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Presidential Approval Shelters Standards-Developing Organizations

By: Quality Digest 07/08/2004

President George W. Bush recently signed into law the Standards Developing Organizations Advancement Act of 2004 (H.R. 1086), providing new shelter for standards developers from treble damage liability in current antitrust laws.

The approval amends the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993, which addressed the antitrust treatment of certain joint ventures, such as standards development organizations. The new bill recognizes the assistance that SDOs provide to government agencies in developing standards for regulatory and procurement functions and allows SDOs the opportunity to submit a notice describing the scope of their work with the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission. That filing may avoid unnecessary and costly litigation against organizations that have no commercial interest with regard to the technical specifications contained in the standards. The act provides that the federal antitrust “rule of reason” apply to SDOs while they are developing standards, and limits attorney’s fees in any antitrust case challenging an SDO’s work.

By: Quality Digest 07/08/2004

The International Organization for Standardization recently announced a new standard to help organizations satisfy dissatisfied customers.

ISO 10002 is a standardized complaints-handling process that can be easily integrated into established quality management systems—especially ISO 9001:2000, which requires top management to focus on customer satisfaction and continual improvement. It provides instructions on the delivery of a complaints-handling process that provides responsive treatment to unhappy customers, and focuses on problem areas for improvements and cost savings for organizations.

“At the same time, the standard is complete enough for stand-alone implementation, or in support of other quality management and customer satisfaction tools,” says Bill Dee, a member of the working group that developed ISO 10002. “The standard gives complete guidance—including principles, issues for consideration and structural aspects—for the management of the overall complaints-handling process, with numerous checklists, sample forms and practical examples.”

For more information, visit www.iso.org.

By: Quality Digest 07/08/2004

The Registrar Accreditation Board and the Quality Society of Australasia Ltd. have agreed to form a new global personnel certification body by the end of this year.

The new organization will combine the auditor certification and training course accreditation of RAB with QSA’s auditor and specialized personnel certification and training provider programs.

“The new organization will capitalize of the strengths of both organizations,” reports Michael K. Carmody, QSA director and CEO. “In addition, it will facilitate expansion into new markets and the development of a broader international service profile.”

RAB President and CEO Robert H. King Jr. is equally optimistic about the new venture. “Combining QSA’s and RAB’s capabilities represents the joining of forces of two organizations very similar in mission, size and financial resources that are focused on serving the global marketplace,” King says.

By: Quality Digest 07/08/2004

An online database of standards related to homeland security is another step the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is taking to improve defense procedures.

The American National Standards Institute is combining forces with the DHS to provide a reliable resource to enable federal, state and local officials to identify, share and gather information they need to properly defend the homeland in case of newly detected or upcoming threats. “By working together, we will deliver an important and timely resource to meet the urgent needs of our nation,” said ANSI President and CEO Mark W. Hurwitz.

By: Quality Digest 07/05/2004

The Civil Aviation Safety Symposium has been approved for Federal Aviation Administration training credits and RUs from the American Society for Quality.

Attendance at the CASS is now FAA-approved for 16 hours under 14 CFR 65.93(a)(4) and AC 65-25BU, and meets Board of Certified Safety Professionals requirements for one COC point. Also included in the schedule of events is a three-hour FAA-approved training course. Attendees will also be eligible for 1.8 RUs, which apply to ASQ recertification requirements.

The symposium, formally the Conference on Quality in Commercial Aviation, will be held at the Westin Hotel-Galleria in Dallas Sept. 7-9. It’s sponsored by the FAA and the Aviation/Space and Defense division of the ASQ. Highlights will include:

What you need to know about FAR Part 145 revisions involving repair stations
Tools to improve cost effectiveness of service operations without compromising reliability and safety performance of aviation products
The transition from JAA to EASA and its effects on you
How to be cost-effective and productive while employing lean and CMMI principles, and the use of outsourcing

By: Quality Digest 07/05/2004

Relex Software Corp. recently announced that its Relex FRACAS Management System 2.2 is now available to the public.

FRACAS is an acronym for Failure Reporting Analysis and Corrective Action System. Relex 2.2 gathers and tracks failure data in a centralized database, allowing underlying failure causes to be quickly identified and corrected. By supporting three different platforms (enterprise, corporate and team), it supplies organizations of all sizes with the capability to deliver an efficient FRACAS. According to Relex Software CEO Kevin Van Fleet, highlights found in the newly released version include two new modules, a redesigned report designer, streamlined import and export wizards, interface enhancements, and performance improvements in navigation, graphing, calculations, importing/exporting and transferring data.

The two new modules introduced in this latest version are Relex Dashboard and Relex Human Factors Analysis. The former is a Web-based application designed to allow the user to see the “big picture” of a system.

By: Quality Digest 07/05/2004

FARO Technologies is putting its proverbial show on the road with a summer concert tour.

FARO Gage’s Screaming For Accuracy tour will visit 15 U.S. and Canadian cities this summer, along with eight cities in Europe and seven cities in Asia. Members of the media, machinists and quality control managers who attend an event will receive Gage-themed T-shirts, demo DVDs, a chance to win a $100 credit on Ticketmaster for the concert of their choice and more. Attendees can bring parts from their facilities with them to measure with a FARO Gage and then e-mail the reports back to work. Classic rock radio stations will hold live broadcasts at some of the events.

The events are all part of FARO’s effort to showcase its products and show manufacturing facilities the immediate and lasting effects its gage can have on productivity and profitability -- especially when compared to some handheld devices.

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Web Site Lists Accredited Labs

By: Quality Digest 07/05/2004

Help is just a click away for executives, engineers or anyone else looking for an accredited lab to perform vital testing services.

Launched in June, the Web site www.accreditedlaboratories.com lists labs accredited by A2LA, ACLASS, LAB, NVLAP and NQA-LS, among other state and federal accreditation bodies. The Washington D.C.-based company was created to fill the increasing demand for organizations seeking accredited labs, and to make that search easier and less expensive, says David Stuart, the company’s executive vice president.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for users of laboratory services as well as the laboratories themselves,” Stuart says. “I grew frustrated having to search all over the Internet for an accredited laboratory, but now laboratory users can save valuable time and resources, not to mention they can compare costs by having a searchable database of laboratories for every need.”

The Web site lists laboratories by type of accreditation, name, location and keyword. For more information, visit www.accreditedlaboratories.com.

By: Quality Digest 07/05/2004

Global purchasing executives from DaimlerChrysler Corp., Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. will speak about the importance of collaboration between automakers and suppliers at the Auto-Tech conference on Sept. 1.

Speakers include Thomas W. Sidlik, DaimlerChrysler Corp. executive vice president of global procurement and supply; Thomas K. (Tony) Brown, Ford Motor Co. vice president of global purchasing; and Bo. I. Andersson, General Motors Corp. vice president of worldwide purchasing, production control and logistics. The speakers will participate in a panel discussion and take audience questions.

Auto-Tech 2004 is organized by the Automotive Industry Action Group and will be held Aug. 31-Sept. 2 at the Cobo Conference Center in Detroit. This year’s theme is “Driving Performance Together.”

By: Quality Digest 07/05/2004

The National Committee for Quality Assurance recently announced that it plans to establish a new certification program for Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set software.

Many types of organizations use the HEDIS software to meet specialized data reporting and quality improvement needs. NCQA’s limited software certification program will validate the system, thus streamlining audit processes.

“In terms of certification, one size no longer fits all,” says Mary Braman, NCQA’s director of licensure and certification. “A growing number of companies don’t provide results for the full HEDIS set because they specialize in particular clinical conditions or regional requirements. This new certification program addresses the needs of companies that report results for specific health care segments.”

The program is based on NCQA’s full HEDIS software certification program, which verifies that commercial products compiling full sets of HEDIS scores do so accurately. Many of the industry’s leading software vendors have already been certified under the current program.

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