Update From The QuEST Forum Leadership Summit 2013

The QuEST Forum Leadership Summit took place in Dallas a few weeks ago and the summit officially kicks off the new year for TL 9000 and QuEST Forum business.  A great deal was discussed and the networking at this year’s summit was very productive for small business.  The Board meeting opened with 2013 Board Chair Tim Harden, President of AT&T Supply Chain and Fleet Operations, and Vice Chair Steve Pickett, President and CEO of Telmar Network Technology (a Jabil Company), presiding.

Reports were provided by each of the working committee chairs, Executive Board initiative(s) chairs, regional chairs and QuEST Forum CEO, Fraser Pajak.  Progress was made in 2012 and the Board is looking for even greater accomplishments in 2013, especially in different industry sectors by bringing in new members, addressing regional needs and broadening the scope of influence of both TL 9000 and QuEST Forum in the global ICT domain.

New Global Initiatives

An example of such global initiatives is working with South and Central American services providers (MSOs).  QuEST Forum is employing great resources to work with South and Central American service providers and suppliers in an effort to provide expertise on improving network quality in these countries.   In light of the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and Summer Olympics in 2016, Brazil in particular is looking for ways to ensure top quality and reliability of their ICT network for these events.  QuEST Forum is definitely increasing traction in this region.

New ICT Sectors

There was great discussion about the ways that QuEST Forum might provide value in the wireless network arena, particularly around wireless cell tower quality and wireless handset manufacturing.  Be aware that new sub teams may be formed around these subjects, so that if you have an interest, you should plan to participate!

New Revisions To The TL 9000 Standard

There will be a new Revision of the TL 9000 Requirements Handbook, Rev. 5.5 that will be effective on December 31, 2013 and must be implemented by December 31, 2014.  The IGQ (Integrated Global Quality) work group reviewed submitted comments at the IGQ meeting on Jan. 31 and reviewed most of the comments.  At this time, it looks like there will be only 2 new requirements, clarification on current requirements and not a major revision.

Comments for the new revision of the TL 9000 Measurements Handbook Rev. 6.0 will be solicited in June 2013 from QuEST Forum.  If you think there are current measurements that need to be revised or new measurements added, this would be the time to submit your suggestions.  Be looking for more information from QuEST Forum in May and June concerning how to provide your input for the new measurement handbook revision.

BIZPHYX Makes The 340 Club

BIZPHYX was recognized for achieving participation in the QuEST Forum 340 Club.  The 340 Club is for those members of QuEST Forum that exhibit exceptional membership participation in forum activities through their employees investment of time and efforts in multiple work groups, sub teams and regions along with generous event sponsorships.  This is the second straight year BIZPHYX has been recognized for our contributions to QuEST Forum!

BIZPHYX CEO, Sue Clancy was recognized for her role as an Executive Contributor to the Executive Board in 2012 and BIZPHYX, SVP, Bob Clancy received recognition for his contribution as secretary of the GBE (Global Business Excellence) work group.

As an Executive Contributor, Sue has led the efforts of the Small Business Group under the sponsorship of JoAnn Brumit of Karlee and there will be some interesting news to report in an upcoming press release about this QuEST Forum Small Business Group efforts.

As we discussed in our year end article, What’s In Store For ICT Quality in 2013, the ICT landscape continues to evolve into the cloud, M2M and public utility grids and so will TL 9000.  So stay tuned, it’s going to be a very interesting year!