OCT. 1 CONFERENCE TO EXAMINE QUALITY STANDARDS BEING REQUIRED
OF COMPANIES GOING GLOBAL

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- As U.S. companies continue to expand into global markets, they face an ever-increasing number of questions about quality standards and certification.

For instance, if your company makes a product for the Big Three U.S. automakers, there's QS-9000, quality management requirements they and several truck manufacturers have developed.

More than 100,000 companies worldwide have been registered for ISO-9000 certification, which U.S. government agencies use to evaluate their suppliers.

What are these standards? Are they really important to companies? Will they become the rule or the exception?

An Oct. 1 Indiana University-sponsored conference, "Global Certification and Quality Standards in the 21st Century," will bring together seasoned executives, university professors and other experts with acute knowledge about these and other questions relating to third-party certification of quality.

Ed Clark, senior vice president of operations support and engineering for Federal Express, will be the keynote speaker for a day-long program that will begin at 9 a.m. in the Lilly Lecture Hall of the corporate center of Eli Lilly and Co. in Indianapolis.

It is another program in the Indiana Global Business Conference Series, sponsored by the Global Business Information Network in the Indiana University School of Business, the Forum for International Professional Services, the International Center of Indianapolis and the World Trade Club of Indiana.

Clark, who will discuss the subject, "Achieving Global Service Excellence," is responsible for global trade services, quality and process management, and other areas. He is the shipping giant's former vice president of corporate financial planning and vice president of finance for Asia, Pacific & Middle East. He earned Federal Express' executive vice president award in 1993.

Following his presentation, Clark will be joined for a question-and-answer session by Glenn Pearson, Federal Express manager of quality and process improvement.

Next David Williams, a partner with the law firm of Johnson, Smith, Pence, Densbourn, Wright and Heath, will moderate a panel discussion, "Communication and Information Technology: Drivers for Quality Optimization." Speakers will be Thomas A. Pearson, president of Automated Technology Associates; Robert G. Phillips, professor of engineering technology at Purdue University; and Scott Housefield, executive vice president of Brightpoint Inc.

After lunch, at 1:30 p.m., Ulla Conner, professor and director of the Indiana Center for Intercultural Communication at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), will moderate the session, "European Certification: Trend Setters for Global Safety Standards." Presenters will be James W. Kolka, senior consultant with Excel Partnership Inc.; Thomas L. Brenner, senior engineer with TÛV Rheinland in Germany; and Steven Halfaker, manager-quality assurance at Wood-Mizer Products Inc.

At 3 p.m., Richard Magjuka, IU associate professor of management, will moderate the last discussion, "Quality Standards in the Year 2000 and Beyond." Also speaking will be Lowell A. "Nick" Nicodemus, principal, Nicodemus Consulting; Louis Ripberger, an independent consultant; and Wes Anderson, executive director, National Center for Creativity.

The conference is open to any business people who are involved in international sales, production or investment, and those who wish to learn more about quality and certification issues. Cost of the program is $105, which includes a lunch. Groups of five or more may register at a discounted cost of $90 per person.

The final program in the conference series will be on Dec. 1, "Negotiating Global Transactions." For more information, contact GBIN at 812-855-5463.

Other supporters of the conference series are the centers for international business education and research at IU and Purdue University, the IU East Asian Studies Center, the Freeman Foundation, the International Trade Division of the Indiana Department of Commerce, the Small Business Development Center Network, and U.S. Airways.

For more information, contact George Vlahakis, Office of Communications and Marketing, 812-855-0846 or 812-855-3911, gvlahaki@indiana.edu