ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Learn and Share in This Community of Practice
Lea A.P. Tonkin, editor in chief
Lean pioneers and practitioners find networking opportunities, useful pointers on improvement strategies and implementation, and access to “best practice” reports/data through the AME (Association for Manufacturing Excellence) APQC Community of Practice (CoP). This dynamic group welcomes new members’ inquiries and participation in its informative monthly webinars. Members are individuals interested in benchmarking and related topics.
The AME/APQC CoP offers an opportunity to share and learn from peers about benchmarking and a broad range of improvement activities. It also provides a code of conduct for sharing and protecting information.
Through monthly webinars, CoP members learn from subject matter experts and organizational leaders about benchmarking activities, performance improvements, and related “lessons learned.” Previous webinar presenters include Parker Hannifin Hydraulic Filter Division, Plymouth Tube Company, TG Fluid Systems USA Corporation, and Newport News Shipbuilding. Reshoring is among the topics discussed in the sessions.
Participants in the August CoP webinar learned about “Moving Beyond the Improvement Tools: What Department Managers Can Do.” This presentation by Michael Bremer, president of The Cumberland Group, executive director of the Chicagoland Lean Enterprise Consortium, and vice president of AME’s manufacturing excellence awards, featured an assessment test on organizational ability to sustain and replicate improvement project gains. Participants were asked about key business performance metrics including financials, margins, and market share. Bremer suggested that executives focus on process capability rather than goal accomplishment, after gaining an understanding of their processes. Then, if your organization doesn’t hit the target, ask why the process did not work effectively. Posts from this presentation are available through the CoP:
Watch for these upcoming webinars :
- Quality in K12 Education (September)
- Face-to-face meeting at the AME annual conference October 24-28 in Dallas (October)
- AME Manufacturing Excellence Award recipients will be featured in future sessions.
This Community of Practice article is the first in a series of stories. Your suggestions for related articles about participation in the CoP are welcome. Please send your coverage ideas to Lea Tonkin at crew257@comcast.net. The assistance of Ron Webb (APQC) and Bill Baker (AME) in the development of this article is appreciated.
