People interested in improving the quality of their business can attend the first annual Quality Fair on Thursday in the Scheman Center.

The fair, hosted by the Quality Council of the Ames Chamber of Commerce, will have a trade show atmosphere to show off about 12 displays on total quality management (TQM), John Mullen, program coordinator for Ames Chamber of Commerce, said.

Registration for the fair begins at 9:15 a.m. The keynote speaker will follow at 10 a.m.

Peter Scholtes will give the keynote address on “Improving the Quality of Worklife (While Improving the Quality of Work).” Scholtes has written several papers and a book on TQM.

Iowa State is the main sponsor of the event, said Johnny Pickett, assistant vice president for business and finance. Pickett said several ISU teams will have displays at the event. ISU and its corporate partner, Texas Instruments, will send speakers for the break-out sessions.

Students will be able to attend the sessions through their classes.

Pickett said the three key aspects of TQM are delighting the customer, understanding the underling business practices to eliminate waste and using data and structured reasoning to solve problems and monitor results.

TQM uses a lot of teamwork to solve problems, Pickett said. There is a tradition in the companies using TQM of sharing quality information, she said.

“Even competitors are sharing information because a lot of training in TQM is cross-organizational,” Pickett said. “The Quality Fair is an example of that.”

Pickett said ISU will receive benefits from sponsoring the event. The university will be supporting the community in promoting TQM on a community-wide basis.

“This will be a good educational opportunity and a chance to recognize some of the teams that have been working at the university and show their accomplishments,” Pickett said. “We want to support the idea of quality by increasing customer satisfaction using quality tools to improve their products and services.”

Mullen said the committee hopes to host 200-250 fair participants from all over central Iowa.

Students interested in attending must contact Pickett before the fair begins at 294-6218.