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  • support 1:10 am on February 28, 2015 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ISO 37101, sustainability, sustainable communities   

    New ISO Standard Focused On Sustainable Communities Reaches Final Stage 

    The future of sustainable communities just got closer as ISO/DIS 37101 moves to the final stage of development.  As mentioned in a previous post, ISO’s new standard, ISO 37101 is centered on the sustainable development of “communities”.  Click here for the news release from ISO.

     

    Following is a video from May 2014 as the process was still headed towards DIS:

     

    The standard is now fully formed and has reached the final stage known as FDIS (Final Draft International Standard).  The goals of ISO 37101 is to be a valuable contribution towards sustainability as “whole”.  The desire if for no sustainability “silos”.

     

    Here’s a snap shot of the standard’s intended objectives:

     

    -Developing holistic and integrated approaches instead of working in silos (which can hinder sustainability)

    -Fostering social and environmental changes

    -Improving health and wellbeing

    -Encouraging responsible resource use and

    -Achieving better governance

     

    The architects of this new standard believe there is a much wider audience for ISO 37101 than community planners, city managers, municipal governments or public utilities.  We’ll see how it all plays out.

     

    For more information on sustainable business practices, CSR and ISO 14001 implementation, please contact info@bizphyx.com.

     

     

  • support 6:49 pm on February 22, 2014 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: 340 Club, , , , , , , sustainability, , , TL 9000 Requirements R5.5   

    Update From The QuEST Forum Leadership Summit 2014: Driving Sustainability in ICT 

    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.

    Reports were provided by each of the working committee chairs, Executive Board initiative(s) chairs, regional chairs and QuEST Forum CEO, Fraser Pajak.  BIZPHYX Senior Vice President Bob Clancy taught new Board members during the Executive Board Training session.

    Great progress was made in 2013 and the Board is looking for even greater accomplishments in 2014, 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 Initiatives

    Two new initiatives that were discussed at the Leadership Summit were Sustainability and Cell Tower Safety.  QuEST Forum is looking at its role in driving sustainability in the ICT supply chain.   Also discussed was how QuEST Forum can work with cell tower companies to improve performance and safety.  In light of recent cell tower accidents (employees), safety has become a critical topic on the wireless side of our industry.

    These are two pressing topics for discussion in ICT and we’re encouraged to see how QuEST Forum will address both sustainability and cell tower safety going forward in 2014 and in the years to come.

     

    Small Business Membership Continues To Grow

    Sue Clancy presented a very encouraging update on Small Business to the QuEST Forum Executive Board.  Small business is now 33% of the membership of QuEST Forum, after adding 12 new members in 2013.

    How important is Small Business to QuEST Forum?  Small Business contributed $50,000 in sponsorships in 2013 and increased attendance to our monthly lecture series by 27%.  That’s how!

    Small Business is alive and well in QuEST Forum and Sue Clancy will continue to lead this effort in 2014.  For more information on small business membership or engagement, please contact sclancy@bizphyx.com.

     

    New Sector Engagement Through a New QuEST Forum Board

    QuEST Forum also welcomed new board member John Greene in 2014.   John Green is the Chief Engineer for Great Plains Communications.  Great Plains is Quest Forum’s first Tier 3 Service Provider to serve on the Executive Board, which begins a long overdue and critical dialogue with rural Telcos many of which, are members of the NTCA: The National Rural Broadband Association.  BIZPHYX has been a member of the NTCA for many years.

    John’s enthusiasm and insight into the Tier 2 and Tier 3 service providers has already generated excitement with regard to this new sector.  He was instrumental in arranging Fraser Pajak’s speaking engagement at the NTCA’s October “Telco Vision” event, helping to formally introduce QuEST Forum and TL 9000 to a new audience.  John participated in two different panel discussions during this 3-day conference.

    As Chief Engineer with Great Plains Communications, John is highly respected by regional Telcos and is an incredible addition to the QuEST Forum Executive Board.  Great Plains Communications is a diversified telecommunications company providing local and nationwide long-distance telephone service to 77 Nebraska communities, and digital cable television service to 41 Nebraska communities.  Based in Blair, Nebraska, Great Plains is the largest Nebraska-owned telecommunications provider.

    We’re all looking forward to working with John Greene in bringing a knowledge of TL 9000 to rural telecom!  Please click on the blue links above for more information about John, Great Plains and the NTCA.

     

     New Revisions: TL 9000 Requirements Handbook R5.5

    As many of you are aware, new TL 9000 Requirements Handbook R5.5 is upon us.  As of Feb 10, 2014 it is available for use by organizations for audit purposes.  Organizations can still be audited to the 5.0 version of the Requirements Handbook until Jan 1, 2015.  On or after January 1, 2015, all audits must be conducted to the 5.5 version.  For information on the changes between the two revisions, please listen to a podcast tutorial here on our blog, on our website or in I-Tunes.

    This podcast is presented by BIZPHYX SVP, Bob Clancy. There is a new requirement called Product Security, so be sure to listen!

     

    BIZPHYX Makes The 340 Club

    BIZPHYX was also 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 employee’s investment of time and efforts in multiple work groups, sub teams and regions along with generous event sponsorships.  This is the third 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 2013.  As an Executive Contributor, Sue has led the efforts of the Small Business Group and will continue in that role in 2014.   Sue was also reappointed to her role as Executive Contributor for the 2014 term.  Please visit our Flickr page for all photos and releases.

    The ICT landscape continues to evolve into the cloud, M2M and into public utility grids and so will TL 9000.  Data and network Security, as well as safety and sustainability will be front and center, so stay tuned, it’s going to be a very interesting year!

     

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  • support 11:52 pm on March 25, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , sustainability   

    Big Brands That Lead With ISO 14001 And So Can You 

    In an article featured in the February 2012 edition of ISO Focus + called Future Gear (get the online version here), high-level executives from the world’s leading car makers such as Audi, Bentley Motors and Kia Motors revealed their companies’ perspectives on the benefits of standards implementation.  The global automotive sector is undergoing a radical transformation. The current dialogue is about fully networked cars–the cars of the future, which are now referred to as intelligent transport system (ITS).

    Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat and Chrysler Group was interviewed and one of his statements just resonates with all of us in quality management, “We do need standards; the world needs standards. Standards help an enterprise manage business-critical issues such as quality, environmental performance and safety.”

    In that same article you gain insight on the automotive brands that lead with ISO 14001 as a way to deal with environmental concerns.  Michael Straughan, a Board Member of Bentley Motors defines how Bentley embraces ISO 14001.  He stated, “we were one of the first UK plants to achieve ISO 14001 certification for environmental management, the first in our sector to set out a clear strategy for reducing our impact on the environment, and we are now the first UK automotive plant to certify to the new ISO 50001 energy management standard.”

    Let’s move from the automotive sector to the pharmaceutical industry and examine Bayer.  Bayer’s oldest and largest West Coast facility (the Berkeley site) has established a tradition of environmental protection that is now shared by all other sites.  Berkeley was Bayer’s first North American facility to receive ISO 14001 certification and has maintained this certification every year since 2001.  Now, as outlined on the sustainability section of their website (see Bayer Sustainability Management), 62 of their sites are certified to ISO 14001 with an addition 9 certified to OHSAS 18001.  That’s leading in a big way.

    The automotive and pharmaceutical industry brands embrace ISO 14001, but what about toy industry?  Who’s leading in environmental leadership? LEGO.  In a great story featured on Greenbang, a smart technology blog, you learn about the incredible sustainability report from this Denmark based toy manufacturer.

    LEGO aims to be 100% powered by renewables by 2020.  So is LEGO ISO 14001 certified?  That would be a resounding–yes.  You’ll see from the sustainability section of their website that all of the production sites in the LEGO Group are certified to the ISO 14001 standard, a primary step in their overall efforts which started back in 2007.

    On our blog, we continue to demonstrate how ISO 14001 is a key tool in the arsenal of the big brands to address environmental and sustainability goals.  Many of these brands push ISO 14001 down through their supply chains.

    So, does this motivate your organization?  Does ISO 14001 apply to you?  Even the smallest of companies, including service organizations certify to ISO 14001.   We’re ALL global suppliers and global supply chains require global environmental standards.  BIZPHYX recently led several clients to ISO 14001 certification, with more to certify in 2012.  Please visit the websites of these recently certified, diverse service providers:

    • CE2, a support services firm for government agencies in Pleasanton, California
    • Elgia, a business process outsourcing firm in Alpharetta, Georgia

    They’ve taken the lead in their respective industries–and so can you.

    Many of the big brands clearly lead with ISO 14001 for environmental management, so consider yourself in good company.  For more information on achieving on ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 certification contact info@bizphyx.com.

     

  • support 11:26 pm on March 8, 2012 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , ISM, , supplier diversity trends, sustainability, ,   

    Supplier Diversity Trends In 2012: Globalization and Sustainability 

    As members of both ISM (The Institute For Supply Management) and WBENC (The Women’s Business Enterprise Council), we have the unique privilege of experiencing supplier diversity from both sides.  We are a diverse supplier; yet in one segment of our business we help lead other diverse suppliers to ISO 9001, TL 9000 and ISO 14001 certifications, as part of our work with the supplier diversity departments of several Fortune 50 companies.

    We navigate many trends pertaining to supplier diversity. Certainly the two that are worth noting are the globalization of supply chains and corporate sustainability (which include environmental standards).

    When diverse suppliers enter corporate supply chains, they need to consider that they are in fact entering a global supply chain.  Minority and woman-owned businesses can provide competitive advantages and innovation in global supply chains–and supply management professionals have been working in global value chains for many years.  However, did you know the same is true regarding the supplier diversity departments of many of the nation’s leading corporations?  For example, Walmart recently announced that it would actively promote procurement from woman-owned businesses in their global supply chain.

    Many SD departments are working to make sure their supplier diversity policies and practices are being implemented globally.  The same holds true for the quality standards that they require of their diverse suppliers.  Environmental requirements are carefully woven into the fabric of best practices due to the potential for supply chain risk and ISO 9001 (and ISO 14001) are global quality standards.  Global supply chains need global quality standards.

    A great resource that illustrates global diversity initiatives in play is WEConnect, the international extension of WBENC.  WEConnect International is a corporate led non-profit that helps empower women business owners succeed in global markets.  Their membership list reads like a “Who’s Who” of the nation’s leading brands and even as an NGO, they are committed to quality standards.

    In 2011, BIZPHYX led WEConnect to ISO 9001 certification and in 2012 we led WBC Southwest (the Southwest council of WBENC) to ISO 9001 certification.  Both groups appreciated the need to become quality organizations that embrace internationally recognized, global quality standards like ISO 9001 (and ISO 14001).  They set the example for their member base (WBEs), many of which are becoming “global” diverse suppliers by working for and with Fortune 500 companies.

    Other resources that you can check out regarding global supplier diversity initiatives (including opportunities to bid on direct or subcontracting opportunities that are offshore) are the NMSDC’s Global Link and the International Trade Centre. We encourage you to listen to a recent podcast from Joan Kerr, Director of Supplier Diversity and Development with PG&E.  Joan is the Supplier Diversity Chair for ISM and she discusses many of these resources in her podcast.

    Another great tool for diverse suppliers wanting to do business with the Federal Government (which can have a global implications) is Gov Win. We recently tweeted their blog post and they re-tweeted our findings.  This post has great information on how to become compliant in federal procurement which includes CCR, FAR and OCRA.

    With regard to corporate sustainability, we still see ISO 14001 as a great way for corporations and diverse suppliers to address their environmental and sustainability goals.  In a few weeks we have a new article coming out that will demonstrate how some of the big brands are leveraging ISO 14001 in their supply chains.

    Diverse suppliers are really no different.  Once a corporate client integrates a diverse supplier into their global supply chain, they integrate both opportunities and risks.  Corporations need to make sure that their suppliers meet certain environmental goals and standards.  Their standards could be based on legal, regulatory and conformance requirements or measurable goals and objectives set forth by the client, such as eco-footprint or zero waste.

    There are a few who don’t share the passion for ISO 14001 or certifications in general, such as the premise put forth in this article from The Guardian, a UK publication.  However, in the absence of some type of supplier audit or the regular audits associated with maintaining an ISO certification, there is simply no way to substantiate that statements have translated into actions.  That’s why we’re seeing more small/diverse suppliers meet the environmental and sustainability requests of their corporate customers, by certifying to standards like ISO 14001.

    We don’t see this trend reversing since procurement professionals embrace global quality standards.  In the 2011 ISM Supplier Diversity Study it was revealed that procurement executives want to do business with diverse suppliers, but 70% report having difficulties finding “quality suppliers” in their category of spend.  See the problem–and one key solution?  Quality certification like ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 answer this challenge.  The ISM study is on the BIZPHYX Knowledge Base.

    Next week, tune in for a podcast profiling the diverse supplier–ARTÉMIA Communications based in San Francisco.  This marketing communications firm chose to certify to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and TL 9000 (the telecommunications quality standard) at the same time.  They are leading a best practices trend.

    For more information related to ISO certifications contact info@bizphyx.com.

     

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