CONNECTICUT QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AWARD PARTNERSHIP, INC.

PO BO X 1396

STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT 06904-1396

Promoting and Recognizing Performance Excellence in Connecticut Organizations

 

 

NEWS RELEASE

CONTACT: Sheila Carmine

                    CQIA

                   203 322-9534

                   Dan Burris

                    Pitney Bowes

                   203 674-5339

 

 

 

PITNEY BOWES' BIOHAZARD ISOLATION AND SCREENING SYSTEM WINS ELEVENTH ANNUAL CONNECTICUT QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AWARD'S ENTRY LEVEL INNOVATION PRIZE

 

 

From 97 applications received by the 19-year old Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership for its 2006 entry level, CQIA Innovation Prize, Pitney Bowes headquartered in Stamford and with labs in Danbury, received the very highest ranking for its new mail screening system, designed to sample incoming mail for the presence of biohazards while minimizing pathogen exposure to staff and facilities.

 

          "It is inspiring to see the continuing large number of organizations – both large and small; public, private, government, health care, education and not for-profits – driven by innovation and performance excellence that reach for third party endorsement for their products and services from the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award's Innovation Prize," says Sheila Carmine, founder and executive director of the 19 year old CQIA Partnership.

 

          "We are especially pleased that in 2006 Pitney Bowes reached the highest level CQIA Innovation Prize because in 1988, they received the very highest state quality award, the first Connecticut Quality Improvement Award, an 80-page application using the entire 1988 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria, Carmine added.

 

NUMBER ONE WINNER

 

Since winning the highest ranking 2006 CQIA Innovation Prize, Pitney Bowes system received Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology (QATA) designation from the United States Department of Homeland Security.

 

Other organizations including Janus Associates in Stamford, TPT in Westport, and HoloTouch in Darien have received national recognition for the innovations they submitted to the CQIA Innovation Prize this year.

 

For the first time since 1995, three Connecticut law firms submitted applications for the CQIA Innovation Prize.  Robinson & Cole, a frequent participant won their second gold. They are the first law firm in the country to win a state quality award recognition.  "We are pleased that the hard work, innovation and results of our SUCCESS program, which seeks to make a college degree achievable for our urban youth, are so well in tune with CQIA," says Eric Daniels, Managing partner of Robinson & Cole. We have already begun to think about our 2007 CIP application."

 

QUALIFICATIONS FOR CQIA INNOVATION PRIZE

 

Qualifications for the 19 year old Connecticut Quality Improvement Award's  entry level CQIA Innovation Prize include a carefully written one page application with three sections: 1) Opportunity: A description of organizational problem solved or opportunity leveraged by the innovation.

2) Innovation: A description of the new product, service or process innovation implemented in the last five years, and why you consider it innovative in the marketplace, your organization or your industry. And

3) Results: Using numbers show how this innovation benefited your organization; e.g., cycle time reduced, expenses saved, increased sales/members, improved customer satisfaction ratings, etc. Although greatest emphasis is placed on the innovation, no application will be considered without historical numerical results.

Visit the Connecticut Quality Improvement Website www.ctqualityaward.org for more information.

 

EXAMINER PROCESS TO CHOOSE WINNERS

 

The process to determine the 2006 gold and silver CQIA Innovation Prize winners took nearly a month after the applications were submitted. First, all the applications were replicated and sent to all 18 experienced and new examiners. The examiners carefully read all the applications and placed them in three groups: the gold, silver and undeserving. Next the examiners went back to the gold pile and ranked those applications numerically 1 to 30. Those numbers were sent to Robert Dunn, the creator of the CQIA Innovation Prize and an experienced examiner who designed a computer software program that tabulated all the examiners' scores as well as credited applications submitted by examiners' own organizations but were ineligible for the examiner's 1 – 30 ranking.

 

Robert printed the computer ranking tat included all the examiners' scores and a demarcation for the end of the gold winners list. Finally, the examiners attended a face to face consensus meeting to question the results.  Are any of the listed gold applicants not worthy of that ranking? Why? Next, are there any listed silver that should move up to gold?

 

FUNDING FOR CQIA

 

For all of its 19 years, the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership has never received financial funding from the State of Connecticut or the federal government which administers the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence. Support for the Awards programs comes from application fees, conference admission and corporate sponsors.

 

In 2005, financial sponsors included Northeast Utilities, Pfizer, Inc., Basement Systems Inc., Cendant Mobility, Excel Partnership, Health Net of the Northeast, Honeywell Life Safety, International Paper, Robinson and Cole LLP, and Trumpf, Inc.

 

EXAMINERS

 

Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership Examiners come from a diverse group: two presidents/CEOs of small high technology companies;  directors of quality, manufacturing; VP Quality and Employee Development, service; Quality Engineer, manufacturing; Principal of Executive Coaching, consulting group, Vice President Marketing – Medical Support and Strategies- large financial services organization; Senior Quality Assurance Engineer, technical instrument company; Chemical engineer – high tech;  two Ph.D. business professors from major universities; Senior Director, Quality Operations, pharmaceutical; Director of Quality, power and control company; Principal Engineer- high tech; Director of Performance Improvement – major hospital;  Quality Consultant – mid size hospital; Director, Business Process – Six Sigma, service company; director of business Development – Technical products; and Retired.

 

CONFERENCE OCTOBER 20, 2006 in Westbrook, CT

 

For a more detailed description of CQIA examiners and for complete copies of all winning CQIA Innovation Prize applications, please attend the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership's 19th Annual Conference on Quality and Innovation taking place at Water's Edge Resort in Westbrook on Friday, October 20 from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM. At the conference, a Best Practice Book printed by Pratt and Whitney with an attractive cover designed by Mason Inc. will be distributed along with winning CQIA Innovation Prize plaques.  Keynote speaker will be the president of Park Place Lexus in Texas, first automobile dealer to win a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence. Lexus won the Baldrige Award in 2005 for small business. Jordan Case is a charismatic speaker and very fine salesman.

 

TWO HIGHER LEVEL CQIA AWARDS

 

The Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership, Inc. also sponsors two higher level awards, the 20-page application Connecticut Breakthrough Award and the 50-page written application Connecticut Leadership Award identical to the current Baldrige Award.  This year, 2006, one hospital and one government organization have applied for the Connecticut Leadership Quality Award. The hospital which won the Connecticut Breakthrough Quality Award two years ago, also submitted their 2006 Leadership Award application for the national Baldrige award.

 

THE MALCOLM BALDRIGE NATIONAL QUALITY AWARD FOR PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE

 

 

                        The Baldrige Award is given by the President of the United States to businesses – manufacturing and service, small and large – and to education and health care organizations that apply and are judged to be outstanding in seven areas: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource focus, process management, and business results.  Congress established the award program in 1987 to recognize U.S. organizations for their achievements in quality and performance and to raise awareness about the importance of quality and performance excellence as a competitive edge.  The award is not given for specific products or services.  Three awards may be given annually in each of these categories: manufacturing, service, small business and, starting in 1999, education and health care.

 

                        No organization from Connecticut has ever won the national Baldrige Award, named after a Connecticut CEO who served as Secretary of Commerce before his death in a rodeo accident in the summer of 1987.

 

ABOUT THE CONNECTICUT QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AWARD PARTNERSHIP

 

                        A Connecticut nonprofit 501(c) (3) tax-exempt corporation, the CQIA is an active partnership among the private sector, state and municipal government, and the educational community, which annually sponsors a three-tiered awards program that recognizes organizations for their accomplishments.

 

                        The Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership, Inc., America's first state-level quality award, was founded in 1987 using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence criteria in an effort to advance innovative programs that improve quality, performance excellence, and marketplace competitiveness.

 

                        Beginning in 1995, health care, education, government, and other not-for-profit organizations became eligible to apply along with manufacturing and service companies.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  

 

List of 2006 CQIA Innovation Prize gold winners, their cities and the briefest description of their application:

 

GOLD

Cartus – Danbury – Shock Watch

CURE, New Haven - BioBus and BioBus Educational Programs

defibtech – Guilford – Management Service

Eastern Connecticut State University – Willimantic – The Greening of Eastern

Evolution Benefits – Avon – Benny Prepaid Benefits Card

Ferg Tech – Darien – Software for automobile insurance ID cards

Global Blood Resources LLC – Somers - Hemobag whole blood salvage device for surgery

Holo Touch – Darien – Touchless, Holographic Human-Machine Interfaces

LifeLine Cryogenics – Stamford – Only Blood Cord Stem Cell Bank

MassMutual – Hartford – LifeBridge(sm), Free Life Insurance Program

Pelham Stone – Southport – Delivering Tomorrow's Convergent Solutions Today

Pfizer – Groton/New London Labs – Streamlining the Drug Discovery Process

Pitney Bowes – Shelton – Portable Anthrax Detection System

Qualidigm – Middletown – Medicare Patient Safety Monitoring System (MPSMS)

Robinson & Cole – Stamford & Hartford – SUCCESS Program

Sealed Air – Danbury – Foam Packaging

Stanley – New Britain – Tripod Flashlight

Triple Point Technologies – Westport – Commodity XL – the only trading and risk management software solution that provides true multi-commodity functionality

Xerox – Stamford – Emulsion Aggregation Toner Technologies

Yardney – Pawcatuck – Advanced SEAL Delivery System Lithium Ion Battery, World's largest Lithium Ion Battery ever produced

 

####