ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: AME Consortia – Bringing People and Companies Together
Keith Syberg
Since the beginning of time, people have chosen to come together, whether out of necessity for food, shelter, or safety. Necessity became desire, and people now come together as chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, credit unions, and professional associations. They are all seeking financial or intellectual leverage, benchmarking opportunities, or shared learning. Although email strings, conference calls, and video chats can add significant value, the maximum benefit from these activities comes from frequent face-to-face interaction that can only result from a close geographical proximity.
In the 25-plus years of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence’s (AME) existence, its members consistently reveal through surveys, focus groups, and anecdotal evidence this to be true: Plant tours, conferences, and workshops are always reported as the favorite activities of customer members. In other words, people come together face to face, to achieve enterprise excellence, through shared learning of best practices, in a trusting environment with actual practitioners. Reading the AME vision, mission, and values reveals these very words.
The question is, what’s next? What is the next program or activity to deliver this value proposition to the membership? For AME, that program is consortia.
AME defines consortia as company-to-company or person-to-person relationships, in close geographic proximity, built on shared interests. These are essentially “accelerated learning networks” connected through frequent joint activity. We believe these relationships should be significantly self-directed by members, led by highly capable facilitators, and financed primarily by member dues that reinforce commitment and participation.
AME’s first consortia chapter was formed in Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati by many of the tour site companies at the 2009 annual conference. Today, 17 companies make up one of the most vibrant manufacturing consortia in the Midwest.
Consortia are planned for other conference cities and areas of high AME member concentration. An affiliate consortia program is in place for both non-profit and for-profit consortia. Three groups, in Virginia, Chicago, and central Texas, are affiliates of AME. Affiliate groups are expected to grow significantly.
AME will provide guidance to individuals and groups about starting their own consortia. In other words, AME can become the umbrella organization for manufacturing consortia throughout North America.
Sam Matsumoto, facilitator of AME’s Northern Kentucky consortium, said, “It’s like having a mini AME conference in your backyard all year long.” The consortium sponsors frequent events for members: plant tours, shared speakers, combined training, workshops, benchmarking, kaizen blitzes, etc. It has held job fairs and red tag sales. In the consortium’s first year, more than 600 people participated in 36 events. All but one company renewed its membership. The members found value in the consortium, which AME intends to replicate throughout North America.
Consortia opportunities are endless. Activities such as peer-to-peer, moderate-cost learning opportunities are customized to the needs of local companies. Consortia members gain exposure to top local thinkers. The groups are flexible. Members respond quickly to each other, even down to the functional level. The local consortium becomes a “community of help” led by a local board of directors.
A consortia information and training portal is being designed for the AME website, enhancing connections among those involved or interested in consortia. The portal should be up and running by the end of the year. For information on any of these activities, contact Keith Syberg at 812-372-7254 or kas@smithandsyberg.com.
Keith Syberg is a partner in Smith and Syberg and is a past AME chair.
