The purpose for our Excellence Inside Conference is to provide our attendees with a solid, jam-packed, practical and reliable source of Lean learning. We have divided these presentations into 7 Value streams.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: MARCH 15, 2010
In this Value Stream you will hear from a handful of extraordinary organizations who recognize that success can only occur when putting the 'end-user' at the front of the line.
This Value Stream would include presentations on how companies have developed and deployed strategies while garnering organizational support.
Sustaining the gains from process improvement by clearly establishing the new "Standard Work" and providing appropriate support systems for consistently high performance from business teams.
This Value Stream will include presentations on leading in a Lean environment, building learning organizations and tapping into the human potential.
This Value Stream will include a wide assortment of stories - production and non-production, repetitive and job shop applications - and highlight key Lean concepts in practice such as pull, flow, visual management, just to name a few.
This Value Stream focuses on Lean principled daily management, as exercised through daily oversight with immediate countermeasures of visually out-of-control performance of KPIs and other measurement mechanisms.
This Value Stream will focus on Excellence Inside Supply Chains and success stories of the supplier and manufacturer working together to streamline material flow reducing overall movement cost and lead-time.
AME has a long track record for finding and convincing some of the best manufacturing practitioners from around the world, that sharing their best practice experiences is not only providing a great community service, it is also of great value for their own organization.
As we enter into a recovery phase, facing a reset global economy, building Excellence Inside is more important than ever before. The level and quantity of practitioner presenters we have attracted for Baltimore, rivals our best ever. Here are several examples of over 60 leading practitioners that will be anxiously waiting to share with you their Excellence Inside stories:
Gain new insight into how one of the world leaders in eye care, has build excellence inside their processes. Majority owned by Nestlé S.A., Switzerland with U.S. operations based in Fort Worth, Texas, Alcon has over 15,000 employees worldwide. Alcon develops, manufactures, and distributes hundreds of eye care products in more than 180 countries. This presentation highlights Alcon’s Lean Value Stream toolset used to achieve improved customer satisfaction. Learn how a focus on customer service and utilizing Lean tools reduced and finally eliminating customer back orders, while improving quality, reliability and cost. See the practical applications of Lean tools like Value Stream Analysis, 5S and Poka-Yoke along with innovative tools created by Alcon. This presentation also provides a virtual tour of operations through pictures and videos of the Lean transformation process.
HID Global is the trusted leader in providing access and ID management solutions for the delivery of secure identity. As a leading manufacturer of secure identity solutions and contactless smart card technology HID Global is focused on creating customer value. At this presentation you will gain a new perspective about how to get —The Big Picture —Your Continuous Improvement Enterprise. Every company is different, yet the same guiding principles and alignment of certain activities have a tremendous impact on an organization. Learn how tying together the continuous improvement building blocks will help you execute your overall Lean strategy. This presentation will focus on some of the “do’s” and “don’ts” that are required when applying continuous improvement tools throughout the enterprise. You will learn how to create an overall perspective that encompasses your Lean Culture, Lean Tools, Lean Strategy, and Lean Principles.
Watlow-Hannibal manufacturers a wide range of industrial heater components and assemblies. See How Watlow-Hannibal took waste out of their quoting process. Hear how this impacted the plant floor. With many products customized to meet specific needs, Watlow Electric processes hundreds of requests for quotes (RFQ) often taking days as input is required between customer service, engineering, production, sales, purchasing, etc. They recognized the need to make the process more effective. To price based on value, to make decisions based on value stream costs and box scores, and to differentiate their work with more attention paid to the more significant customer requests. This led to the development of the highly visual and cooperative "Opportunity Assessment" process. This presentation will show how the process works, how this has greatly improved the speed and quality of the company's decision-making, and increased overall business knowledge within the value stream.
Established in 1920 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Today the company has over 200,000 square feet of fabrication facilities, along with state-of-the-art sheet metal, sprinkler fabrication and miscellaneous metal working shops. At this presentation you will learn about process sustainment in ever-changing landscapes. In Lean construction the process involves multiple steps and time tables, requires a need to change the mindset of employees from auto pilot to setting and achieving specific daily goals, whether in a shop, office or field environment. One highly effective tool Grunau uses is the “DAILY HUDDLE (Pre-Task Plan)” card. See how they have achieved outstanding results of 50% reduction in the costs of compensation claims, and a costs in service, by spending less processing time because of better planning and being more time productive on the job.
AccuRounds is not your average precision machining company. When founded in 1976, they focused on simple Swiss screw machining. Today, they manufacture all types of complex shafts, pins and valves in a variety of materials. In 2006, AccuRounds became the first metalworking company in North America to receive the Northeast Shingo Prize Silver Medal. By reorganizing their entire operation, both physically and organizationally. See how the implementation of a new floor layout designed around value streams and supported by a Lean management system provided the platform for dramatically decreasing lead times by more than 50%, reducing cost of quality to well below 1% of sales, improving on-time delivery to greater than 97%. Learn how they were able to sustain Lean in an ever-changing business environment through the application of Leader Standard Work, Visual Controls, Idea Generation and much more.
Founded in 1962, VIBCO Vibrators designs, manufacturers and markets a comprehensive range of electric, pneumatic and hydraulic vibrators for construction and industrial use. VIBCO Vibrators has embraced Lean and has realized unbelievable gains, such as dramatic inventory reductions, shortened lead times, and a focus on the whole end-to-end customer experience. Karl Wadensten is the President of VIBCO Vibrators. He is a passionate, memorable, funny personality with big ideas, and a take-no-prisoners attitude. He is also the host of a daily talk radio show, The Lean Nation on 790AM-WPRV in Providence, RI. His mission is to provide real, actionable solutions to inspire his audience to embrace the potential and power of Lean Thinking. Karl’s high-energy presentation focuses on Lean Business and Lean Cultural Transformations. He uses real world examples, gives actionable advice, and inspires an audience to “learn to see” how to do more with less.
Barry-Wehmiller builds great people who do extraordinary things for our customers of packaging, corrugating, and finishing equipment and engineering services. Barry-Wehmiller’s Lean journey aligns with its vision to “measure success by the way we touch the lives of people.” More than tools alone, they have accelerated and sustained their Lean journey through people-centric recognition programs, internally developed training modules taught by frontline experts, and a cross divisional benchmarking structure to leverage ideas and accountability. Achieving business success of over 19% returns for more than 20 years requires a sustainable message and dedicated processes to ensure follow-up. Learn how a sustained culture of learning is a vital aspect of remaining a strong business even during an economic downturn. Learn how reflection upon challenges led to additional growth, creating value streams and new ways to define what it means to succeed.
Wenger Corporation was founded in 1946. Today Wenger supplies staging, choral risers, chairs, music stands, full stage shells, sound modules, instrument storage cabinets, and marching band equipment to schools and theaters all over the world. About 30% of Wenger Corporation’s sales are engineered to order and thus subject to swings in mix, volume and ship dates, challenging manufacturing, but they pose an equal challenge to office functions. Learn how Using Visual management offers many ways to identify continuous improvement opportunities in the office as well as the factory floor. Gaining visibility to current demand and day-to-day workflow changes can be difficult in non-manufacturing situations. Learn how they found ways for purchasing and planning to level load day-to-day activities, standardize departmental work, identify improvement opportunities, and recognize shifting demands. See how less firefighting equals increased time for value-added activities and greater on-time performance.
Harland Clarke was formed in 2007. Harland Clarke offers an expanded suite of direct marketing services, delivery and anti-fraud products, contact center services and checks and check-related products to the financial institution market. At this presentation here is the scenario you will be presented with! You have just acquired a competitor, and are absorbing their work in-house. Suddenly you find yourself unable to take all the work because you don’t have enough equipment capacity. The CEO and Board of Directors reject your request to purchase additional machines, and proclaim; “You have to get better with what you have.” Hear how Harland Clarke not only did what was asked, they meet and exceed the needed capacity to complete the acquisition, but gained an additional 23% efficiency over the next two years. See how they layered Lean on top of continuous improvement efforts, completing work place organization of their facility through 35 “5S” kaizen events held over the course of 10 months. Not only did they meet their goal, they exceeded it by $1.8 million. Now that’s excellence inside.
One of the best Lean transformations ever, bar none. As a two-time recipient of the Shingo Prize, Autoliv is attracting legions of folks to Utah to see how achieving Excellence Inside has made them best in class. In Baltimore Autoliv will show its "Cascading Policy Deployment Process". See how the best apply cross functional and individual discipline to ensure objectives are met. At Toyota, policy deployment is a key True North tool, and Autoliv has learned from the very best.
Recipient of the Commission On Cancer's Outstanding Achievement Award, for their unwavering focus on improving the needs and values of patients (customers). Cancer Treatment Center of America has truly built Excellence Inside their four walls, with what they call "The Mother Standard" of care. Learn how this standard has empowered CTCA stakeholders to provide maximum value for their patients, through continuous enhancements of their processes.
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilders will be presenting 3 different presentations. Why? Because they get it.
Nourishing your workforce is a key element of Excellence Inside. Building nuclear ships with true excellence requires you have a well-trained workforce with access to easy to use instructions. See how Northrop Grumman Shipbuilders is utilizing Job Instructions (JI) and Job Relations (JR), and tapping into a new TWI process. Learn how you build a competent, productive, highly motivated workforce.
NGC green strategy is to reduce the environmental impact, achieve cost reductions, and mitigate future cost risk. Learn how NGC is planning on its supply chain be one of the main contributors to achieving its sustainability objectives. The suppliers will be engaged in defining how they can have a significant impact on our environmental footprint through design and life cycle engineering objectives.
This presentation compares and contrasts the outcomes of a Lean value stream mapping (VSM) effort and Six Sigma/DMAIC improvement project run in the same business process area of two different divisions. In this study one division ran a 3-day VSM using "Lean" principles, and the other division ran a four month DMAIC project using "Six Sigma" methodologies. At the conclusion of both events, there were some striking similarities and interesting differences in the final recommendations and results achieved through two completely different methods. Cost and schedule implications of each approach are considered in terms of the results of each.
GE Transportation has been building locomotives in the heartland of America for 100 years. Their focus on excellence has seen them make massive strides in driving significant cycle reductions on their main process and build a model for their other factories. But it wasn't until they started experimenting with a powerful process within TPS called 3P (•Production •Preparation •Process) that they saw huge change. Learn how you also can apply 3P into your world.
Attendees will learn how Warren Distribution created a sustainable Lean production system by implementing a Lean leadership system including leader standard work, gemba time, leadership internships on the Lean team, and training in the Lean principles. You cannot have a sustainable Lean production system without Lean leadership.
Attendees will learn how Stoner Inc., a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award - 2003 Recipient, developed a culture to support their Lean journey. They will share much of what worked and what didn't work so well. Stoner Inc. has built their Lean production system around the principle of respect for people.
Government agencies must become more productive in response to increasing customer demand and likewise proficient regarding what these customers want and when they need it. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development has been working to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its processes through relentless continuous improvement involving customer participation, and recognizes its remarkable effect on their organization and the satisfaction of its customer partners! Share in this USHUD success story when in Baltimore.
It's all about being customer-lead according to Cogent Power, a recent AME Canadian Region award recipient. Developing strategic partnerships and strengthening relationships with your customer's means understanding what they most value and delivering upon that value each and every day. If you are not ‘delighting' your customers by relentlessly focusing on their needs when designing your product and service offerings, then where are your priorities aligned? Join Cogent in a straight forward discussion on how they have put the customer at the forefront of their business strategy and why they will do just about anything to keep them there.
When customers win, we all win. Sounds simple, but many organizations struggle not only to truly understand value through the eyes of the customer, but to deliver it. Fres-co System USA, Inc. has always been differentiated by offering a "systems" approach, designed to add value for our customers. But what more could we do to deliver on our promise of value to our customers? Based on what we learned, and going well beyond simply offering great service, we crafted a strategy to create excellence in our customer's operations. This would put us on a new journey that would prove to be quite challenging. We would need to view our roles differently, and help our customers do the same. And, we would need to significantly expand our skills. Share in our lessons learned and in how we were able to generate more than $1M in savings for our customers. Winner of the Golden Cylinder Award from the Gravure Association of America (GAA) multiple times, most recently in 2008.
See what Acuity Brands Lighting has succeeded in using 4-M Leadership thinking, Man, Machine, Material and Method - Gemba Leadership. You will see how the use of visual management and how developing accountability and ownership, can drastically change the entire supply chain and your ability to compete in the global market place by using fundamental Lean tools. Learn how auditing standard work to improve before poor results, gives Acuity Brands Lighting a true advantage over those who wait on results to determine corrective actions. In this presentation, you will see examples of their activities and programs designed to achieve a Lean supply chain through two completely different methods.
S&C Electric Company is an employee owned electric industry manufacturer with innovation at its core. Learn how S&C moved from innovation of products to innovation of processes quickly over the past three years. Transformational thinking built a continuous improvement team from scratch and developed to a well-executed CI strategy and model line. Learn how - from Kamikaze Kaizen to Rapid Improvement - transformed this Chicago midsize manufacturer from a good company into a great company.
A 2006 Shingo Prize winner, DJO is a global medical device manufacturer that has used the key elements of the Shingo Prize business model to transform its culture. Since starting its Lean journey in 2000, DJO has benchmarked Shingo Prize winners and other Lean companies in order to see what is required to truly change the way a company does business. Following the Shingo Prize model, DJO leaders created the DJO Way, or the way that the company goes about driving its mission and business objectives. This cultural transformation has resulted in a business that has tripled in revenues while just doubling in costs over a four year period.
As a Service and Recognition company O C Tanner ships approximately 85% of its orders as one piece. One Piece Flow is talked about as a basic principle of Lean and O C Tanner will demonstrate and document the results of years of continuous improvement efforts to truly achieve One Piece Flow. In this presentation, video will be utilized to show and explain the benefits of One Piece Flow.