The need for quality management is apparent in an industrial context, but how about...a municipal organization? Well, just as quality management has expanded its reach from manufacturing to customer service, quality can have a huge role in any organization, including municipal corporations.

So check out the latest issue of Municipal World for an article I wrote on Quality Management in Municipalities. You'll need a subscription to Municipal World to read it (unless you are already among their thousands of subscribers...after all, these guys have been around for more than 115 years!) 

In the meantime, check out our recent webinar on Quality Management in Municipalities where Intelex partnered with The Town of Ajax, one of the very first municipalities in North America to achieve ISO 9001 certification. In this free 30-minute discussion, David Forget, Ajax's Manager of Quality Service, joined Intelex to examine exactly how municipalities and other service-based organizations can benefit from ISO 9001 registration and streamlined quality management in general.

These days ISO 9001 has become such a pervasive term, and while some might not know exactly what it means, almost everyone has seen the words pop up on the sides of manufacturers, machine shops, and other industrial facilities.

But while the quality management standard specification can apply to literally any business in any industry, many are still surprised to imagine that its scope goes beyond the walls of discrete manufacturers and processing plants. Indeed, it even applies to municipalities. Except, instead of describing a process for how a bolt is tightened, in the context of a municipal corporation, ISO 9001 might dictate how a customer service call is handled. In either case, the underlying methodology for describing the processes will ultimately be similar.

Those in the municipal sector who are looking to develop or improve a quality management program shouldn't miss our our feature webinar, Quality City: The value of ISO 9001 and Quality Management in Municipalities. This joint webinar will be hosted by Intelex and David Forget, the Town of Ajax's manager of quality service. Ajax was the first municipality in North America to achieve full ISO 9001 certification, an accomplishment that David spearheaded.

Among other things, including specific examples of Ajax's situation, David will discuss:

• The benefits and ROI that flow from implementing a quality management program within a municipal organization.
• The challenges municipalities can expect to face when rolling out a quality management system.
• Getting buy-in for a quality program from senior management.
• Why seek ISO 9001 certification for your municipal corporation.
• The relationship between streamlined quality management and improved business performance.

Whether you work with a  municipality directly, or in any other service-based organization, you won't want to miss this opportunity. Reserve your spot over at the webinar registration page.

Jason Fitzpatrick is down at the MSDO conference in Ajax where David Forget, Manager of Quality and Special Projects, from The Town of Ajax just presented on the town's quality system, ISO 9000 registration (they were the first municipality in North America to be fully registered), and their use of Intelex as a tool in their Quality Management System (QMS).

David spoke on how the QMS not only enhanced customer service to the town's citizens but also benefitted the organization's work environment for its employees. After a recent poll of the Town's citizens, 96% of people wanted the town to maintain ISO registration.

To learn more about how a quality system can benefit your municipality or service organization, give Jason a call at 416-599-6009 or toll free at 1-877-932-3747.

During my first visit to Dallas I recall noticing a bumper sticker with the slogan "Don't Mess with Texas". I remember being amused and wondering what that was all about. It happens to be the name of the anti-highway litter campaign organized by the Texas Department of Transportation.  Over the years, the lone star state has championed several similar initiatives and is recognized as a national leader in environmental sustainability.

This week, the City of Dallas further boosted the state's reputation by achieving ISO 14001:2004 certification for its Environmental Management System.  EPA administrator Stephen Johnson commended the city for its commitment to reducing the impact of its activities on the environment. The city's EMS covers all 11 municipal departments and 13,000 employees. It is the widest implementation of an EMS in the country.  The city of Dallas was one of the first cities to purchase Intelex Environmental Management System software back in 2004 and is among a growing number of Intelex municipal clients.

The City of Kitchener's fleet operations which run its vehicles and related equipment recently garnered an ISO 14001 certification. An organization is deemed to be certified after an audit performed by an independent body confirms that its EMS is up to snuff. This is a way to let the world know that it fully conforms to the requirements specified in the ISO standards.

The City of Kitchener is the largest municipality in the Region of Waterloo. The Region of Waterloo has had a lasting relationship with Intelex dating back to 1998 when they chose ISOsoft for their first Environmental Management System.

Intelex is very proud to count the City of Edmonton among its growing list of clients.  The City of Edmonton is a vibrant prairie city that is located near the centre of the province of Alberta in western Canada.  They are currently utilizing Intelex's Environmental Management System, Quality Management Suite, Quality Nonconformance module and iForms system.

Last year, two members of the Intelex team had the exciting opportunity to visit the City of Edmonton to provide tailored training for their team.  Angela Martin, Intelex Lead Project Consultant, and Nicky Jaine, Intelex Quality Assurance Team Lead, conducted iForms training and were happy to report it was a huge success!  There were 8 people in the class and they learned all aspects of building their own custom forms in Intelex's iForms system, from the basic building of fields to creating inventory pages and routing.  They converted several paper based forms into online forms and hoped to build many more over the next ensuing months.  "We always enjoy working with our clients, and training them to use the system to best meet their needs.  We also got some great suggestions that we plan to implement in a future release", Angela was quoted as saying.

Continual improvement. Is it an optimistic notion? Newest buzz words? Or is it a new wave in management function? I know I have blog'd about it before, but after reading an article on the City of Dallas and their commitment to environmental management I couldn't resist sharing what I had read. The City of Dallas is a fantastic example of what an organization can accomplish when it sets out to go beyond compliance.

Several years ago, the City of Dallas selected Intelex's Environmental Management System as the tool to support their goal towards an environmentally healthy city.  This is by no means a small commitment. They are following through on their promise to not only comply with laws and regulations, but to "go beyond what's minimally necessary and do the best work possible on behalf of the environment, the citizens and resources of Dallas."

"Intelex's compliance and document management modules have allowed the City of Tempe to achieve a higher level of compliance confidence than previously thought possible.  Tempe's vision of consolidating all task-tracking and record-keeping activities necessary to maintain compliance into one desktop application has become a reality", said David McNeil, Regulatory Compliance Manager at the City of Tempe.

Environmental management is a top priority for the City of Tempe.  They, like many organizations that employ Intelex solutions, must adhere to a diverse array of goals and objectives, including government regulations, internal initiatives, and community commitments.  Since implementing Intelex's Environmental Management System, the City of Tempe has been able to focus their activities to ensure they effectively measure and monitor their activities as well as make sound decisions to encourage continual improvement into the future.

To learn more about Intelex's relationship with the City of Tempe, read The City of Tempe Success Story.