SARS
Concerns In China
Recent
articles in trade publications have discussed how Chinese
bearing manufacturers are facing SARS concerns. RBI has
shared this concern and been very proactive in implementing
procedures in our facilities to prevent the spread of the
SARS virus.
The
primary concern of single facility businesses is that a
SARS outbreak could shut down or destroy their business.
We
have our own manufacturing facilities in Chengdu (Sichuan
Province) and Wuxi (Jiangsu Province) as well as contract
relationships with high quality manufacturers in other Provinces.
The hardest hit cities have been Beijing and Guangdong where
SARS is believed to have started. (Click
here for a detailed map of China).
While
the control of SARS still remains an issue, we are confident
the procedures we have in place and multiple locations of
our factories will enable us to continue to meet our customers
needs without interruption.
What
ISO Certification Means
ISO
9001 OR 9002 - What is the difference?
How
do you measure Success? Quality is one yardstick that businesses
and customers alike may choose. Whether a company calls
it Total Quality Management (TQM), Total Quality Control
(TQC), or by some other designation, all such programs aim
to improve operating processes, products and services.
Quality can be a very subjective judgment. Your idea of
what constitutes quality service, for instance, may be very
different from that of the clerk who serves you at the grocery
store. And the grocery store in Boston may have a different
standard of quality than the grocery store in Los Angeles
or London.
That's where ISO 9000 fits in. The term refers to a series
of universal standards that define a "Quality Assurance"
system developed by the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) and adopted by 90 countries around the world. National
standards representatives from more than 100 countries comprise
the ISO. Its goal is to promote the international exchange
of goods and services around the world, and to encourage
worldwide cooperation in intellectual, scientific, technological
and economic arenas.
To gain ISO 9000 registration, a company must meet certain
standards for quality assurance in its operations, as certified
by a third-party registration agency. The quality
assurance system, not the
product or service itself, achieves the registration. An
ISO 9000 registration says to customers: This company has
a system in place to insure that any product or service
it sells will consistently meet international standards
of quality.
ISO 9001, or ISO 9002: What is the difference?
These two standards are nearly identical; however, ISO 9001
applies to companies involved in the design of products
or services, as well as their production and installation
or implementation. ISO 9002 simply excludes the design element
from a similar model for quality assurance.
Other designations of quality assurance standards include
the QS 9000 series for companies manufacturing parts for
the automotive industry, and the ISO 14000 standards for
companies involved in environmental management systems specification.
Copies of the ISO 9000 series of standards are available
from:
American National Standards Institute
11 East 42 St.
New York, NY 10036
212-642-4900 phone
212-302-1286 fax
http://www.ansi.org/
Bill
Papcke Joins RBI!
 Roselle,
IL -- May 12, 2003 -- Bill Fuentes, RBI Operations Manager
today announced that Bill Papcke has joined
RBI as the newest member of our customer service team!
Bill
previously worked as a customer service specialist in the
retail industry.
According to Mr. Fuentes, "Bill brings great enthusiasm
and a positive attitude towards learning our business. He
is catching on quickly and will soon be at 100% helping
RBI grow to the next level!"
Profile:
Bill Fuentes
Operations
Manager
 Bill
joined RBI in July 2000 as a District Sales Manager and
built a strong territory over the next two years.
His
prior background as Director of Training in another industry,
and experience as a business owner for ten years enabled
Bill to develop exceptional administrative skills that led
him to his current position as Operations Manager in July
2002. He is responsible for all internal operations and
customer service functions of the company.
Bill's
focus is "total customer service", from the moment
the phone rings to delivery of the order. "We have
a great team at RBI that just keeps getting better and better.
Our goal is to become the vendor of choice for every customer."
He
adds, "The only way we get better as a company is to
identify and solve the hurdles that stand in the way of
our growth. If we fall short I want to know about it immediately."
Bill
can be reached by email at williamf@rbibearing.com
or by phone at (800) 708-2128. You can also click here
to send a short report card to Bill immediately.
Click
here for
more profiles of the RBI USA management
and sales team!
Final
Word
"It
is not the employer who pays the wages.
Employers
only handle the money.
It
is the customer who pays the wages."
-Henry Ford
Your
North American Expert in China. |
