AIM North America Elects New Chairperson

Warrendale, PA – May 19, 2011 -- AIM North America (NA) announced today the election of its board chairman to lead the seven-member Board of Directors. The Board Chairman serves for a one-year term.

Don Ertel, Senior Vice President of operations for CDO Technologies of Dayton, OH will oversee a board that determines the strategic direction, financial health, policies, procedures, vision, and mission of AIM North America. Additionally, Ertel will serve as the regional representative from North America on the AIM, Inc. board of directors.

“As Chairman, I believe that AIM North America plays a vital role in advancing automatic identification and data collection solutions,” expressed Ertel. “Our focus this year will be to continue to add value to our members and to the AIDC industry as a whole.”

“AIM North America is pleased to welcome Don as the leader for AIM North America,” said Chuck Evanhoe, chairman, AIM, Inc. board of directors. “Don brings a vast understanding of the technical issues within our industry and the business experience needed to lead a diverse group of executives.”

Ertel a member of the AIDC 100 currently serves as a contributing member of AIM’s Operations Team, RFID Experts Group (REG), Internet of Things Committee (IoT), and the AIM Expo Content Planning Team.

Ertel will guide the current NA board which includes executives from A2B Tracking Solutions, Evanhoe & Associates, FLEXcon, Metalcraft, and Terso Solutions.

Al Wofford Listed in Top-10 Most Influential African Americans in Dayton

CDO's President and CEO, Al Wofford, was recently recognized as one of the top-10 most influential African Americans in Dayton.  For a full summary, read below for the Dayton Daily News' story (by Kelli Wynn).

February 25, 2011

DAYTON — For William Gillispie, the 20th annual Top 10 African American Male Luncheon hosted by Parity Inc. is more than a recognition program.

“This is one opportunity for media, our citizens, our young people to see the great things that our folks do and our (black) males do,” said Gillispie, co-chairman of Parity’s steering committee.

Each year the nonprofit organization honors men who have distinguished themselves in business and have helped change the community by serving as role models and philanthropists.

The event was Thursday at the Ponitz Center on the campus of Sinclair Community College. Each honoree received an award along with a Kente cloth cap and shawl.

The winners were:

• Michael Brown, owner and chief executive of Friday Brown Enterprise.

• Michael Carter, interim senior vice president at Sinclair Community College.

• Maceo E. Cofield, senior development and recruitment officer in the school of engineering at the University of Dayton.

• Dwayne M. Daniel, visual artist and associate professor of fine arts at Central State University.

• Larry C. James, dean in the School of Professional Psychology at Wright State University.

• Thomas L. Jennings, director of Webster Street Academy.

• Thomas E. Kelley Sr., Central State University retiree.

• Dr. Alonzo Patterson III, pediatrician with PriMed Physicians.

• Father Benjamin E. K. Speare-Hardy II, rector at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church.

• Al Wolford, founder, president and chief executive of CDO Technologies Inc. and VT-Designs Inc.

For more information about Parity Inc. and its recognition program, visit www.parity-inc.org.

Source: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/10-area-black-men-honored-1090513.html

Engineering and Logistics Services Group is First Company to Achieve Highest ISO Standards in Warner Robins

In January, the CDO Warner Robins office was audited by an external ISO agency. The results of the audit were Zero Findings. The previous audit, performed 6 months ago, yielded the same results. Based on these outstanding audit results, CDO’s Engineering and Logistics Services Group (ELSG) will continue to meet and exceed all customer expectations.  We asked Kelvin Akles, the Director of ELSG to explain why this has such a large impact on what CDO is doing for our customers:

How long did this take (and how long have we been certified)? 

We have been certified for 3 years. The process to attain the initial certification was 14 months. From that point we have been audited every 6 months.

Why is this important (how does it impact our customers)? 

The impact to the customer is the assurance that the processes used by CDO are Formalized, Standardized, and Repeatable. This ensures a quality product and/or service being delivered to the customer on or ahead of schedule, thereby meeting or exceeding customer expectations. If for some reason there is a late or defective delivery to the customer, there are processes in the ISO program to support Corrective and Preventive actions and Process Improvement is necessary.

There is a complete set of documentation to support the root cause analysis and recommendations for improvement. For companies in the Engineering and Logistics areas, the government usually has a requirement that a company be ISO certified or have an ISO like Quality Assurance Program to be considered for any contracts.

Are our competitors certified at this level? 

Some are certified at this level. However, CDO’s ELSG was the first company in Warner Robins to be certified under the ISO 9001:2008 standard.

How does this certification impact what we do?

This certification impacts everything that we do in CDO ELSG. From the Business Development to Contract draw down and close out, there are ISO processes that support the entire Program Lifecycle. Having an ISO certification can also be used as a discriminator in some contract bids.

Congratulations to the Engineering and Logistics Services Group for their continued dedication to excellence and the Can-Do attitude!