PATS Blazes Oregon Trail MSQPC Newsletter, August 2000 Oregon International Airfreight (OIA) Global Logistics in Portland, Oregon, needed some help. One of its largest customers had just required that OIA become certified in ISO 9000. Although we had not seen each other since both of us left FedEx, OIA's Chief Operating Officer (COO) located me through another former FedEx manager. Once reaching me, he asked my advice on the best way to become ISO 9000 certified. I recommended Mark Weber with MSQPC-The Quality Center and arranged for communication between the two. I also informed the COO about the Process Activated Training System® PATS and recommended that he at least consider a pilot workshop and buy the software to assure taking the right path toward certification in the procedures, training, and other important aspects of ISO 9000. Upon being convinced of the perfect fit between PATS and ISO 9000, and the very reasonable price I quoted him, he arranged to have me conduct a two-day PATS workshop in Portland near their head quarters. He also arranged to purchase the software and for Mark Weber to come to Portland to put them on the fast track for ISO 9000 certification soon after the PATS workshop was completed. I arrived at the OIA offices in Portland on Monday, July 24, 2000, to ensure that the PATS software was installed correctly and that it was ready for use over the next two days for the upcoming PATS workshop. Installing a sample work process into the software proved the software ready for action. On Tuesday morning, we began the PATS workshop. The COO introduced me to the group of 17 and had each introduce themselves to me. There were OIA representatives attending from corporate sites in Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York. During the introduction of PATS to the group, I made it clear that they would actually be accomplishing important work while learning PATS -- that they would be working together in teams, and sharing their knowledge over the two days, rather than just listening to me explain things to them. The participants caught on quickly and were involved the entire time using OIA's "Best Practice" processes to learn PATS. Therefore, they were working with familiar subject matter while learning this new system. The fact that they had to present their breakout teamwork to the entire group kept their interest level high. The fact that the CEO visited and had lunch with them on the first day and the COO rejoined the group on the second day, reinforced to them the importance of this work. We concluded the workshop by developing an action plan for continuing process documentation after the PATS workshop. Workshop participants were paired and assigned to go back to their work locations and document more processes. This ensured a continuity in the use of PATS after the workshop concluded. During much of the workshop, an administrative assistant was present to enter the completed processes on the computer using the new software. This assured that very little, if any, further work had to be done on those particular processes. She also entered the action plan on the computer and displayed it on a screen as the group developed and completed the plan. The entire group caught on quickly and accomplished a lot during two days. A couple of phone calls received from one of the participants a few days after the workshop was concluded provided evidence that OIA was carrying through on their plan to align the PATS system with their upcoming ISO 9000 certification initiative. As this group from OIA Global Logistics discovered, PATS is useful for any type organization, it can be learned quickly, real work is accomplished, and it is easy on the budget. To learn more about the PATS system, view our web site at www.msqpc.com or contact Dr. Donald Fisher (PATS developer) at 901-5433551 or John West at 901-756-8756.