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

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  support 7:01 pm on September 30, 2015 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: BIZPHYX ( 41 ), Pyramid Awards, QuEST Forum ( 38 )   

  Pyramid Awards Abound As BIZPHYX Clients Shine At The 2015 QuEST Forum Americas BPC 

  BIZPHYX is pleased to announce that once again our clients dominated the Pyramid Awards at this year’s QuEST Forum Americas Best Practices Conference held in San Diego.

  The prestigious Pyramid Award is given to an organization that has achieved their TL 9000 certification.  BIZPHYX is proud to have played a role in assisting these corporations in achieving their certifications.

  This year’s clients and award winners are:

   

  (TIG) : The Technology Integration Group (San Diego, CA)

  

  Featured in this photo from left to right: Fraser Pajak, CEO of QuEST Forum, Tim Woodcome, NQA, Paul Kloppenborg of Technology Integration Group (TIG) and Steve Pickett, QuEST Forum Chair.

   

  (SPC):  Unlock Your Design: (Shawnee, Kansas)

  

  Featured in this photo from left to right: Fraser Pajak, CEO of QuEST Forum, Tim Woodcome, NQA, Paul Kloppenborg of Technology Integration Group (TIG) and Steve Pickett, QuEST Forum Chair.

   

  KCI Telecommunications: (Harrisburg, North Carolina)

  

  Featured in this photo from left to right: Fraser Pajak, CEO of QuEST Forum, Tim Woodcome, NQA, Kevin Carpenter, Sue Breitsprecher, Jack Ritchie and Henry Graham of KCI Telecommunications and Steve Pickett, QuEST Forum Chair.

   

  Great Plains Communications (Blair, Nebraska)

  

  Featured in this photo from left to right: Left to Right, Fraser Pajak, CEO of QuEST Forum, Tim Woodcome, NQA, Mike Huggenburger, Great Plains Communications and Steve Pickett, QuEST Forum Chair.

   

  To learn more about QuEST Forum conferences and the Pyramid Awards, visit the QuEST Forum website.  For more information on implementing 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 1:10 am on February 28, 2015 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Detasad, Detecon, Deutsche Telekom Group, EMEA telecom, TL 9000 Certification ( 13 )   

  BIZPHYX Taking TL 9000 To The Middle East With Detasad 

   

  Recently, BIZPHX had the privilege of working with Saudi telecom leader Detasad (Detecon Al Saudia Co, LTD).  BIZPHYX Senior Vice President, Bob Clancy traveled to Saudia Arabia to work with this fine group of telecom executives as they begin to implement TL 9000. Detasad is adding TL 9000 to their ISO 9001 Quality Management System.

  Featured in this photo is Bob Clancy (3rd from left) with members of the Detasad TL 9000 implementation team at their kick of meeting.  Bob assisted with this process, as well as with their TL 9000 training and gap analysis:

   

  
  Detecon Al Saudia is a joint venture between Saudi FAL and German Detecon International, which started business operations in 1982 (over 30 years ago) in Riyadh.  Being a member of Deutsche Telekom Group, Detasad’s primary business focus is providing managed telecommunication and IT infrastructure services.  This includes a full-fledged operation and maintenance service portfolio for fiber optical, copper, microwave, satellite and GSM networks.

   

  Featured in this picture is Bob Clancy participating in a regional custom of enjoying authentic Saudi Arabian coffee at an after hours gathering:

   

  

   

  Thank you (شكرا) Detasad for being such gracious hosts.  We know you’re going to add great value to your organization with TL 9000 certification and we are excited to be a part of this process with you!

  For information on Detasad’s commitment to quality, read more here on their website.  It’s so inspiring to see a company’s quality system clearly outlined as a part of its corporate culture.

  Is your quality policy front and center on your website (signed by your CEO)?  It should be.

  Congratulations Detasad!

   

  For more information on TL 9000 training and implementation, please contact info@bizphyx.com.

   
   
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  support 3:44 pm on December 9, 2014 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: ISO 9001: 2015   

  Are You Ready For ISO 9001: 2015? 

  We’re fresh off of the November QuEST Forum Leadership Council and Work Groups and many tough questions were asked about the future of  TL 9000 and the ICT quality management standard.

   

  One important question being addressed is—how will the impending changes with ISO 9001: 2015 impact the TL 9000 quality system?  Quite frankly many of our clients have questions about how the changes to ISO 9001 will impact not only TL 9000, but other related quality standards like ISO 14001 and ISO 27001.

   

  Well mark your calendars!  Our 2015 Webinar Training Course List is LIVE!

  

   

  BIZPHYX is offering 4 complimentary about ISO 9001: 2015 and ISO 27001 in 2015, which should help our clients mentally and strategically prepare for these changes.

  For more information about upgrading your current ISO based quality system, contact info@bizphyx.com.

   
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  support 2:42 pm on December 9, 2014 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Condumex, Mexico Telecom   

  The TL 9000 Global Footprint Expands In Mexico 

  TL 9000 continues to gain global momentum as an international ICT quality standard and the trend continues in Mexico!   We recently had the privilege of working with Condumex in Mexico on their TL 9000 audit training.

  Featured in these photos are BIZPHYX SVP, Bob Clancy (holding book) with a TL 9000 auditing class at Condumex.  These executives have just learned how to audit the TL 9000 quality standard.

  

  Condumex is a division of Grupo Condumex, one of the most important industrial consortiums in Mexico.  It is currently the most prestigious manufacturer of electrical conduits in the country and is currently of the largest holder of valid patents in Mexico.

  

  Congratulations Condumex!

  Calidad de las TIC sigue avanzando en todo el mundo y BIZPHYX se ha asociado con sus clientes internacionales para que esto ocurra !

  For more information about implementing the TL 9000 quality standard and TL 9000 training, please contact info@bizphyx.com.

   

   

   
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  support 3:55 am on August 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: diverse suppliers ( 4 ), MBE ( 2 ), QuEST Forum Academy, QuEST Forum Small Business, SDVOB ( 2 ), Sue Clancy ( 3 ), Technology Industry Group ( 2 ), TIG ( 2 ), UTD, WBE ( 4 )   

  The QuEST Forum Small Business Education Vision Presented At TIG (Technology Industry Group) 

  As mentioned in a previous article, another focus for QuEST Forum is the Small Business sector.  BIZPHYX President and CEO, Sue Clancy recently presented to the Executive Board about Small Business initiatives as Chair of the Small Business Group.

  In July, Sue Clancy and QuEST Forum CEO, Fraser Pajak had the opportunity to speak to TIG (Technology Industry Group) in Chicago.  If you aren’t familiar with TIG, they are a group of supplier diversity executives from various technology companies in the ICT industry including Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Apple, SAS Institute, Intel, Futjitsu, as well as others.  Some time back, the Telecommunications Industry Group and the Technology Industry Group joined efforts to form the new TIG.

  Sue presented on the QuEST Forum vision for Small Business Education.  In an effort to add more value to QuEST Forum’s Small Business Group and ICT industry technology start-ups, QuEST Forum, QuEST Forum Academy and the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Business School are developing educational tracks to drive improvements in the overall health of ICT small businesses.  They’re also addressing education for technology start-ups to improve product speed-to-market with fewer defects and innovation and entrepreneurship:

   

  

   

  The goal is to have these educational tracks ready and available by Spring, 2015.  These classes will be taught virtually through Telepresence to reduce costs for the students and the instructors.  75% of small business members in QuEST Forum (most of whom are ICT suppliers) are also diverse businesses (WBE, MBE, DVBE, HBE, SBA and SDVOB):

   

  

   

  It’s important that these small companies and technology start-ups are healthy and viable, especially as as more of these players enter the ICT supply chain.  These small businesses ultimately impact the quality and delivery of service for the entire industry.

  The Small Business Education vision was well received by the QuEST Forum Executive Board and TIG.  Now comes the work of pulling it all together.  Sue and her group are very excited about what the future holds.  We will post updates as this initiative moves into implementation stage.

  For more information on TL 9000 and QuEST Forum Small Business, please contact sclancy@bizphyx.com.

   
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  support 12:30 am on February 20, 2012 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: FCC, ILECs ( 2 ), NTCA ( 3 ), Rural Telecom, TL 9000 ( 75 )   

  A Case For TL 9000 Quality Management In Rural ILECs 

  We attended the NTCA (The Voice of Rural Telecommunications) Annual Conference in San Diego last week.  The rural telecom industry is certainly in a state of flux as a result of the new FCC order regarding telecom reform of the USF/ICC, which was released in late October 2011.

  While there were many great wireless, video and broadband technologies represented on the EXPO floor, the majority of the conference centered around this theme.  Meetings also took place regarding the potential merger of the NTCA and OPASTCO (Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunication Companies).  We have posted a few brief video clips on our YouTube channel.

  Our article is not about the FCC order and the various interpretations and implementations that will begin as a result.  Instead, we contend that TL 9000 quality should be a part of the rural ILEC “toolkit”, as a way to deal with the business implications they will now face.

  However, it’s important to understand the basics and how they do apply to rural telecom:

  The US Federal Communications Commission has approved major changes in the country’s Universal Service Fund (USF) aimed at focusing more on broadband expansion.  Starting from 2013, the FCC will also change its cost model for determining the level of funding, adopt a competitive bidding system for awarding the funds and tighten controls to ensure that subsidized operators meet the coverage promised.  The order as it currently stands, will likely reduce the compensation and revenues of many rural ILECs.

  Those are just a few of the changes with the new 700+ page order.  Here are some supporting articles that help put things in layman’s terms, such as links to Telecom Paper, the AT&T Public Policy Blog and an opinion piece from GigaOM.   If you want to delve deeper, you can visit the US government sites for the National Broadband Plan and the FCC (read the actual documentation of the order).

  What we do know is that many rural ILECs are going to experience a reduction in their compensation (reimbursements) and revenues while being driven by the marketplace to compete with increased product and service offerings that must include wireless, broadband, video, IPTV and/or “triple play“.  Let’s face it; it’s all about video and download speeds.  They must do this while cutting their own operating costs, improving productivity and scaling their organizations to grow, consolidate or possibly face sale or closure.

  Some of the larger ILECs, many of which have their roots in rural telecom, are embracing telecom quality by implementing TL 9000 either in their own operations or by driving it through their supply chains.  CenturyLink and Windstream are just a few examples.  Many of the largest equipment and service providers that supply rural telecom such as ADTRAN, Alcatel-Lucent, Calix, Ericsson, Fujitsu, GENBAND, Juniper Networks, KGP Logistics, MasTec, Shields Environmental (and so many others) are either TL 9000 certified, obtaining certification or are active in QuEST Forum, the governing body over the standard.

  Yet, there is hesitancy on the part of small to mid-size ILECs to consider TL 9000 as a tool that can be used during these times to improve profitability and their chances of survival.  For us in quality management, we know the value of measurements and the risk management aspect of TL 9000.  We see firsthand from our work with clients, the many ways even the smallest of companies (10 employees or less), benefit from TL 9000 and ISO 9001 implementation:

  • productivity and operational efficiencies
  • reduction in rework and operating costs
  • revenue growth
  • ability to scale operations
  • improved partnerships with suppliers and supplier quality
  • engaged employees for overall business innovation

  Some of the smallest Telco providers (less than 50 employees) can implement TL 9000 for the cost of attending a few NTCA meetings and networking events.  It’s that cost effective (and possible), through a webinar based program.  The statistics and case studies (found on our knowledge base and at QuEST Forum) document the bottom line “payback” of improved quality.

  As more ILECs begin to rollout new broadband products and services, how do they cost effectively integrate these services with their existing installation, engineering and billing structures?

  Specific to rural ILECs, who wouldn’t want to reduce field costs, truck rolls, outages and faulty installations?  That low hanging fruit in terms of reducing the cost of poor quality and rework (which is often 10-15% of operating costs) could more than make up for the compensation reductions resulting from the FCC order, while making an ILEC better able to compete in a “triple play” marketplace.

  We hope as a greater clarity emerges between the meanings of “benchmarking data” vs. “compliance measurements”, that rural ILECs will begin to take serious notice of what their key suppliers and their largest competitors employ: TL 9000, the Telecommunications Quality Management Standard.

  As an associate member of the NTCA, we wish the best to these very needed rural providers as they navigate through tough times and uncharted territories.  If you need information on TL 9000 implementation or TL 9000 training, we are happy to provide a complimentary overview webinar for your executive team.  Please contact info@bizphyx.com.

  You can also visit the TL 9000 website and the QuEST Forum website to obtain further information, including a database of TL 9000 certified companies.