AME Blog

  Beyond the personal relationships and networks I discussed in last week’s email, AME has created formal groups around North America through our AME Consortia program. An AME consortium is a tight-knit group of local companies that collaborate for broad and deep accelerated lean progress through... More

  Each week I conclude my message with the same statement: keep looking out for one another. These aren’t just words tacked on with little thought. I mean them sincerely. I think about them often as a personal guiding principle and particularly every week when I type them. Likewise, they aren’t... More

    Working in the pandemic era has presented new challenges. While some of you have returned to or never left your offices or the production floor, many are working remotely from home. For those in the latter situation, you might have experienced the phenomenon that I experience each day: I look at... More

  The famed architect Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood.” When I began in my role as AME's president and CEO on January 20, I had grand plans for AME’s future. As you might imagine, my 90-day plan went out the window with the onset of COVID-19,... More

I continue to hear examples of AME member companies stepping up to help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. A-dec, a dental supplier in Oregon, is making PPE for health care workers. Genie, A Terex Brand, has undertaken tremendous efforts in North America and around the world to help support... More

The irony of the coronavirus pandemic is that while we’re all apart, we’re also realizing just how interconnected we are professionally and personally. It’s true — as I’ve seen in public service announcements for week’s now – that we are all in this together. This doesn’t only mean those... More

  When the U.S. Federal Reserve cut rates last week, its chair, Jay Powell, said, “[A rate cut] won’t fix a broken supply chain. We get that.” At AME, we get that, too. Since 1985, we have helped our members understand and remedy supply chain disruptions, process flows and other manufacturing... More

The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) is pleased to announce that Kimberlee A. Humphrey was named AME president and chief executive officer, effective today. Humphrey has a long history with AME as a member and volunteer. She has served in several volunteer roles including director of alliances... More

Researcher and author Mike Rother brings a brand new take on his always-in-demand Kata in the Classroom (KiC) sessions to AME Chicago 2019. In this expanded, hands-on KiC-1 and KiC-2 training, participants will gain a deep understanding of how to help educators bring scientific thinking into their classrooms.... More

by Tim Piotrowski Chicago is the site of the 35th annual Association for Manufacturing Excellence International Conference from November 4 – 7, 2019. With the theme of Leading on the Edge, keynote speakers include Menlo Innovations CEO and chief storyteller (and author of “Joy, Inc.”) Richard Sheridan,... More

by Tim Piotrowski  In 2018, AME’s digital publication, Target Online included articles authored by lean and continuous improvement leaders. Most of these were written specifically for Target Online while some appeared in other sources including AME’s flagship publication Target magazine. Here’s... More

AME volunteers have been hard at work planning AME San Diego 2018. The largest lean conference in the world, this event promises to help attendees deepen their understanding of lean and continuous improvement and give them the opportunity to connect with peers and share, learn and grow.  With this... More

Known as the hub of innovation, San Diego is the home to companies such as Qualcomm, Kyocera, Scripps Health and defense contractors General Atomics, Cubic and NASSCO. This year it’s the site of AME International Conference on October 29 – November 1, 2018. With the theme of “Create Waves of Excellence,”... More

In an effort to provide the lean community (comprised of both AME members and non-members) with opportunities to further their lean journey, AME is announcing its spring 2018 webinar line-up. Taking place on Thursday afternoons at 1 pm ET starting on February 15th, these webinars will focus on a wide... More

The AME Boston 2017 Conference is days away and the conference team has been working hard to make sure every aspect of the conference includes the opportunity for attendees to engage with their peers and further their understanding and application of lean. With the theme of “Get Engaged” we’ve... More