environmental management is insurance for the future," Jordan
explains. "You are reducing the possibility of an environmental incident
happening by identifying risk areas and reducing them to an acceptable risk
level."
Plans Underway for Deming Stamp
The W. Edwards Deming Institute hopes to gather enough petition signatures
to convince the U.S. Postal Service to issue a W. Edwards Deming commemorative
postage stamp without waiting 10 years. With the exception of presidents,
the Postal Service requires that the figure being commemorated be dead for
at least 10 years. Deming died less than two years ago.
"We're hoping that we can get enough signatures that the [Stamp Advisory
Committee] will make an exception," says Anzie Rezelman, a member of
the WEDI group that is working on the stamp project.
The likelihood of that happening is not too great, says a stamp committee
spokesperson. Petitions for waiving the waiting period have met with no
success in the past. Anyone interested in supporting the Deming commemorative
stamp petition should send a signed letter stating their support to the
Deming Stamp Project, P.O. Box 26244, Alexandria, VA 22313-6244. Be sure
to include your name, address, phone number, signature and date.