With increasing concerns throughout the world regarding pollution, and the consumption of non-renewable resources, reducing the amount of paper usage is at the forefront of many activist campaigns and multi-national corporations’ agendas.

One tree is able to produce 80,500 sheets of paper. That much paper, although huge to the average person, is dwarfed in comparison to what the world requires. An astonishing 786 million trees are needed to meet the world’s paper demand for one year.  Of that, 1/3  is consumed in North America, resulting in 5 million tons of paper waste ending up in landfills every year. The harm in massive dumping of paper and paper products is that they emit methane gas while decomposing, a very potent greenhouse gas. With such drastic numbers, more companies are regarding recycling as an attractive option.

The reality is that corporations use massive amounts of paper in order to track policies, work instructions, and SOP’s.  So aside from recycling, what else can an organization do to cut down on paper consumption and minimize their operating costs? They can work toward creating a paperless business solution. The Intelex Document Control System is a web-based application that enables organizations to streamline the control, routing and revision management of critical documentation and records. The system leverages a database driven engine to facilitate the creation, approval, storage, control, update and distribution of documents, records, lists and inventories. The system is also designed to meet document control standards defined in ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

Becoming sustainable, environmentally sound, and reducing operating costs are targets every corporation seeks to achieve. To learn how Intelex can help your organization achieve these goals feel free to visit our website and submit a request for more information.

Intelex is happy to announce that our free version 5 training webinars are back and better than ever!

Whether you’re looking for a high level overview of new functionality or would prefer more comprehensive instruction on one or two specific features, what tops our holiday wish list is having you get the most out of your Intelex 5 system.

Upcoming 2009 webinars include:

• Introduction to Intelex 5 | 20-Jan-09 | 2:00 pm ET
• Centralized Setup & Home Pages | 05-Feb-09 | 2:00 pm ET
• Scorecard Frenzy! | 19-Feb-09 | 2:00 pm ET
• A Message or Discussion Away | 12-Mar-09 | 2:00 pm ET
• Go Metrics with Calculation Editor | 20-Mar-09 | 2:00 pm ET

Don’t miss out!  To view course details and register online, check out the Intelex-Exchange today.  If you don’t already have access to Intelex-Exchange, click here to submit a request. 

We’re looking forward to your participation in the New Year!

According to a recent article published by the BBC, the fight against climate change could get a much needed shot in the arm should a proposed European Union (EU) climate deal pass European Parliament legislation. 

In an effort to reduce emissions before irreparable climatic damage occurs, “the plan, agreed at a Brussels summit … [commits] the EU to cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20% by 2020.  It must also raise renewable sources to 20% of total energy use and achieve a 20% cut in energy use.” 

In light of President-elect Barack Obama assuring Americans of stringent environmental policies forthcoming in the United States, the proposed EU deal, although criticized for, “not [going] far enough”, provides reason for optimism and emphatically affirms that global responsibility is needed to effect positive environmental change.

As always, this responsibility falls largely on the shoulders of industry.  Effectively helping your organization manage this responsibility is what Intelex can do for you.  To get a better sense of what our Environmental Management System (EMS) offers, click here. 

To view the BBC article in its entirety, navigate to “EU leaders reach new climate deal”.  

What’s wrong with paper-based ISO 9001, workplace inspection, and audit checklists or questionnaires?  They’ve worked for years, right? Wrong.

The reality is that paper-based checklists/questionnaires are a relatively effective means of collecting information, but they’re extremely ineffective in terms of reporting capabilities. Not to mention that human error associated with manually inputting data from hundreds or even thousands of questionnaires commonly skews results and wastes valuable intellectual resources.

So what can you do to make your next organization-wide questionnaire more efficient and worthwhile? You can use Intelex’s new Checklist/Questionnaire Generator Tool. This new functionality enables organizations to send out questionnaires, collect answers, compile data, and report the results in a series of easy-to-read, real-time reports. The automated process also means greater reporting accuracy, which in turn enables more accurate forecasting, target setting, etc.

The Intelex Checklist/Questionnaire Generator can replace any paper-based form. Specific examples include:

• ISO 9001 checklists
• Supplier Evaluations
• Workplace inspection checklists
• Audit checklists
• Employee satisfaction surveys
• Workplace hazards checklists
• Behavior-based safety checklists

For more details about the Intelex Checklist/Questionnaire Generator please submit a quick request for information. Existing clients can contact their Account Managers.

From their recent trip to Virgin Atlantic Airlines, headquartered in Crawley, England, UK, Senior Project Manager Kulbir Bal and Project Consultant Meghan Mann were happy to report that Virgin Atlantic will soon be flying high with Intelex!

Using Intelex’s iForm System to help meet a corporate wide initiative aimed at standardizing and improving health & safety practices and processes, this particular two week effort involved Kulbir and Meghan working closely with the Virgin Atlantic team, reviewing deliverables and gathering requirements for the next phase of Virgin’s implementation (including requirement gathering for a vast array of Configurable Reports, Scorecards, Dashboards, and Charting).

With minimal issues detected through the first round of User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Kulbir emphasized that, “the implementation picture looks to be in focus and we should be ready for takeoff in early ’09!”

From an enjoyable, daily round trip bus ride to and from Virgin headquarters with other members of Virgin's staff, to exploring Virgin’s crew training facility, complete with the fuselage of an ‘executive’ cabin which included an on-board bar where several scenes from the latest James Bond movie was filmed, both Kulbir and Meghan were quick to point out that the hospitality they received during their stay in Crawley was second to none.

Many thanks go out to Virgin and great job to all involved in the initial stages of implementation!

In May 2008, a revision of ISO 9001, the world’s most popular standard for quality management systems (over one million certificates issued in 170 countries), was submitted for approval.

The International Organization for Standardization’s official press release (June 17, 2008) explained that “The proposed ISO 9001:2008 does not introduce additional requirements compared to the last edition in 2000 and does not change the intent of ISO 9001:2000.”

The November 2008 issue of Quality Digest magazine said ISO 9001:2008 “clarifies requirements in outsourcing, document control, and customer relations ... Many of the changes are designed to bring about better compatibility between ISO 9001 and the ISO 14001 environmental management systems standard.”

For a document detailing ISO 9001:2008 requirements visit the International Organization for Standardization’s website.