January 2003 Newsletter
Past Newsletters

Message from the Chair. . .

Greetings to each one of you as we had the great opportunity to finally welcome the cold weather to our area in January.  In addition to the cold weather reaching our area, your board has been very busy working to bring you some exciting events in the upcoming days. This is one newsletter you will want to take out and mark your calendars.

February we are bringing you a terrific tour and I will share the presentation that I recently gave at the Northeastern AFS chapter.  You will definitely want to come to hear the presentation; some of your companies were highlighted in the presentation with the terrific tours and improvements you have shared with our chapter.

You will want to mark down the great programs being offered in March and April.  With the increasing pressure to produce a higher quality product, we are forced to take a second look at processes and how we reduce our variation within those processes.  Mark Crossley, Quality Management Associates, Inc., will be our speaker for the March dinner meeting and will put on the training the following day.  April will follow with the transition to TS16949 training.  If you need to transition to ISO9000:2000, this will also be an excellent training session for you.  Each individual walks out of the training with a plan for implementation and tools to complete the task. Both opportunities you will definitely want to review.  In May, we are scheduled to tour Harley Davidson with Phil Reger, our regional director, speaking.  The grand door prize will be drawn that evening. 

So many opportunities, so little time.  Mark your calendars. 

See you in February,

Michelle Kilgas
Winnebago Section 1206 Chair

June 7: CQE/CQA/CSQE/CQIA/CCT (pilot exam)
               -Application Deadline: April 4, 2003

October 18: CQT/CQMgr/CRE/CMI/HAACP/Biomedical/SSBB
               -Application Deadline: August 22, 2003

December 6: CQE/CQA/CSQE/CQIA/CCT
               -Application Deadline: October 3, 2003

• Possible dinner meeting for performing Design of Experiments (DOE)

• Discussion of limiting mini sessions to 45 minutes

• Appreciation of tours

• Networking ideas for the dinner meetings

• Filling board positions of Vice Chair, Newsletter Editor, Program Chair, Database Chair

• Discussed fall conference

• February business meeting

Next Board meeting will be held on January 27, 2003 at the Schmitz Bros II in Hilbert from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

SSMHC's journey to excellence at the WISCONSIN FORWARD AWARD'S 5th ANNUAL CONFERENCE: IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE, FEBRUARY 6, 2003, MONONA TERRACE, MADISON, WISCONSIN. Please join us in celebrating SSM Health Care's accomplishments!

This seminar will take place this year on January 15-16 in Madison and will cover the newly revised Baldrige/WFA Criteria for 2003. Dr. Blazey will also discuss "Everything You've Always Wanted To Know About Baldrige" and will hold an informal discussion after the first day of training.

If your organization is contemplating being a WFA applicant in 2003 or 2004 or you're interested in becoming a member of WFA's Board of Examiners, this is your opportunity to gain valuable insight into the Baldrige Criteria and how it relates to the Wisconsin Forward Award. The registration deadline is January 8. More information about WFA can be found on their website at www.forwardaward.org. If you have any questions, please contact John Gustafson, Liz Menzer, or Bundy Trinz at the WFA office (608) 663-5300, Fax: (608) 663-5302. Watch the WFA website for information about the upcoming conference and banquet!

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