TY - JOUR A1 - Denkler, Tilman T1 - Accreditation in Europe: Benchmarking the operations of European accreditation bodies using an innovative management tool N2 - Accreditation is one of the pillars of a national Quality Infrastructure, as the competence of conformity assessment bodies is assured through accreditation performed by accreditation bodies. To compare the operation of accreditation bodies in Europe and to identify best practices, a management tool, the Process Maturity Benchmarking Tool, was developed and validated by applying it to European accreditation bodies. The benchmarking project comprised two major phases: In the first phase, the processes of accreditation bodies were systematically analyzed. A process map was developed, and processes of special relevance were identified and underpinned by indicators. In the second phase, the practical applicability of the theoretical model was demonstrated by analyzing the processes of eight European accreditation bodies. The results of this comparative assessment were subsequently discussed in a workshop with experts from those accreditation bodies, giving the opportunity to identify best practices. This article has a twofold objective. First, to present a method to benchmark European accreditation bodies, based on the European Foundation for Quality Management excellence model. The successful application of the Process Maturity Benchmarking Tool gives evidence that it is a suitable and capable management tool to assess the processes of the European accreditation bodies and to benchmark them. Second, the article presents the results of the first adaption of the Process Maturity Benchmarking Tool. A general trend of process maturity was identified: While processes based on stakeholder involvement tend to have an overall lower maturity on average, internal processes are more mature. KW - Accreditation KW - Benchmarking KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - EFQM Excellence Modell KW - Total Quality Management KW - Akkreditierung PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-521706 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-021-01459-7 VL - 26 IS - 1 SP - 47 EP - 57 PB - Springer Nature CY - Jersey City, NJ 07302, USA AN - OPUS4-52170 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Denkler, Tilman T1 - Comparison of the Operation of Accreditation Bodies in Europe - Final Report 2nd Round N2 - In 2019 the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung (BAM) conducted a benchmarking to compare the operations of European accreditation bodies and to identify best practices, with the aim of improving key processes in accreditation. Ten European accreditation bodies attended the comparison, four of which had already taken part in the pilot phase of the benchmarking project, which was conducted in 2017 by the German accreditation body Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH (DAkkS) and BAM. The study, designed to examine and compare the operation of accreditation bodies in Europe, used a management tool called Process Maturity Benchmarking Tool, which was especially elaborated and validated for this purpose in the pilot phase, in order to determine the values of indicators, thus enabling a comparison of the accreditation bodies despite different operational processes and organizational forms. The management tool is based on the analysis of selected processes with high relevance for the operation of accreditation bodies. The processes are derived from a process map designed for accreditation bodies in a universally applicable way. The indicators used to characterize the processes come from two sources: The first source relates to data already available from internal databases, reports, financial audits, and others. The second source is derived from the self-evaluation of process maturity performed by the accreditation bodies. The criteria for evaluating process maturities were designed by applying the criteria of the EFQM excellence model 2013 of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) to the processes identified in the process map. The results of the analysis were presented to and discussed with representatives of the ten accreditation bodies at a Results-Workshop that took place at BAM on 21/22 January 2020. KW - Akkreditierung KW - Accreditation KW - Benchmarking KW - EFQM Excellence Modell KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Total Quality Management PY - 2020 SP - 1 EP - 70 AN - OPUS4-54712 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Mirtsch, Mona A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on accredited conformity assessment bodies: insights from a multinational study N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic posed new and manifold challenges to organizations and their operations worldwide. Conformity assessment bodies (CABs), such as testing or medical laboratories, certification, and inspection bodies, were also affected by the associated disruptions. Their role in this crisis is highly relevant, as CABs are essential pillars of the quality infrastructure: their activities ensure that products and services meet requirements as defined in standards and regulations, thereby contributing to their safety and reliability. The question arises of how CABs and their operations were affected by the pandemic and how they responded. To this end, we present the results of an international survey of 986 CABs of all types in Germany, the UK, Italy, and New Zealand. Overall, CABs reported, on average, a reduction in demand for their services during the pandemic, facing restrictions in all countries. In addition, the pandemic had an overall negative impact on the CABs’ investment and innovation activities. However, investments in digital infrastructure were increased as a countermeasure, with CABs reporting a higher need for digitalization. The paper highlights and discusses results from in-depth analyses relevant to policymakers and industry alike. KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Digitalization KW - Testing laboratories KW - Conformity assessment KW - Certification KW - Conformity assessment body KW - Corona KW - Covid-19 KW - Resilience PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-556396 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-022-01514-x SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-55639 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Koch, Claudia T1 - Global status and trends of Digital Transformation in conformity assessment - Insights from our QI-FoKuS study N2 - This presentation summarizes major findings from an international study in 16 countries and regions on digital transformation in conformity assessment bodies such as testing and calibration laboratories or certification and inspection bodies. It draws from survey data of 1.476 participants and specifically highlights findings on the digital maturity of the organizations, providing an international comparison. T2 - 5º Simposio Latinoamericano de Laboratorios de Calibración y Ensayos - ASOCEC 2022 CY - Online meeting DA - 22.11.2022 KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Digitalization KW - Testing laboratories KW - Conformity assessment KW - Certification KW - Digital transformation KW - TIC PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-56385 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Koch, Claudia T1 - Global Status and Trends in Digital Transformation and Conformity Assessment – The Case of Germany N2 - This presentation summarizes findings from the first comprehensive study on digitalization in conformity assessment worldwide. The reults are based on data from a survey among conformity assessment bodies (CABs) in Germany conducted in 2022, as well as some first insights from Latin American countries. It highlights the digital maturity of the organizations, the motives, benefits and obstacles of digital transformation as well as the actual technology trends. The study on CABs is part of a global project that covers various countries (see www.qi-fokus.de). T2 - IAAC webinar Digital Transformation in Accreditation CY - Online meeting DA - 28.07.2022 KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Digitalization KW - Testing laboratories KW - Conformity assessment KW - Certification KW - Digital transformation PY - 2022 UR - www.qi-fokus.de AN - OPUS4-55400 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa T1 - Digital Maturity in the Conformity Assessment Industry - An explorative study from Germany N2 - First insights from a survey conducted among German Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) to explore their status of digital transformation, incl. their digital maturity, benefits and obstacles as well as actual technology trends. T2 - 26th EURAS Conference CY - Glasgow, Great Britain DA - 08.06.2022 KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Digitalization KW - Prüflaboratorien KW - Konformitätsbewertung KW - Zertifizierungsstellen KW - Digitalisierung KW - Digitaler Reifegrad KW - Qualitätsinfrastruktur PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-55049 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mirtsch, Mona A1 - Koch, Claudia A1 - Asna Ashari, Parsa A1 - Blind, K. A1 - Castka, P. T1 - Quality assurance in supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic: Empirical evidence on organisational resilience of conformity assessment bodies N2 - Global supply chains rely on the compliance and safety of their products, processes, and facilities. These vital services (often referred to as ‘quality assurance’ or ‘conformity assessment’ services) are provided by Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs). This empirical study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CABs as well as their response to the resulting challenges. Data was gathered through an online survey among all accredited CABs in Germany, which resulted in 555 valid responses. Taking a resilience perspective, we reveal that CABs were hit hard by the disruptions caused by the pandemic, albeit to different degrees, in part due to their type of services, size, and sectors served. Furthermore, we find that contingency plans do not directly cushion order declines (as the main indicator of the economic impact of the pandemic) but rather indirectly through helping CABs respond more quickly, which in turn mitigates their order declines. However, our results show that contingency plans can also have adverse effects if they hinder flexible reaction to the crisis. The findings of our study help managers and policymakers learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and improve the resilience of the conformity assessment sector and quality assurance in the event of future crises. KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Digitalization KW - Testing laboratories KW - Organizational resilience KW - COVID-19 KW - Conformity assessment PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2022.2078189 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - Taylor & Francis AN - OPUS4-55066 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Koch, Claudia T1 - Current Digitalization Approaches in Quality Infrastructure -The QI-Digital Initiative N2 - The talk provides an overview on the importance and drivers of digital transformation in quality infrastructure (QI) as well as the approach the initiative QI-Digital takes to provide solutions. Special emphasis is given to the pilot projects implemented at BAM. T2 - Global Technical Regulation and Standardization Board Meeting CY - Erlangen, Germany DA - 20.07.2023 KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Conformity Assessment KW - Quality-X KW - Smart standard KW - Additive manufacturing KW - Hydrogen fueling station KW - Digitalization PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58118 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Koch, Claudia T1 - A Modern Quality Infrastructure: Digital and Networked N2 - The presentation provides an overview and introduction to the need and drivers for the digital transformation of the quality infrastructure (QI). It illustrates the tools and processes that are the fundation of a digital QI and how the initiatve QI-Digital aims at developing accordant solutions. Special emphasis is given to the pilot projects at BAM. T2 - Visit of Indian delegation at BAM hosted by GIZ and BMWK CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 24.04.2023 KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Conformity Assessment KW - Quality-X KW - Smart standard KW - Additive manufacturing KW - Hydrogen fueling station KW - Digitalization KW - Digital certificate PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58119 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Koch, Claudia T1 - A Modern Quality Infrastructure: Digital and Networked N2 - Introduction to the initiative QI-Digital and the BAM pilot projects, especially hydrogen fueling station, that seek to develop solutions for a modern and digital Quality Infrastructure (QI). T2 - Meeting mit Korea Delegation (Motie RHS Projekt) CY - Online meeting DA - 28.02.2023 KW - Quality Infrastructure KW - Conformity Assessment KW - Quality-X KW - Smart standard KW - Additive manufacturing KW - Hydrogen fueling station KW - Digitalization KW - Digital certificate PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58120 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -