The Association for Manufacturing Excellence

THE ASSOC I AT ION FOR MANUFACTUR ING EXCELLENCE BVM: What is your membership and are there different tiers of membership? Humphrey: “AME represents approximately 4,000 members and has hovered around that number for the last several years. The trend for association memberships overall is down, so the fact that we are steady is a good sign that reflects industry’s innate need for continuous improvement and practitioner- to-practitioner sharing. Our model is a bit different from others’. Companies benefit from having several employees who understand lean and can champion efforts in their facilities, so companies often send different people to the AME International Conference each year, so more employees understand operational excellence and can bring that know-how back to the workforce. As a result, the people who join our Association to get the member rate for the annual international conference don’t always renew and come back the next year. We find that BVM: What is the current mandate of the Association and how does that tie into the current state of manufacturing in North America Today? Humphrey: Over the years, AME has evolved and the updated mission statement ties into the tagline of Share, Learn, Grow. The mission states: ‘To inspire a commitment to enterprise excellence through experiential learning by bringing people together to share, learn, and grow.” The vision of AME is: ‘A manufacturing renaissance driven by people-centric leadership coupled with enterprise excellence.’ And our key values are: Volunteerism, Practitioner Focused, Integrity and Trust, Passion for Excellence, Engaging and Welcoming. The current mission/ vision/values tie well into the resurgence of North American manufacturing as we see many activities related to both global competitiveness and to reshoring initiatives.