BIZPHYX: The TL 9000 Experts | TL 9000, ISO 9001 & ISO 14001 Quality Management Education

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  support 12:28 pm on August 26, 2015 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: TL 9000 Alert 15-0004A, TL 9000 alerts ( 2 )   

  TL 9000 Informational Alert 15-004A 

  For all of our TL 9000 certified clients, QuEST Forum has issued TL 9000 Alert 15-004A regarding complaints with certification bodies and the ability for TL 9000 certified organizations to obtain aid.

   

  

  TL Alert 15-004A From QuEST Forum

   

  In order to adequately oversee the TL 9000 program, organizations that utilize the program need to work together to confirm that TL 9000 certifications remain valid and that TL 9000 meets customers’ expectations.

  It is therefore the desire of the QuEST Forum to facilitate customer feedback to the certification bodies (CBs) concerning issues experienced by customers of TL 9000 Certified organizations.  To accomplish this, QuEST Forum has reinstated the complaint button on the Organization’s public profile.  This complaint button is a vehicle to allow a complaint to be sent to an Organization’s certification body.  The complaint button can only be used after the customer has already communicated the issue to the organization.

  For more information, you can access and download this alert at our Knowledge Center and at the TL 9000 website.  For more information on TL 9000, contact info@bizphyx.com.

   

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  support 4:05 am on May 4, 2015 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: TL 9000 ( 75 ), TL Alert 15-003A   

  TL 9000 Informational Alert 15-003A 

  For all of our TL 9000 certified clients, QuEST Forum has issued TL 9000 Alert 15-003A regarding the “Code of Practice” for Certifying Bodies (CBs).   This new alert announces the publication of Release 6.1 of the Code of Practice for TL 9000 Certification Bodies.

   

  

  TL Alert 15-003A From QuEST Forum

   

  Certification Bodies are encouraged to use this new edition immediately.  It must be used effective 1 July, 2015.  Some of these changes were made in response to the results of the 2010-11 Validation Audits.  While intended to ensure the effectiveness of 3rd party audits, the Code of Practice can also be useful to all organizations to guide internal and supplier audits!

  You can access and download this alert at our Knowledge Center and at the  TL 9000 website. For more information on TL 9000, contact info@bizphyx.com.

   
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  support 1:31 am on February 28, 2015 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: ICT Quality ( 4 ), QuEST Forum ( 38 ), TL 9000 ( 75 ), TL 9000 Certification ( 13 )   

  ICT Quality Update: QuEST Forum Insights 2015, New Initiatives 

  We recently attended the 2015 QuEST Forum Leadership Summit and Work Group meetings in late January.  In addition to all of the awards and networking, critical new initiatives are always announced, the previous year is reviewed and new and incoming Board members are trained.

  We’re very involved in several of the organization’s initiatives such as Small Business, Board member training, Jump Start and GBE (Global Business Excellence).  BIZPHYX Senior Consultant and QuEST Forum Fellow, Irv Briks recently delivered an excellent educational webinar entitled “The Cost of Poor Quality and Its Impact On Profitability”.  This training was offered as part of the QuEST Forum Small Business Lecture Series and Small Business Initiative and the video is now featured on our blog and social sites.  Click here to see photos from this year’s Leadership Summit on our Flickr and Facebook pages.  We were very honored to once again receive the 340 Club Award.

  There’s a great deal to report, including the various initiatives planned for 2015.  If you are QuEST Forum member organization, we encourage you to read the entire 2015 Insights and Intents document.  It is posted on our Knowledge Center.  It’s a detailed road map for 2015 QuEST Forum organizational goals and initiatives.  From our perspective, here are some important summary points:

   

  QuEST Forum Memberships:  Small Business Leads!

  While there are still challenges in attracting large, global service providers as active members, membership overall is up and that is due in great part to the Small Business Group and Small Business memberships.  We may be a bit partial to the tireless efforts of our CEO, Sue Clancy as Chair of this group!  Also, many BIZPHYX clients and Small Business members swept the Pyramid Awards at the America’s Best Practices Conference in September 2014 (a link to our press release)  Congratulations to everyone who participates in these efforts and congratulations to our Small Business member companies who sponsor events and work tirelessly for ICT quality through TL 9000 certification.   While no mention is made of Small Business initiatives in the Intents and Insights document, you will find a link to Small Business on the updated QuEST Forum website.

   

  TL 9000: THE ICT Quality Standard

  There are still challenges at the MSP level for increased adoption of the standard, but the reality is—TL 9000 matters and certification speaks to the heart of ICT quality management.  Certifications via JDSU outlets here and abroad drove the totals and globally there were more certifications abroad than in the USA.  However, we’re very busy and as one of the nation’s leading TL 9000 consulting firms, we continue to see small to mid-size organizations embrace the value of the standard.  Certainly, the ISO 9001:2015 revision will have an impact on the new version of TL 9000 (R6.0) and the IGQ Work Group is on top of this effort after mapping the DIS and FDIS in 2014.

   

  Sustainability, Sustainability, Sustainability:

  As you many be aware, the QuEST Forum Sustainability Initiative was launched in 2014 following the elevation of Sustainability to the Executive Board Level in 2013.  Under the guidance of QuEST Forum Chair Steve Pickett and QuEST Forum CEO, Fraser Pajak, a pilot group of nine companies began submitting data into the QuEST Forum system in May of 2014.

  Whether organizations embrace sustainability full force by implementing ISO 14001 or incorporate sustainability aspects into their existing TL 9000 and ISO 9001 quality systems, QuEST Forum has done a great job through the IGQ Work Group in elevating sustainability to a strategic level, developing a model with 10 sustainability measurements.

  Don’t expect this focus to fade in organizations, it’s here to stay.  Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental Management (impacts, outcomes and improvements) are front and center for the C-suite.  They are not “buzz” words anymore, for those who may have considered them as such.

   

  Awareness and Value Of ICT Supply Chain Quality

  In 2014, you couldn’t help but notice the increase in presentations and participation on panels at important allied organization events like TIA, the NTCA (now the Rural Broadband Association), OSP and NATE.  Even our own CEO Sue Clancy and QuEST Forum CEO Fraser Pajak spoke to TIG (The Technology Industry Group) in Chicago in 2014.  Awareness of ICT quality through QuEST Forum is increasing with these efforts, new global partnerships and through social media channels.  The two new initiatives of Sustainability and Tower Quality and Reliability (2014) have also shined a spotlight on the relevance of QuEST Forum with regard to ICT supply chain quality.

   

  The Focus For 2015: Important Initiatives

  If you review the new QuEST Forum website, you’ll see all of the 2015 initiatives clearly presented:

   

  • Cell Tower Quality and Reliability
  • Cost of Poor Quality
  • Marketing Outreach
  • Network Function Virtualization
  • Network and Service Reliability Measurements
  • Product Development
  • QuEST Forum Academy
  • Small Business
  • Sustainability
  • Wireless Handsets

  Two new initiatives that we feel need to be highlighted are the Cost of Poor Quality (CoPQ) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV).

   

  NEW: Cost of Poor Quality (CoPQ):

  The goal of this new initiative is to create a clear, aligned definition and normalized reporting for an agreed set of CoPQ elements.  Members are being solicited for participation in a benchmarking exercise of agreed upon KPI’s affecting CoPQ.  Deepti Arora of Nokia is leading this effort.

  BIZPHYX Senior Consultant and QuEST Forum Fellow, Irv Briks recently delivered a CoPQ webinar as part of the QuEST Forum Small Business Lecture Series and Small Business Initiative.

   

  NEW: Network Function Virtualization (NFV):

  Critical to the rapid increase in technology on networks, this initiative will clarify and prioritize the industry’s current NFV quality and performance reliability issues and will be led by a team of companies whose products and services are used in the development, deployment and use of NFV.

  Both are critical to the ICT industry and we’ll keep our readers up to date on relevant outcomes with these initiatives.

  The long and short—between this activity, the work of the regional hubs (Americas, APAC and EMEA) and the impending ISO 9001:2015 revision coming at the end of the year, there will be no rest for any of us.

  2015 is really going to be “The Year Of Quality”.  Stay tuned and get involved!

   

  For more information on ICT quality, TL 9000 certification, QuEST Forum and the value of QuEST Forum membership, please contact info@bizphyx.com

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   
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  support 10:18 pm on July 6, 2014 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: QuEST Forum ( 38 ), TL 9000 ( 75 ), TL 9000 Certification ( 13 ), TL Alert 14-003A   

  TL 9000 Informational Alert: TL14-003A 

  Back in June, QuEST Forum issued an informational alert regarding the clarification of requirements to maintain TL 9000 Certification in a product category.  This was a small information alert, which was immediately posted to our Knowledge Base.  If this was not made clear in the recent Q2 edition of THE STANDARD, we apologize.  Our editorial team felt it did not warrant a podcast episode, but we wanted to make sure that our readers could access the alert here.

  The reason for TL 9000 Informational Alert: TL14-003A was clarification regarding product category status.  One of the foundational elements of the TL 9000 Quality Management System is the use of a common set of measures to drive continual improvement.  This is why there are requirements to submit data monthly to the TL 9000 Measurements Repository and to use the resulting industry statistics.

  If an organization no longer produces or supports any products in a hardware/software product category or no longer provides the services for a service product category, then that product category must be removed from the organization’s certification, since the requirement to submit data cannot be fulfilled.  If this is the only product category on the organization’s TL 9000 Certification, then the certification itself must be suspended or cancelled until the organization again has an active product.

  Please click on the PDF image below or here to obtain the complete alert:

  

  TL Alert 14-003A From QuEST Forum

   

  If you require more information, please contact info@bizphyx.com.

   
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  support 4:09 pm on July 24, 2013 Permalink | Reply  

  ISO Summer Update: ISO 9001 Revision Reaches Committee Draft Stage 

  As many of you may be aware, ISO 9001:2008 will be getting a makeover.  We had a great deal of chatter on our social sites when we announced the forthcoming update.  Since TL 9000 and ISO 14001 can be impacted by updates, we will keep our readers informed.  Generally, the summer is a quieter time in the quality management world after key conferences conclude and summer vacations commence.  However, it was announced in late June that ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems-Requirements has reached the “Committee Draft” stage of the revision process.  Like all ISO standards, ISO 9001 undergoes a revision every five years to ensure it remains a relevant and important business tool.

  What does this mean and what happens next? 

  Once the national positions have been submitted, the standard revision process follows its course.  Experts (nominated by the ISO member in the participating countries) continue to meet to discuss any problems or questions highlighted until a Draft International Standard is published.  As expected, the draft will be open for public commentary and feedback will be considered.

  ISO expects to publish the new version of ISO 9001:2008 by the end of 2015.  After any update, there is a transition period (which typically lasts two years), before ISO 9001:2008 becomes out of date.  Again, we will keep our clients and readers posted on any major updates, drafts, etc.  The ISO General Assembly will be meeting this year in September in St. Petersburg, Russia.  You can access this link to learn more about the ISO standards development process.

  ISO announces winner of the WSC poster competition

  Each year the World Standards Cooperation (WSC) runs a competition to find the poster to provide the visual identity to World Standards Day which is October 14, 2013.  This year, in honor of the event, we will be publishing our Q3 edition of THE STANDARD on October 14, 2013.

  Open to all, the 2013 poster competition asked for a poster illustrating the current year’s theme: “International Standards Ensure Positive Change”.

   

  The winner of the first prize was Frederica Scott Vollrath of Germany.  This is her poster:

  

  You can access this page to see all of the contender poster images.

   

  Tune in in the next month for our mid-year update on TL 9000, which will include upcoming changes and how the standard’s adoption is progressing in the USA and around the globe.  For more information on implementing TL 9000, ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 27001 contact info@bizphyx.com

   
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  support 6:12 pm on June 16, 2013 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: QuEST Forum ( 38 ), TL 9000 ( 75 ), TL 9000 Certification ( 13 ), TL 9000 consultants ( 9 ), TL 9000 R5.5, TL 9000 Requirements Handbook   

  New TL 9000 Requirements Handbook R5.5 

  Catch this YouTube video clip of BIZPHYX Senior Vice President, Bob Clancy as he briefly discusses the latest update to the TL 9000 Requirements Handbook R5.5.  In this video, Bob explains about implementation dates and what has changed with the latest revision.

   

   

  There are still 92 requirements although one was added, one was deleted and another, 7.2.3.C.1 has been split into two clauses.  BIZPHYX and QuEST Forum will be offering Delta Courses in the future to explain the changes from R5.0 to R5.5 in further detail.

  For more information, contact info@bizphyx.com.

   
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  support 1:30 am on February 1, 2013 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: ISO 14001 ( 27 ), ISO 27001 ( 4 ), ISO standards ( 8 ), ISO/IEC 27013, ITIL, TL 9000 ( 75 ), TL 9000 R5.0 Measurements ( 2 )   

  2013: The Year Of Quality Standards “Integration” 

  As we begin the new year by helping clients respond to quality management challenges in their organizations, it has become increasingly clear that 2013 will be focused on data security, energy management and sustainability driven through “communication” networks.  These unique functions must integrate even further to meet the complex task of driving a company’s products and services through a global supply chain.

  Take for example the telecom industry, where the evolution has become known as “ICT” or information and communications technology.  When you combine communication devices that disseminate big data serviced through networks to deliver healthcare, you have telemedicine. Combine public utilities utilizing data through intelligent meters to drive energy reduction and sustainable building standards and you support smart grids and smart cities.

  The reality is data security and energy management are cross-relational with the “communication network” at the center of the relationship.

  Quality standards are no different and this space is evolving to support integration.  Today, we wrapped up work group meetings at the 2013 QuEST Forum Leadership Summit in Dallas.  QuEST Forum is the governing body over TL9000, the telecom quality standard (based on ISO 9001).  In the past year, the standard has evolved and is now known as the “ICT” standard because deployment over a network is no longer centered purely on “tele” communications.   A communication network may be “service” centric, such as with the transportation and energy sectors.

  TL 9000 certification can easily be integrated with ITIL functions, such as Service Desk.  A great example of integration comes from Huawei.  Utilizing eTom, ITIL and TL 9000, Huawei has developed its own compliant MSUP (Managed Service Unified Platform), which is an architecture that drives multiple functions such as customer satisfaction, organizational mapping and operation support systems.

  The marketplace is driving shifts in ISO implementations as well.  Organizations are now certifying to TL 9000 and ISO 14001 (the energy management standard) at the same time and further expanding their quality certifications to include information security by implementing ISO 27001.

  ISO and IEC are also issuing new guidelines which “integrate” standards.  For example, in January 2013 ISO and IEC announced that they have published a new International Standard giving organizations advice on how to make integrated use of information security and service management system standards.

  The relationship between information security and service management is so close that many organizations already recognize the benefits of adopting both standards: ISO/IEC 27001 (information security) and ISO/IEC 20000-1 (service management).

  The new ISO/IEC 27013:2012, Information technology – Security techniques – Guidance on the integrated implementation of ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 20000-1, provides guidance to be used whether one standard is implemented before the other, or both standards are implemented simultaneously.  Only time will tell how this guideline will influence ITIL and COBIT best practices.

  “The publication of ISO/IEC 27013 arose from the recognition that combining use of both International Standards brings additional benefits.  ISO/IEC 27013 gives guidance on the first steps to be taken by organizations that wish to increase efficiency, improve their information security, service management and services”, according to Jenny Dugmore, editor of the new standard.

  Look for this trend to continue, with future guidelines expected as organizations chose to implement multiple, complimentary quality standards as a way to respond to business goals and regulatory pressures.  BIZPHYX is now in the process of expanding its service portfolio to include ISO 27001 implementation and audits, with clients set to certify later this year.  For more information on new ISO standards and guidelines, please visit the ISO news page.

  We’ll be reporting on the outcome of the recent QuEST Forum Leadership Summit and what changes are coming in 2013 with the release of R5.0 of the TL 9000 Measurements Handbook.  Our February edition of THE STANDARD will deal with this subject matter, as well as our March 15th TL 9000 R5.0 Measurements Handbook Delta Course.  For more information or to register, visit our website.

  Please contact us if your organization is considering implementing TL 9000, ISO 14001 or ISO 27001, either independently or as a suite of quality certifications.  You can reach us at info@bizhpyx.com.