World Standards Day is celebrated each year on 14 October to pay tribute to the efforts of thousands of experts worldwide who collaborate within IEC, ISO and ITU to develop voluntary International Standards that facilitate trade, spread knowledge and disseminate technological advances.

International Standards help citizens to exercise their rights and to meet their obligations within the Global Village. This link between standards and global citizenship is the theme of this year's World Standards Day message, "Standards and the citizen: Contributing to society".

The message is signed by the leaders of the three principal international standardization organizations: Mr. Renzo Tani, President of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), Mr. Håkan Murby, President of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and Dr. Hamadoun Touré, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The three leaders point out that standards solve problems in all spheres of activity and give the following examples: "A world without standards would soon grind to a halt. Transport and trade would seize up. The Internet would simply not function. Hundreds of thousands of systems dependent on information and communication technologies would falter or fail - from government and banking to healthcare and air traffic control, emergency services, disaster relief and even international diplomacy."

International Standards are ubiquitous in the modern world, making many everyday tasks easier and safer. The heads of the three standardization organizations point out that even the simple act of reading the World Standards Day message on a computer screen depends on hundreds of standards that allow the computer to function, provide access to Internet, or simplify the printing and distribution of hard copies through standardized paper sizes.

We are very pleased to bring you the second in a series of workshop tools offered to you exclusively by WQN. They are a product of Dr. Michalski's life work in his creation of the "Das Baustein Konzept" Workshops which is a series of building block workshops . Dr. Walter J. Michalski is a Six Sigma Master and author of The Six Sigma Tool Navigator (2003) - ProductivityPress.com. Now on CD- ROM, this work contains close to 250 tools with step by step examples, flowchart, and diagrams for teams to use in any discipline. He has also authored books for building cross-functional teams, lean manufacturing, and Statistics without Stress.

Tools description: The force field analysis (FFA) is a widely recognized and effective tool for organizational change. According to Kurt Lewin (1951), who developed FFA, a successful change requires the elimination of restraining forces that hinder the move toward desired change by driving forces. Additionally, if opposing forces in a force field are equal, no change will result. A team uses FFA in a problem-solving effort to identify all forces that prevent the as is state (the problem) from changing to a desired state (solution). Ideally, change occurs when the as is state is unfrozen, moved to a desired state and refrozen to institutionalize the change.

Tool classification: Changing/Implementing (C/I) Tool linkage example: Before: Gap Analysis (88), After: Action Plan (4) Typically used by/for:1 - Change management, 2 - Project management,3 - Servicing/support, 4 - Customer/quality metrics, and 5 - Administration/documentation.

Team problem-solving phase: Select and define problem or opportunity Identify and analyze causes or potential change Develop and plan possible solutions or change

Typical application: · To analyze a problem situation and identify the contributing forces or root causes of the problem. · To consider change factors that may suggest a solution to a problem or an opportunity for improvement. · To isolate and prioritize key elements for analysis and action. · To organize and process information required in an organizational change project.

Step-by-step procedure: STEP 1 - The team facilitator first draws a basic, blank FFA chart on a whiteboard. STEP 2 - The team's goal is inserted into the chart, and participants discuss the process. See example Goal: "Tools for Teams" Training for Engineers. STEP 3 -The team brainstorms and lists on the whiteboard driving forces for the desired state and restraining forces that may hinder or block outright the change. STEP 4 -Next, the team determines the strength of the forces and indicates that strength with the length of the arrow associated with each force. The longer the arrow, the stronger the force (see notes and key points). STEP 5 Strategies are discussed among team members to eliminate or greatly reduce the restraining forces and to add to or strengthen the driving forces to achieve the goal. STEP 6 - Finally, the team develops an action plan that reflects all required activities to Implement the change.

If you haven't already done so please take a moment to watch our little movie. In just 3 minutes you will get a great feel for WQN's capabilities. This is FLASH presentation so feel free to forward this to a colleague as the file isn't very large. (If you need to download FLASH on to your computer we have an easy link on our homepage.)

Laube Technology started its long history of quality and service in 1948 as a Chicago based warehouse distributor of steel mill products. Anticipating the growing influence of the Pacific Rim countries in supplying product to the United States, Laube's corporate offices were moved to the west coast in 1961. Strategically poised, Laube became an industry leader pioneering the importation of metal products from Asia. Laube together with a handful of other visionary companies paved the way for the boom of high quality, competitive product from the Orient for decades to come.

With expertise gained, diversification and expansion became the road map for Laube and by the early 70s Laube acquired Zamco International; a Los Angeles based supplier of electronic components and industrial metal components. Upon completion of the acquisition three separate divisions were established in order to concentrate manpower and resources. These were Electronic Components, Metal Products and Steel Mill Products.

Today we continue to serve the industry under three separate divisions; Electronic Components has split into two individual divisions adding Custom Input Devices to the Laube Group. This department supplies all types of custom control panels and keyboard assemblies. The Electronic Components Division continues to serve as a unique supplier of passive and Active electronic parts. Laube has retired its Steel Mill Products Division in order to better concentrate on Metal Products which includes all types of custom metal components.

Laube Technology continues to be the supplier of choice for those companies interested in ways to reduce their costs by outsourcing production to reliable Global Enterprises. We welcome the opportunity to explain how Laube can become an important part of your company's supply chain. contact@laube.com Phone : 1 (805) 388-1050 1 (888) 355-2823

WQN is a Master Distributor for CIS Software. We are looking for qualified professionals such as our contractors and others to become Certified Consultant to assist in the growing demand for rolling out this superb product. This training event is ideal for those of you interested in becoming certified consultants as well as any clients who have been asking us about using CIS at their company.

CIS, Continuous Improvement Software is a Cross- Platform Business solution for managing (without paper) all elements of an organization including ISO 9001:2000, AS9100, NADCAP and FAA requirements. It is simple to use, simple to start and most of all simple to maintain. It has proven itself in hundreds of companies.

Here are just a few things that make CIS such an incredible opportunity: It is very, very user friendly. A QMS can be inputted immediately and set-up within a few days. It is very affordable to clients, especially small to medium businesses. Software updates at no cost - no contract to sign - no termination fee. (This may sound too good to be true in a world where a typical software purchase for a small company is $20,000 - 40,000 with annual maintenance fees to boot!)

RECAP: - You can be up and running in one day. There are no contracts to sign, the software is leased on a month-to-month basis and software updates are FREE. You can quit any time with no termination fees. THE KICKER: You have nothing to risk or loose in trying CIS Software FREE FOR 2 MONTHS!

There are so many ways to improve an operation. Professional assistance is necessary to get the job done right. We finally broke down and installed a proper water filtration system in our office. This could have easily been a weekend project, but rather than spend the time we decided to bring in an expert plumber. Guess what? That short project took him 6 hours to complete because of other potential problems we did not realize. We spent a little more money initially but we received some great improvements and some really clean H2O! Not to mention "your's truly" didn't waste an entire weekend of precious time. Quality Improvement is very much the same. Leave it to the experts and you will receive far more return than you ever realized. What is your time worth? And, is a do-it-yourself project always as clean as a professional one? Call today for a FREE analysis! 877-WQN-TODAY (877-976-8632)