The 2012 QuEST Forum Leadership Summit took place last week in Dallas (January 30-February 3). It was an incredible week of networking, sharing, learning and of course–strategizing. During “The State of the Forum” presentation, QuEST Forum 2012 Executive Board Chair, Trevor Putrah and QuEST Forum COO, Don Pickens provided a recap of 2011 and outlined plans and goals for 2012.
2011 was defined as a year of “continuing progress”. There was growth in TL 9000 registrations and the Member Value Survey and the TL 9000 Survey yielded very high scores in the categories of member satisfaction and likely to renew. QuEST Forum continues to engage small businesses through the Small Business Subgroup. The efforts of the Membership and TL 9000 Recruitment team enabled QuEST Forum to retain and add many new members.
Although 2011 presented some real economic challenges (coupled with many mergers and acquisitions throughout the industry), there was a substantial growth in certified locations which increased to 1,978, (up from 1,692 in 2006), with the majority of that growth occurring in the APAC region, followed by the Americas region.
It was also revealed that TL 9000 is on the fast track to become the Chinese National Standard for telecommunications quality. Leadership has been added in all global regions, including the addition of paid staff for the India Hub. Arun Malik with Bharti Airtel is now the Executive Director of the India Region.
QuEST Forum also strengthened the global benchmarking study for the Network Reliability Centers with the inclusion of relevant measures developed by major service providers. Performance Data Reports demonstrate that the use of the TL 9000 QMS continues to improve industry quality and reliability.
So, what are the challenges and initiatives for 2012? First and foremost, QuEST Forum has defined its vision: “to be the global force for improving the quality of products and services delivered to customers of information and communication technologies” (ICT). Make note of the acronym ICT as TL 9000 evolves to integrate information and communications quality objectives.
The focus for 2012 has been defined as “Driving TL 9000 Measurements Throughout the Global ICT Supply Chain”. To support this effort, there is a plan to strengthen QuEST Forum though further membership growth and regional engagement. This includes fortifying relationships with other industry associations, government agencies and regulatory bodies throughout the globe. With that, QuEST Forum is committed to driving the TL 9000 standard in the cable industry and other related communication technologies.
Strengthening benchmarking efforts and TL 9000 in particular for services providers, network operators, managed services and wireless operations will further support the 2012 focus. Broader engagement of TL 9000 throughout the communications supply chain is the big goal. While APAC growth is solid, EMEA still remains a challenge and there are steps being taken to help with that influence in Europe.
There are some very aggressive strategic initiatives planned in Marketing Outreach, Performance Data Reports, Network and Service Reliability Performance and Measurements For Next Generation Networks.
For example, with Network and Service Reliability Performance, there is a plan to expand the areas of study to include wireless and managed services. With the Next Generation Network Measurements (EB-9) initiative there is an accelerated effort to enhance TL 9000 measurements to address converged, next generation and IP-based communication networks. Tim Harden, President of Supply Chain and Fleet Operations for AT&T is leading the Next Gen initiative. Tim is the 2012 Vice Chair and Chair Emeritus of the QuEST Forum Executive Board. In addition to his governance with the Next Gen initiative, Tim will be heading to Korea next month to help develop leadership for the Korean Hub.
This focus for 2012 reflects a bold and energetic plan which also includes several global events such as the APAC Best Practices Conference, April 3-5 in New Delhi and the EMEA Best Practices Conference June 11-13 in Madrid, Spain.
It goes without saying that several BIZPHYX executives are very involved in many of these enterprises. Bob Clancy is Secretary of the Global Business Excellence Group (GBE). Jennifer Simcox is Secretary of the Americas Region and Chair of the New Member Sub-Team. BIZPHYX President and CEO, Sue Clancy is Co-Chair of the Jump Start Mentor Program and Co-Chair of the Small Business Group.
Jennifer and Sue were recognized for their contributions at this year’s Leadership Summit and awarded with the 2011 QuEST Forum COO Award. Jennifer and Sue are both two-time recipients of this award. BIZPHYX Senior Vice President, Bob Clancy was presented with same award for 2010.
When there are changes or upgrades to report regarding the TL 9000 standard, you can be confident that BIZPHYX will be able to guide you through the process. You can access subject matter information on our knowledge base, podcast channel and here at the support desk.
So that’s the QuEST Forum TL 9000 road map for 2012. It’s going to be a busy year for a rapidly deploying ICT quality management standard!
Check back soon as we’re going to provide readers with some guidance on TL 9000 curriculum paths. This subject came up while preparing for India’s TL 9000 Overview courses (Bob Clancy is heading to India this weekend). Later in the month, we will also provide you with an update on our TL 9000 education efforts at the NTCA Conference, also taking place next week in San Diego. If you need immediate assistance on TL 9000, ISO 9001 or ISO 14001, contact: info@bizphyx.com.
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