Bearing Specialists Association
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON CERTIFICATION
The Drake Hotel
September 25, 2000
MINUTES
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON CERTIFICATION MEETING – MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2000
1.0 CALL TO ORDER AND OPENING REMARKS
The meeting was called to order at 1:10 p.m. by Chairman Fitzpatrick. Those in attendance were:
Nick Nicholson Bearings & Drives, Inc.
Peter Fitzpatrick Bearings Specialty Company
R.J. Racine Gopher Bearings
Jerilyn Church Executive Secretary
Karen Lyp Association Manager
2.0 ANNOUNCEMENTS
Chairman Fitzpatrick announced that Cameron Lawrence of BDI Canada agreed to join this Committee.
3.0 REVIEW OF ANTITRUST POLICY STATEMENT
Mr. Fitzpatrick called attention to the Antitrust Policy Statement that was distributed with the meeting materials. He also called attention to the presence of BSA Legal Counsel, Bill Ives, who was available to answer questions.
4.0 REVIEW OF PURPOSE
Chairman Fitzpatrick reviewed the committee’s purpose which is to develop and implement a certification program to instill confidence that bearing specialists have the quality of knowledge and critical skills necessary to provide effective service and solutions.
5.0 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 27, 1999 MEETING
A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed to approve the minutes of the September 27, 2000, meeting.
6.0 CERTIFIED BEARING SPECIALISTS
6.1 Program/Test Development Status
Ms. Lyp reviewed the status of the Certification program as follows:
Number of Total Applicants 175
Total Certified 44
Total of Rescheduled Applicants 45
Number of Applicants Who Cancelled 2
Number of Inquiries to Date 73
Number of Inquiries Since Spring Meeting 20
She announced that to date, BSA has certified forty-four bearing specialists. They are:
Don Aucoin, MBS Bearings
Leon Bender, Jr., Minnesota Bearing Company
LeRoy Burcroff, Bearing Service, Inc.
Doug Brown, Bearings & Drives, Inc.
Kenneth Knott, Bearings & Drives, Inc.
Brian Labus, Bearing Headquarters
Charles Nicholson, Bearings & Drives, Inc.
Christian Vadeboncoeur, MBS Bearing Service, Inc.
Edward Olson, Gopher Bearing Company
Walter LaLumiere, Kaman Industrial Technologies
Jim Stickley, Applied Industrial Technology
Jerry Peterson, Kaman Industrial Technologies
Don Burris, Industrial Equipment Company
Bernd Marquardt, Industrial Equipment Company
Bob Byrd, Motion Industries
Glen Corson, US Bearings & Drives
Wayne Horley, Bearing & Transmission
James McCormick, Bearings Specialty Company
Robert Friesen, Bearing &Transmission
Kevin Dyck, Bearing & Transmission
Huey Pansano, Motion Industries
Henry Miller, Motion Industries
Rick Knoteck, Motion Industries
Lon Hedglin, Applied Industrial Technologies
Randall James, Applied Industrial Technologies
James Canfield, Bearing Headquarters
Toby Stinson, Bearing Headquarters
Randy Mills, Allied Bearings
Stephanie Reay, Allied Bearings
Steve Moore, Applied Industrial Technologies
Manny Lema, US Bearings & Drives
Lance Hornberger, Erie Bearings
Bill Maudlin, Allied Bearings
Greg Dovel, Bearing Headquarters
Mark Lee Corbin, Bearing Headquarters
Brian Ledbetter, Applied Industrial Technologies
Dennis Scott, BDI Canada Inc.
Michel Lessard, BDI Canada Inc.
Gerry Benoit, BDI Canada Inc.
Ken Anderson, BDI Canada Inc.
Josip Ban, BDI Canada Inc.
Scott Greenwood, BDI Canada Inc.
John Hunter, BDI Canada Inc.
Steve Ellstrom, BDI Canada Inc.
Ms. Lyp indicated that another 131 applicants are scheduled to take the examination in 2000. Of the 175 total number of applicants, 121 of them are Canadian and 54 are from U.S. companies. It was stated that a good goal to strive for would be to have every Board member company have at least one employee certified.
After a brief discussion, it was decided that included on future agendas will be a summary of CBS program income and expenses.
7.0 ANALYSIS OF COMPLETED EXAMS
Mrs. Church reported that Dr. Sullivan will need at least sixty examinations to complete the validity analysis of the examination and to date forty-four examinees have taken the test. Staff will continue to send copies of completed exams to Dr. Sullivan for his validity analysis.
8.0 U.S. TESTING FACILITIES
BSA has contracted with the National Institute for Certification Engineering Technologies (NICET) to administer the exam for the Bearing Specialist Certification Program in the United States. NICET has 131 test centers nationally and offers several testing dates within each quarter of the testing year. The remaining test dates for U.S. examinees for 2000 are as follows:
Test Date Application Deadline
November 4 September 16
November 18 September 30
December 2 October 21
Testing dates for each available testing site within each state can be obtained by accessing www.nicet.org.
9.0 CANADIAN TESTING
BSA has established alliances with testing facilities in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. Similar arrangements are under negotiation with sites in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island. While BSA is promoting the same testing dates for Canadian examinees as U.S. examinees, those interested in taking the CBS exam in Canada are urged to contact BSA headquarters to discuss a mutually convenient test date.
Staff announced that they have contracted with 14 new testing facilities, primarily in Ontario, for BDI Canada applicants.
10.0 EUROPEAN/NEW ZEALAND/JAPANESE TESTING
The Past Presidents Counsel is considering formation of geographic interest groups, similar to the current Canadian section of BSA. Geographic areas identified include: Pacific Rim, European, Latin America, New Zealand/Australia.
The certification program was identified as a BSA program that would be of interest to international distributors as a way to document value added services. It has been suggested that the initial meeting of international (geographic) interest groups might include a presentation of the BSA certification program.
11.0 REVIEW OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES
Please see agenda Attachment 11.0 for the current guidelines and eligibility requirements being used to identify potential CBS applicants. Current guidelines and eligibility requirements were reviewed.
12.0 REVIEW OF CERTIFICIATION MATERIALS AND PROCESS
12.1 IHTG Confirmation
Staff continues to work with applicants to ensure that BSA has proper documentation regarding IHTG completion verification. No applicant receives a CBS completion certificate unless BSA has proper IHTG confirmation documentation on file.
12.2 Rescheduling Tests
A discussion ensued on the large number of applicants, primarily from a Canadian member company, who have already and are in the process of rescheduling their examination. The idea of instituting a $35.00 to $50.00 administrative rescheduling fee was discussed at length. This fee would attempt to cover the costs of additional postage, copying, and related administrative costs associated with rescheduling an exam with either NICET or Canadian facilities. It was also noted that excessive rescheduling could adversely affect BSA’s relationship with testing facilities.
Staff indicated that they have already spoken with the member in question regarding this issue and indicated that they were understanding of the problem and would assist BSA in any way possible to try to curtail any future excessive rescheduling.
In addition, Chairman Fitzpatrick stated that he recently spoke with the president of the company who was also sympathetic to BSA’s plight. He indicated to Chairman Fitzpatrick that he was aware of the problem and had already spoken to his branch managers about it.
12.3 Inquiries
Staff distributed a list of inquires regarding the CBS program. BSA has received a total of 75 inquiries since the program began, 20 of those since the Spring Meeting.
12.4 Evaluations
Staff distributed a summary of evaluation results. As of this meeting, six applicants have completed a program evaluation after taking the certification exam. The results were briefly reviewed.
It was noted that some of the comments referred to possible typographical errors in the Study Guide Pretest. It was decided that these problems should be handle administratively for now until the Study Guide is updated again. This can be accomplished by including a note with each Study Guide stating the errors and the correct answers.
13.0 PROGRAM PROMOTION
Mrs. Church announced that BSA has been in a trade press publication every month this year except December, and most of the articles focused on the certification program.
Staff distributed a sample letter to customers announcing the fact that an applicant has been awarded the Certified Bearing Specialist designation by BSA. After a brief discussion, it was agreed that this type of letter should be included in the congratulatory packet that is mailed to the Certification Program contact at each company.
The Committee was asked to review the draft letter and provide staff with comments.
14.0 RE-CERTIFICATION
The subject of re-certification options, retesting, etc. was discussed. Re-certification will be required every five years with annual renewal in between. Renewal fees will be limited to $10-$15 and a re-certification charge will be based on the costs associated with re-certification. It was noted that the IHTG and Study Guide would need to be reviewed and updated prior to any re-certifications since they have, in some cases, outdated information in them.
The possibility of the need for a bearing technology roundtable was also discussed. This event could either take place in conjunction with a BSA meeting or it could be a separate forum. It was stressed that this “roundtable” type of forum should not have a sales type of format but should be informational. The purpose would be to identify information in order to update the IHTG.
After additional discussion, it was decided that Messrs. Fitzpatrick and Nicholson will get together and brainstorm to decide how many hours this type of forum would need, whether or not it should be in conjunction with a BSA meeting or as a stand alone event, who should attend and how to promote the idea to members.
15.0 OTHER BUSINESS
The idea of BSA offering online Internet training using the IHTG as an example was briefly discussed. Staff was asked to obtain information about this option. It was decided to explore this idea further in the Educational Committee Meeting. It was again noted that the IHTG and the exam need to have new, updated technology incorporated into them.
Mr. Ives stressed the importance of using the trademark registration symbol next to every CBS logo that is placed on any BSA document.
16.0 SUMMARY
1. A good goal to strive for would be to have every Board member company have at least one employee certified.
2. Future agendas will include a summary of CBS program income and expenses.
3. Staff will continue to send copies of completed exams to Dr. Sullivan for his validity analysis.
4. Errors in the Study Guide will be handled administratively for now until it is updated again. This can be accomplished by including a note with each Study Guide stating the errors and the correct answers.
5. The Committee was asked to review and provide staff with comments regarding a draft letter to customers that will be included in the congratulatory packet mailed to the Certification Program contact at each company. The IHTG and Study Guide will need to be reviewed and updated prior to any re-certifications.
6. The IHTG and Study Guide will need to be reviewed and updated prior to any re-certifications.
7. Messrs. Fitzpatrick and Nicholson will brainstorm to decide how many hours an IHTG roundtable forum would need, whether or not it should be in conjunction with a BSA meeting or as a stand alone event, who should attend and how to promote the idea to members.
8. Staff was asked to obtain information about the idea of BSA offering online Internet training using the IHTG as an example. It was decided to explore this idea further in the Education Committee Meeting.
9. Mr. Ives stressed the importance of using the trademark registration symbol next to every CBS logo that is placed on any BSA document.
17.0 ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the committee, a motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed to adjourn the meeting at 3:00 p.m.