It is always my honor to share all the good things AME is doing, and the month of March was no exception. Our AME Champions Club is one of the most prestigious memberships in the AME family, and our members gathered to network and share in one of my favorite areas of the country. Two weeks ago, we were in Massachusetts for our first in-person event of 2025 to benchmark world-class organizations and share best practices.
We visited several amazing companies, AccuRounds, Gemline and Karl Storz; three dynamically different companies with common values of continuous improvement and a commitment to excellence.
We started the week at AccuRounds, founded in 1976, where we learned about the company's “Journey to perfection.” Michael Tamasi, AccuRounds owner and CEO, shared their team's true north: human development, velocity and growth, and their focus on “Everybody – every day.”
AME Champions Club at AccuRounds
We learned about their work with the Uniquely Abled Project (UAP) that empowers individuals with autism to lead productive lives through inclusive career employment. The also shared their fascinating Freight Farms initiative, where they grow and celebrate their own food. Tamasi shared his personal transformation story as a leader, which resonated with the team.
From there, we journeyed to Gemline, founded in 1958, where Michael Braley, VP operations, shared the Gemline team's “On trend, on time, on budget” focus with a strong emphasis on corporate social responsibility and sustainability. They showcased how they celebrate success and shared how CI is ingrained into the organization. We saw best practices in their finance department and observed how collaborative the process was for their people. It was uplifting to see the joy in what they were doing!
AME Champions Club at Gemline
Finally, we met with Karl Storz, a medical technology company specializing in endoscopy. Founded in 1945, the company is a global leader in the development and production of endoscopic instruments, devices and surgical equipment used in minimally invasive procedures across various medical fields, including human medicine, veterinary medicine and industrial endoscopy. They shared, “The future has tradition, and tradition has a future.” Thank you so much to Rich Thomas, director, continuous improvement.
AME Champions Club at Karl Storz
It was fascinating to hear the journeys these companies went through on their pursuit of excellence. One thing clearly resonated — their care and value for the people. If you have not read AME’s white paper on Meaningful Employment Environments, you should. These three companies shine in their people-centric leadership.
I want to extend a big thank you to AME volunteer Champion Club director, Marc Kuzik, and AME Northeast Region Board president, Brian Hirschfeld. Without their vision, this week would not have been possible. Kuzik shared, “The Champions hit a triple on this event. We experienced how small, medium and large enterprises have effectively implemented from basic to advanced lean principles into the daily way they think and work. Extremely impressive!”
And, of course, I could not say more good things about AME senior conferences & events manager, Sara O'Hara’s, leadership. She even managed to find a hotel that had a feline hotel ambassador, Mr. Hilton, who greeted us every day.
The AME Champions Club is exclusively for "Champions of excellence." Members are senior executives from large and small companies. They represent a cross-section of industries with the objective of providing members with state-of-the-art leadership techniques and skill development opportunities to enable their companies to compete more effectively in an ever-increasingly competitive marketplace.
Champions receive:
- Complimentary admission to the AME annual conference and regional summits
- Complimentary admission to most AME workshops and seminars
- Complimentary admission to Champions roundtables to exchange and discuss new philosophies and techniques
- Admission as associate members to AME events for up to five people from the Champions company
- Private access to manufacturing leaders at the AME International Conference reception
- Access to Target Magazine archives
- And much more!
Please contact sohara@ame.org if you are interested in learning more about the AME Champions Club.
Don’t forget to register for the AME Hampton Roads 2025 Lean Summit, where we will “Set a new standard for operational excellence” at our regional lean summit on May 6-8 in Newport News, Virginia. We will have speakers, workshops and tours to help you "Ride the wave of change."
Hear from keynote speakers:
- Xavier Beale, vice president of human resources for Newport News Shipbuilding, speaking on the "Foundation for the future: Inspiring the next generation of manufacturing talent"
- Robert Martichenko, sharing "People as our greatest resource: Building Meaningful Employment Environments™."
You do not want to miss this insightful event where we will network and learn best practices from Maritime Industrial Base companies, as well as see the Port of Virginia, Canon Virginia, Riverside Hospital, Newport News Shipbuilding and other world-class organizations.
Sessions lead by industry leaders include:
- AME people-centric leadership – Presented by Lisa Weis
- Bringing process maps to life: A hands-on journey from maps to models – Presented by Peg Pennington
- Theory of Constraints flow solutions – Presented by Rami Goldratt
- Yellow Belt Lean Certification: Lean Boot Camp – Presented by Mark Preston
- Innovative problem-solving – Presented by Tim Hobbs
- Let Go to Lead – Presented by Cheryl Jekiel
- Strategy deployment: Transforming strategy into execution – Presented by Billy Taylor
- Leading with emotional intelligence – Presented by Dr. Latitia McCane
- Supporting people as your greatest resource with MEE™ – Presented by Robert Martichenko
As always, please stay safe and keep looking out for one another.
