ASQ-Illiana - About ASQ-Illiana

ABOUT ASQ-ILLIANA
The American Society for Quality or ASQ (formerly the American Society for Quality Control) has the following mission statement:

The American Society for Quality advances individual, organizational and community excellence worldwide through learning, quality improvement and knowledge exchange. They do this in a variety of ways including; providing leadership, training, and certification.

The Illiana section (#1213) serves the geographic areas south of Chicago, extending into Northwest Indiana. General meetings are held in centrally located restaurants from September thru May. Speakers at these meetings present information on the latest trends in Quality. A newsletter and a website further the flow of information to our members.

History of Illiana 1213 ASQ

Society Origins. In 1944 the Northwestern Society for Quality Control merged with the Chicago Society for Quality Control and took its name. Two years later the Chicago Society hosted a Midwest Quality Conference cosponsored by sixteen similar organizations from all over the country. The participating organizations went on to form The American Society for Quality Control (ASQC) in 1946 and subsequent annual conferences have been referred to as Annual Quality Conferences (AQC).

The Chicago Society for Quality Control became the Chicago Section 1201 of ASQC. This large and active organization continued to grow and spread the tools and techniques of quality as a member unit of the Society. Over the years a number of subsections have been formed and supported by the Chicago Section. In 1956 the St. Charles Section (now called the Fox Valley Section) spun off from the Chicago Section and became Section 1208, followed by the Northeastern Section 1212 in 1977 and our own Illiana Section 1213 in 1982. The Chicago Area Sections continue to participate in many joint efforts related to the proliferation of knowledge related to quality.

Illiana Section 1213.

The section had its origins in the late 70’s. Given that there were numerous steel mills, earth moving equipment manufacturers and other large and mid-size corporations based in the southern suburbs of Chicago and in Northwest Indiana, a group of quality professionals banded together and petitioned ASQC (now known as the ASQ) for the creation of a section representing this geographic area. Once the necessary documentation and by-laws were ratified, a new section – Illiana Section 1213 of ASQC – was created to serve those members located in the area basically southwest, south and east of the aforementioned Chicago Section. The first chairperson of the section was Robert Beynon, who presided over the section for 1983-1984 (fiscal year July 1 through June30).

The geographic boundaries of Illiana essentially form a “T” shape with a band-centered north and south of I-80 from west of Joliet to I-65 in Indiana, and a band following I-57 from I-80 to just south of Kankakee.

Meetings are generally held throughout the Illiana area with restaurants in Indiana to the east or Joliet in the west. The Section meets at 6:00 PM on the fourth Tuesday of each month (September through May), except December when the section usually has a plant tour earlier in the month. Section activities have included library displays, high school career nights, quality presentations at local colleges and an assortment of joint efforts with other professional organizations and institutions of higher learning as well joint meetings with other ASQ Sections.

The Illiana Section has worked with many of the community colleges in its area to provide quality and certification training, satellite down links of various programs such as the annual Quality Forum and for site support for ASQ certification testing.

In the mid 90's the Illiana Section played a major role with the other Chicago area ASQ Sections in the planning and execution, as site committee members, of the 1996 50th Annual Quality Congress held again that year in Chicago .

In the past six years, the Illiana Section has participated with five other area sections in presenting a regional Northern Illinois Quality Conference (NIQC). This annual full day event has been a success since its inception with high attendee satisfaction ratings and the return of cosponsor seed monies to the participating sections. The Illiana Section has provided active participation in the NIQC Steering Committee including three of the first five conference chairs (98, 00 & 01).

Today the Illiana Section still has a large base of members from manufacturing, but its steel industry base has dwindled and our latest membership roster reflects a broader base with many light manufacturing, service industry, medical and academic interests represented. The Illiana Section continues its legacy of supporting quality professionals of both Fortune 500 companies and small firms.

Chairpersons

Many individuals have served as the Chairperson for the section since its inception. These men and women have come from a variety of industries - steel companies, electronics, light manufacturing, service companies, etc. Through their leadership and the support of the membership they serve, Illiana Section 1213 has continued to thrive into the 21st Century. The following list shows the succession of Chairpersons for the section since its establishment in 1983:

1983/84     Bob Beynon
1984/85     Stan Weseloh
1985/86     Barry Levine
1986/87     Barry Levine
1987/88     Gene Coleman
1988/89     Gene Coleman
1989/90     Richard Postrozny
1990/91     Richard Postrozny
1991/92     Jeffrey Leavitt
1992/93     Cheryl Pavlacka
1993/94     Cheryl Pavlacka
1994/95     Michael McGrath
1995/96     Michael McGrath
1996/97     Carol Ann Dummich
1997/98     Mark Kiel
1998/99     Mark Kiel
1999/00     Anthony Manos
2000/01     Anthony Manos
2001/02     Timothy Feeley
2002/03     Don Herz
2003/04     Don Herz
2004/05     Charles Schmidt
2005/06     Charles Schmidt
2006/07     Steven Schuelka
2007/08     Steven Schuelka