First Word
by Scott Madison Paton
Whither the Baldrige?
I've just returned from two of the biggest quality trade shows of the year:
Quality Expo and the Annual Quality Congress. These shows always present
me with a great opportunity to meet our subscribers and advertisers, and
see what's new on the quality front.
It's also a great time to prowl the exhibit halls to see what new products,
services and trends are being sold. As usual, Quality Expo served primarily
as a showcase for the latest inspection and testing equipment. The exhibit
hall was filled with terrific gee-whiz gadgets guaranteed to measure even
more precisely than those on display the year before. We will feature some
of the new products introduced at Quality Expo in our newly enhanced QualityWare
section during the next few months.
It was quite a different story at the ASQC's 50th Annual Quality Congress,
which claimed to be "Your Passport for the Quality Journey to the Future."
With registrars exhibiting on nearly every aisle, and quite frequently right
next to and across from one another, it seems as though the future will
be populated by registrars. It almost felt as if it were the Annual Registrar
Congress-a virtual nirvana for documentation 'droids.
The increased presence of registrars is matched by more software companies
and consultants specializing in international standards. Even though I believe
the growth in ISO 9000 will benefit industry, I find it troubling to see
so little emphasis placed on more comprehensive quality efforts such as
the Baldrige Award and state and local quality efforts. The ASQC did a superb
job in presenting a wide variety of sessions and panel discussions on many
of these issues. However, the very nature of the Baldrige Award and other
programs don't lend themselves to the kind of commercialization that ISO
9000 has.
Critics of ISO 9000 often argue that the Baldrige Award must remain on
a higher plane than ISO 9000 and remain unsoiled by crass commercialization.
They also argue that the Baldrige Award's success lies in the hundreds of
thousands of applications that have been mailed out and its numerous imitators
at the state and local levels.
But why doesn't the Defense Department require Baldrige Award compliance?
Why haven't entire industries developed their own Baldrige derivatives (à
la QS-9000)? Why are there-at most-only six possible winners?
I'd like to know what you think about the Baldrige Award. Why not write
a letter to the editor with your suggestions for improving the Baldrige
Award's reach? Do you think it's time to make the Baldrige more market-driven?
If so, how? If not, why not? I'll try to publish as many of these letters
as I can during the next few months.
As always, you can reach me via the Internet at QualityDig@aol.com.
