Quality Vision International Inc. recently announced that Vijay Patel is the new president of View Engineering Inc.Patel, who has worked for View Engineering for more than 20 years, has a strong background in technical and market management. QVI, View Engineering’s parent company, reports that it plans to increase its investment in the engineering firm.

Indo Gulf Fertilisers Ltd. recently became one of the first Indian companies to receive the prestigious Deming Application Prize. Indo Gulf is among the largest and most cost-efficient private-sector fertilizer companies in India. It manufactures and markets urea, a nitrogenous fertilizer under the brand name Birla Shaktiman. Indo Gulf has implemented Six Sigma in all of its business processes, along with total quality management principles.

Quality Systems Integrators recently introduced an online application that provides employee tests, quizzes, corrective action and compliance to ISO standards and FDA 21 CFR Part 11. The new product is an add-on to the TMSWEB Training and Document Management System, is completely Web-based and requires minimal IT support. It allows employees to take company tests online while rotating answers to curtail cheating.

A new organization for data and information quality managers recently formed, the International Association for Information and Data Quality, offers information and resources to help data quality professionals solve quality problems in their organizations. Noting that poor data quality costs companies and consumers billions of dollars a year, the organization’s vision is to become a repository for data quality enhancement information.

TRUMPF Inc. was recently awarded a Connecticut Quality Improvement Award for improvements made to a powerful laser. The company’s TCF 1, a diffusion-cooled CO2 laser based on coaxial electrode geometry, was improved to provide the high-quality beam characteristics of smaller, lower-wattage lasers in a smaller package.

After months of development, the International Organization for Standardization published a revised version of its ISO 14001 standard on Nov. 15.The changes are mostly procedural in nature, and include:

President George W. Bush and Commerce Secretary Don Evans recently announced four winners of the 2004 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The winners are The Bama Co., in the manufacturing category; Texas Nameplate Co. Inc., in the small business category; Kenneth W. Monfort College of Business, in the education category; and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, in the health care category.

A quality college in Dubai recently announced the establishment of an award in honor of H. James Harrington, Ph.D. Harrington, a Quality Digest columnist and founder of the Harrington Institute, is a leading quality consultant who frequently works in Dubai. The Harrington Best TQM Thesis Award was established by e-TQM College in conjunction with a number of European partners from the European Universities Network.

Breakthrough Management Group recently announced the release of an enhanced version of its popular ProjX software suite. ProjX 2.0 is billed as a complete Six Sigma solution and includes enhancements such as advanced project selection and evaluation, expanded multilanguage and multibrand capabilities and expanded personalization features.

The Juran Institute recently announced its plans to create the William W. Barnard Award for Personal Excellence in honor of Dr. Barnard, who recently passed away. William W. Barnard, Ph.D., was a senior vice president who worked for the Juran Institute for more than 18 years. The award bearing his name will be presented annually to one Juran employee and one Juran client.