Industry News
ELIZABETH LARSON

BMW receives environmental management registration

BMW Manufacturing Corp. in Spartanburg, South Carolina, has received ISO 14001 registration from TÜV America. The registrar cited BMW with several best practices in implementing the standard, including companywide awareness of ISO 14001 and an 11-point environmental guideline in operation for BMW suppliers since 1995. "BMW plants around the world operate with the least possible environmental impact," says Gary Weinreich, BMW's environmental services overseer. "We have a strong heritage and commitment to pursue environmental excellence."

Tech firm honored for technology, customer service practices

Information technology services firm Computer Task Group Inc. received regional honors for Upstate New York in the 1998 Arthur Andersen Best Practices Awards program. The program recognizes the best business practices of small and mid-sized business firms around the world. The Buffalo, New York, company was recognized in the categories "Unleashing the Power of Technology" and "Exceeding Customer Expectations." "We're proud to be recognized for our dedication and commitment to employing best practices and benchmarking externally in our strategic partnerships and internally with our IT colleagues," says Gale S. Fitzgerald, CTG's chief executive officer. Visit the company's Web site at www.ctg.com .

Executive search firm registers to ISO 9001

Another in the growing ranks of service firms to achieve ISO 9001 registration, Toronto-based ExecuCounsel Inc. was registered for its executive search service and for its unique board/CEO performance appraisal program. "By adopting ISO 9001 for our professional services, we're demonstrating to our clients that we're prepared to apply rigorous standards to our own processes," says Dick Marty, ExecuCounsel's managing director. "We believe the standing of our entire industry will be enhanced as other recruitment firms adopt quality standards." Visit the company's Web site at www.execucounsel.com .

New instrumentation company established

Optische Koordinatenmesstechnik GmbH, or OKM-Jena, has been established through a management buyout from Carl Zeiss. The company offers a business scope that includes research and development, assembly, sales and after-sales service of their current lines of measuring instruments: the ULM 600 series gage calibration equipment; the new granite bed ULM OPAL and ULM RUBIN gage calibration series; and optical coordinate measuring instruments, consisting of the ZKM 250 Manual, ZKM 250 CNC and Planaris 500 series. OKM-Jena continues to operate its business in the Zeiss-Jena facility in Jena, Germany. For more information, contact OKM-USA at telephone (800) 621-5117.

Video highlights microscopic metrology

Precise and accurate microscopic examination of materials remains critical to many aspects of manufacturing. The telepresence project of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's National Advanced Manufacturing Testbed is demonstrating and refining "long distance" sharing and operation of electron microscopes at NIST's Gaithersburg, Maryland, site. A new NIST video, "You Don't Have to Be There . Telepresence Microscopy," highlights the ongoing project. The 12-minute program shows how telepresence can provide remote, instantaneous, around-the-clock access to critical metrology services, saving customers time and money while helping ensure the quality of manufactured goods. For a free copy of the video, contact NIST at fax (301) 926-1630 or e-mail inquiries@nist.gov .

Standards conference examines ISO 9000 revisions

Upcoming revisions to ISO 9000 will be discussed at the American Society for Quality's 6th Annual ISO 9000 Conference on March 22-23 in Atlanta. The conference, "New Direction for Continuous Improvement," will also address technological shortcuts to accurate process documentation, case studies of corrective action resulting in new levels of effectiveness, cost benefits of ISO 9000 to secure management buy-in, and how small companies use internal auditors effectively. For more information, contact ASQ at (800) 248-1946.

Book examines semiconductor industry's challenges

A new book addresses the wide range of issues important to the U.S. semiconductor industry. It also offers a strategy to correct a potentially dangerous trend of declining long-term basic research and development. Characterization and Metrology for ULSI Technology looks specifically at how to measure and understand the materials and technologies involving "ultra large scale integration," and meeting future research and development needs by forming partnerships among industry, universities and government agencies. Published by the American Institute of Physics and edited by six scientists led by NIST physicist Dave Seiler, the book is available by calling Springer Verlag New York Inc. at (800) 777-4643.