AME Blog

  It’s back-to-school time and — even though this year is different than any other — students are getting ready to continue learning or have already headed back to class and campus. Whether virtual or in-person, the start of the school year is a time to recommit to learning something new. This... More

  I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say that our industries and our vocations have been affected in dramatic ways by the pandemic. Whether you’re in manufacturing, health care, finance, government, tech or the other sectors that AME serves and represents, your organization has undoubtably... More

  I may be one of the only people who has not seen Hamilton. I love theater and movies, but it’s never worked out to see the Tony Award-winning musical. I’ve also not heard the soundtrack, nor did I join the millions of people who streamed it when it recently became available. There’s just something... More

  The majority of AME members come from Canada or the United States, so for most of you, this is a week of celebration with Canada Day this past Wednesday and U.S. Independence Day on Saturday. These two celebrations remind me of the importance of celebrating and remembering our successes. In our own... More

  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