American Society for Quality
Central Wisconsin Section
Helping people improve their organizations
Word from the Chair
Is it September already?!!?!! Wow! Hard to believe…what happened to summer? Time works that way, doesn’t it? It goes so slow when are waiting for something anticipated, and so quickly when we are in the midst of what we waited so long for. Well, ready or not, here it comes! A new school year, a new football season, and a new program year for our ASQ Section. This will be our first full year as a full section and the board is very excited about what’s coming. We’ve got some great monthly dinner meetings planned, a super fall conference (based on your feedback from the survey – thanks!), and some exciting new ideas to draw new people in and help all of you realize more value out of your participation and membership. As the weather cools, the big yellow busses hit the streets, and the pigskin flies, don’t forget to invest in your own career growth. Check out ASQ online, sign up for some training you need to take that next step, and plan to attend our monthly meetings to learn what other companies and organizations are doing, and to meet quality-minded friends – both old and new. I look forward to seeing you soon…
September Meeting Information
Topic: Quality Assurance: Hardware vs. Software
Date: Monday, September 29th, 2008
Place: Renaissance Learning, 2911 Peach Street, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Schedule for Meeting:
Registration / 4:30 - 5:00 / Room:Park in the employee parking lot and use one of the two rear entrances. The meeting will be in room 144C.
Tour / 5:00 – 5:45
Presentation / 5:45 – 6:30
Dinner & Networking / 6:30 – 7:30
About the Speaker
Mark Fochs is currently the Director of Quality Assurance at Renaissance Learning Inc. As Director of Quality Assurance, Mark and his team are responsible for the overall quality of the software and hardware products developed by Renaissance Learning. Prior to taking on this role Mark has held a number of positions within Renaissance Learning over the past 5 years, including Manager of Facilities and Contract Manufacturing, Director of Procurement, and Director of Development Support. Prior to joining Renaissance Learning, Mark held a number of technical management positions at Planar Systems, and Standish Industries in south central Wisconsin. Mark holds a BS degree in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.
About Renaissance Learning
Renaissance Learning is the world's leading provider of computer-based assessment technology for pre-K-12 schools. Adopted by more than 73,000 North American schools, Renaissance Learning's tools provide daily formative assessment and periodic progress-monitoring technology to enhance the curriculum, support differentiated instruction, and personalize practice in reading, writing, and math. Their products help educators make the practice component of their existing curriculum more effective by providing tools to personalize practice and easily manage the daily activities for students of all ability levels. As a result, teachers using Renaissance Learning products accelerate learning, get more satisfaction from teaching, and achieve higher test scores on state and national tests.
Keynote
Because of the computer-based systems that Renaissance Learning provides, they need to provide high quality hardware along with reliable software to ensure end user satisfaction. Their hardware is created like a typical manufactured product; it is build from a design with clear specifications. The software, on the other hand, does not have the same clear cut requirements. It must be created to function with a wide variety of platforms and be reliable under many different end user scenarios. Mark will be speaking about the different quality approaches they use with each, and how they ensure good quality with both their hardware and software products.
Cost of Meeting: $25.00 for members $30.00 for non-member
We do not bill; we accept cash or check only. Please make checks payable to “ASQ Section 1218”. If you register for the event and do not show, we will bill for unpaid registration costs unless a cancellation notice is received in time for us to avoid an expense.
To register: Call Kari Wroblewski at (715) 252-4707 or e-mail at . Please provide your name, company, phone number, and member status.
Registration Deadline: NOON - Thursday, September 25th
Directions to Renaissance Learning Inc., 2911 Peach Street, Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Meeting Schedule
Meeting Date / Event / Topic / Time / WhereSeptember 29th / Program Meeting / Quality Assurance: Hardware vs. Software / 4:30 pm / Renaissance Learning-Wisconsin Rapids
October 27th / Program Meeting / TBD / TBD / Norlen/Yarcraft
November / Fall Seminar / Root Cause Analysis / TBD / Stevens Point
Survey Results
Congratulations to Craig Hazledine of Pointe Precision, in Plover!
Craig’s name was randomly chosen from the 31 respondents to our annual member survey and will receive a $50 VISA gift card. Thank you to all who participated in the survey this year. We received some excellent information and great input that we are using to craft our program year and make plans for the future of our Section beyond that. We appreciate all of the responses and will be publishing a summary of the results in an upcoming newsletter.
Section 1218 Website & Information
The section website can be located at: www.asq.org/sections/mini-sites/1218
Questions on membership information?Contact: Don Smith
Stevens Point Mill, New Page Specialty Papers
Phone: (715) 345-8069
Fax: (715) 345-8750
Mobile: (715) 213-4565
e-mail: / Questions on recertification journals?
Contact: Michael Keel
Donaldson Co.
Phone: (715) 341-5311 x349
Fax: (715) 341-0318
e-mail:
Educational Opportunities
Training offered by ASQ HQ in Milwaukee
Join ASQ in giving back to your section! Your section will earn $75 for every ASQ member who attends a course at the Milwaukee area course cluster in October! Call 800-248-1946 and provide priority code WI1218.
You can choose from:
08269 / 10/27/2008 / 10/31/08 / Auditor/Lead Auditor Training for ISO 13485 (RABQSA Certified) / $1,595 / $1,695
08271 / 10/27/2008 / 10/31/08 / Black Belt/Quality Engineering Statistics / $1,650 / $1,995
08281 / 10/29/08 / 10/31/08 / Design of Experiments / $1,175 / $1,470
08277 / 10/29/08 / 10/31/08 / Implementing and Auditing an ISO 9000:2000 Quality System / $1,335 / $1,645
08276 / 10/27/08 / 10/29/08 / Implementing Statistical Process Control / $1,175 / $1,470
08270 / 10/27/2008 / 10/31/08 / Introduction to Quality Management — Revised / $1,650 / $1,995
08280 / 10/29/08 / 10/31/08 / ISO 9001:2000 Internal Auditor Training (RABQSA Certified) / $1,145 / $1,245
08272 / 10/27/08 / 10/28/08 / Lean Enterprise / $1,020 / $1,295
08278 / 10/27/08 / 10/28/08 / Lean for Service / $975 / $1,100
08273 / 10/29/08 / 10/29/08 / Lean Kaizen: A Simplified Approach to Process Improvements / $605 / $830
08279 / 10/29/08 / 10/31/08 / Root Cause Analysis / $1,175 / $1,470
08275 / 10/27/08 / 10/28/08 / 16-Hour ISO 9001:2000 Lead Auditor Training (RABQSA Certified) / $1,045 / $1,145
08274 / 10/30/08 / 10/31/08 / Strategic Quality Planning / $1,020 / $1,150
Milwaukee course cluster can earn your section $75!
When:
October 27 - 31, 2008
Where:
Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield
375 South Moorland Road
Brookfield, WI 53005
Phone: 262-364-1041
That’s right! You earn $75 for your section just by attending ASQ’s local training. This money will go to support section activities, including our local training programs and other events.
If you have been considering earning CEUs and/or taking an ASQ course, now is a great time! To take advantage of this offer, all you need to do is call 800-248-1946 and provide priority code WI1218. Learn more about the courses online at www.asq.org/milwaukee. Offer ends October 20, 2008. Courses are subject to cancellation if there is insufficient enrollment.
Tell Your Peers!
Make sure to pass this on to your professional colleagues! Attached is a PDF that you can pass along or pin up in the break room. If they become a member of your section and register for the class, your section would get credit for them, too!
To take advantage of this offer, call 800-248-1946 and provide priority code WI1218. Offer ends October 20, 2008.
From Section 1203 (Minnesota)
For more information, go to:
http://www.mnasq.org/newspages/mqcpub.html
From the Customer-Supplier Division
Supplier Management Learning Opportunities
ASQ's Customer-Supplier Division is pleased to bring two of its most popular courses to Minnesota and Wisconsin during the week of September 22, 2008. Quality Audits for Improved Supplier Performance and Supplier Certification: The Quality Link in Supply Chain Management are both 1-day courses, which will be offered on back-to-back days in each of four different cities (Minneapolis September 22-23; Rochester September 23-24; Madison September 24-25; and, Appleton September 25-26). While each class has a different emphasis, they are very complementary in their approach to supply chain management.
Quality Audits for Improved Supplier Performance is taught by Dennis Arter. Topics addressed in this 1-day course include:
Audit Support to Purchasing
Your Audit System
Preparing to Audit
Fieldwork
Reporting Results
Follow up
Supplier Certification: The Quality Link in Supply Chain Management is taught by Richard Gould. Topics addressed in this 1-day course include:
Introduction and Definitions
Specifications
What about ISO & Clones?
Choosing Suppliers
The Players
Supplier Performance Measurement
We offer significant discounts for early registration (by August 22); attending both courses; or for sending three or more from the same company. For more information; to download a brochure; or, to register for the course, please visit www.asq.org/cs/courses.
Central WI Section 1218 ASQ Newsletter September 2008
Page 5 of 5