Quality in the spotlight

About 'quality in the spotlight' conference:

The meeting has an image of being on the forefront of developments in quality thinking in laboratory medicine and health care. However be assured that being on the cutting-edge does not interfere with the intimate and relaxed atmosphere of the conference. An exciting program of plenary lectures, posters and workshops has been arranged on a wide range of current quality topics in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. There is also the opportunity for delegates to display their findings through poster presentations.

The theme of the Antwerp 2008 conference is UPGRADE QUALITY by using the proper metrics:

Metrics is still the cornerstone of (Total) Quality Management, but it should be applied properly. In LEAN the key is understanding what the customer wants. Eliminate waste (of time, of space, of money) and have the courage to call it waste. Make spagetti diagrams and convert those into single line diagrams. From there, and not before that, we go into Six Sigma, to eliminate variation. However is the current instrumentataion only on a green belt level (1 : 1000) and can the black belt level (1 : 1000000) not be reached due to the instrument manafacturers? And how about FMEA (Failure Mode Effects Analysis)? You will be trained during the conference. The ultimate goal is continuous improvement (CQI), but there is no end to the story of quality pursuit.

The 2008 conference programme will consist of the following items:

· 6 SIGMA · Workshop on FMAE

· LEAN · DMAI2C method

· SPC

· Westgard rules: do they work in the third world?

· Optimization tools

· CQI

More information can be found on the 'Quality in the spotlight' website.