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Total Quality Systems Software, Inc. is based
in Flagstaff, Arizona with offices in Utah, Colorado, and the U.K. Since
1986 we have been the leader in software management systems
for employee involvement and idea management. We do that by
listening to customer needs and constantly researching what is best practice in
employee involvement. We have an extensive list of clients across North
America, Europe, South America and the Middle East. |
Total Quality Systems Software (TQS) has a staff of consultants with extensive
experience in employee involvement and idea management - our sole
focus. This includes: continuous improvement, suggestion systems,
suggestion schemes, corrective actions, team activities, recognition programs,
safety programs and assessments.
Our Simplified Idea Management (SIM) process and software are recognized for
being uniquely suited to manage employee involvement. To better serve
customers, we have teamed with several outstanding providers of assessment
instruments, idea management training, awards and recognition merchandise, and
publicity items.
TQS provides a wide range of SIM software management tools for Employee
Involvement:
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Harness the knowledge
of employees, suppliers, and customers by using modern suggestion systems,
suggestion schemes, kaizen or continuous improvement processes. |
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Share ideas and knowledge on-line
across the organization |
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Report to
management and other participants |
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Create positive recognition
processes that work |
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Effectively measure the impact of
teams on the organization. |
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Identify dysfunctional
teams with a simple cost effective process. |
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Resolve customer driven corrective actions |
Brochure reviewing TQS Products and
Services - including training, consulting, outsourcing and software. (PDF 211
KB)
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James A. Schwarz is the Vice
President of Total Quality Systems (TQS). Jim has extensive experience in the
design and creation of software systems for business and engineering. He also
has direct manufacturing experience as a process engineer in the semiconductor
and electronics assembly industries. He is currently responsible for product
development and training at TQS - having been with the firm for over 19 years.
He has an extensive training background, having worked with customers across
North America, Mexico, Europe, South America and the Middle East. He has
presented papers at conferences in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. Jim
takes his work experience as a trainer into his personal life where he is a
fully certified ski instructor. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a
Masters in International Management. He also speaks Spanish fluently and
Portuguese functionally.
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Del Despain is Director of Software
Development and Customer Support at TQS. Del has been with TQS since 1995 and
has worked with customers worldwide in setting up management systems for their
suggestion schemes. Before coming to TQS, Del worked for a major university as
an Extension Education Specialist responsible for training, education and
conflict resolution among land owners and land management professionals. He
holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources Ecology and Management.
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Douglas Hammon is the key
software developer for the SimNet 8 product line. He is responsible
for creating our next generation of SIM software. He holds a BS in Computer
and Information Technology and joined TQS in 2004. |
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Darrell Gardner is our web
application/web server expert for our SIM-Net 6.6 software. He has
extensive experience in the IS world from programming to managing extensive IS
systems. |
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The founder of TQS, Robert A. Schwarz,
has extensive experience in teams, suggestion systems, customer needs and
overall total quality management that was integrated into the SIM process. He
managed functions at Honeywell Incorporated covering marketing, manufacturing,
communication, and employee involvement that included the top rated suggestion
system in the United States and was one of the pioneers of quality circles,
plus other employee driven team processes. Bob founded TQS in 1986 and
proceeded to develop a process for employee suggestion systems and team
management for his customers. Bob has used his training in engineering,
behaviors, management and as a Baldrige process examiner to create a balanced
approach to the processes generating ideas for improvement. |
Board of Advisors
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Bill Shockley - Following a corporate career heading sales, marketing, and R&D for a division of a Fortune 500 company, and serving as CEO of an energy marketing company, Bill built a consulting practice to help companies innovate their sales and marketing programs. In 2001, Bill turned his attention to the Front End of Innovation. Over the next several years he became a leading expert, working with over thirty major corporations.
Bill is from Indiana and attended Purdue University for two years studying electrical engineering, then Indiana State University, earning B.S. and M.S. degrees in economics and public administration, with high honors and a fellowship. He resides in New Jersey, where he is active in Rotary International and ham radio, holding the top-level license as NJ2H. A life-long entrepreneur, he started a neighborhood newspaper when he was eleven, selling ads door-to-door, and a printing company when he was 25. |
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Graham Holt ran the successful suggestion scheme for the Cooperative Bank in Manchester, UK In a varied career Graham worked in the Bank’s Central Quality Unit, delivering Total Quality Management, Business Process Re-engineering and Statistical Process Control courses - both Bank-wide and for external organizations. He also spent 3 years as an External Consultant to major Bank/non-Bank customers on Business Management issues. His last assignment at the Bank, before taking early retirement, was in P.R. as Editor of the Bank Magazine, producing staff videos and managing the Bank’s presence at major Conferences. He is a past Chairman and a Fellow of Ideas.UK. He recently created the well-received member Toolkit for Ideas.UK and has a deep understanding of idea systems. Lastly, Graham is very fond of playing the guitar and in years past performed in a Manchester duo. |
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James Hoyt lead the IDEAS suggestion program at Haworth. He has worked production, quality and engineering in his time at Haworth. He is currently a Senior Quality Engineer in charge of the ISO 9001 auditing. Jim has a deep understanding of ideas along with the perspectives of Industrial Engineering (Lean before Lean was popular) and Quality methodology from being an Industrial Engineer and now performing the ISO Process Audits.
Jim has lead the Michigan EIA Chapter, been a part of the Board for EIA at the national level. He has served on the Board (including 2 years as Chair) for the local American Society for Quality (ASQ) section for the last 10 years. He has recently been named Deputy Regional Director for ASQ Region 10. He was President of the local Chamber of Commerce for 4 years. He also has been active in his community - President of the local Chamber of Commerce for 4 years, President of two different local Rotary clubs, on the Board for the County United Way Organization, and a Technology advisor for the County Intermediate School District. Many of these roles were to help bring about change and better serve their customers. |
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Floyd Light
began his career in 1963 at General Motors as an hourly assembly line worker before being promoted to Job-setter for Assembly Line operations. He was promoted to Supervisor of Assembly Operations in 1978. In 1981 he was transferred to Human Resources to become Coordinator of the Suggestion Plan for a Business Unit which consisted of 4 manufacturing plants, servicing 2,500 employees. He was promoted to Administrator of the Divisional Employee Suggestion Plan and also given the task to develop and implement a new Employee Recognition System for Delphi Saginaw. He also worked in Joint Activities with the United Auto Worker’s Union within Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems.
Floyd served on the Board of Directors for the Employee Involvement Association, and served on term as President of this organization. He retired in 2004 after serving the GM and Delphi organizations for 41 years. |
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John Serin ran the suggestion system for the Adrian Delphi facility as the UAW union counterpart – being formally trained as a welder. He later supported Lean activities from the union side. John probably has the best common-sense understanding of Lean that I have ever seen. He lives it! |
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