The Association for Manufacturing Excellence

winning combination. “Beyond technology, green manufacturing has an important future within industry, and AME has been banging the drum to make sure our members can stay in front of this movement. Sustainability goes hand-in-hand with operational excellence because there is a focus on efficiency and long-term business viability – we call this ‘lean and green.’ It’s not only being driven by a company’s desire to be more efficient and make the world a better place, but also because of the priorities of the growing millennial workforce. Millennials now make up the largest block of U.S. workers, and there is clear data that indicates their desire to work for lean and green companies. Even beyond Millennials, the Business Roundtable released a new Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation in August 2019, which supports ‘embracing sustainable practices across our businesses.’ AME continues to bring to light best practices for lean and green implementations. Sustainability is in the lean DNA. We’re excited to see it catch on more broadly, and happy to play our role educating organizations about this important effort.” BVM: If you were writing a profile on AME and the state of manufacturing today, what are the salient points that you would like a reader to take away from it? Humphrey: “First off, manufacturing is alive and well in North America. In fact, there are literally hundreds of thousands of jobs waiting to be filled today. It is a career that is both fulfilling and lucrative. It is not the manufacturing job of 50 years ago, but a very fast paced learning environment where opportunities exist for those who want to progress. “AME has a very special niche in the operational excellence field – one focused on practitioner- to-practitioner sharing. A first-time attendee to one of our recent conferences says he experienced ‘real people with real problems with real solutions.’ Now in its 36th year, our conference brings together 1,500-2,000 practitioners from all walks of life willing to share their story. And we are not just limited to manufacturing. We have a large and growing contingent of health care and government professionals attending and sharing as this methodology is relevant to any business scenario. “Our entire organization lives our Share, Learn, Grow tagline, and we hope that your readers will come learn and grow with us, and then come back to share with others in future years.”