Continuous Improvement Conference to focus on sharing to gain competitive advantage

May 2, 2012 - PRLog -- Boston, MA - May 3, 2012 - The Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership (GBMP), educational partner of The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence, today released the agenda for the 8th annual Northeast Shingo Prize Conference. The theme this year is "Learning to Share", emphasizing Continuous Improvement and Lean Manufacturing as the means to remain competitive and profitable in our global economy. The 2012 Northeast Shingo Conference brings together sharing leaders - authors, industry leaders, employee experts and practitioners - to build a strong Lean network in which the whole is much, much greater than the sum of its parts.

James Womack, author of The Machine That Changed the World, Lean Thinking, Lean Solutions, and Seeing the Whole Value Stream, will deliver the conference opening keynote address "Learning to Share Your Value Streams". In the 1980's, as research director of MIT's International Motor Vehicle Program, Womack led the team that coined the term "lean production" to describe Toyota's business system. He is founder and senior advisor to LEI Inc., a management research company chartered to advance the set of ideas known as lean production and lean thinking.

W. Edwards Deming once said, "If American business understood collaboration, there would be no competition." The conference will highlight organizations and individuals who are realizing this benefit today, going beyond pockets of excellence to generate an environment that captures the creativity and involvement of an ever-expanding system. Attendees will learn how to develop and expand this sharing network in their organizations to gain the greatest ongoing benefit from the technical aspects of Lean.

According to Bruce Hamilton, President of GBMP and Chairperson of the annual Northeast event,

"The word "sharing" is frequently advocated to kindergarten age children, but by the time we are young adults, our learning often becomes specialized, solitary and proprietary. What we should be freely sharing between departments, divisions, business partners and community, we are withholding to our detriment. The reality is that US manufacturers, hospitals, clinics, municipalities and other organizations have to implement lean philosophies and tools together to remain competitive. Sharing ideas instead of hiding them both within an organization and between organizations and industries will only benefit our region and strengthen our economy.   Our 2012 Northeast Shingo Conference will promote this kind of sharing and creating the mutual support network we need to rekindle in the US in order to compete globally."

The event features 4 keynotes, more than 35 breakout and plenary sessions, 2 new hands-on lean tool simulations and 1 virtual plant tour. The Community of Lean Lounge will be back, where lean implementers from manufacturing, healthcare, biotech, government and the service sector will share personal experiences from their Lean journeys, providing unsurpassed peer-to-peer sharing, networking and benchmarking. Those with the greatest depth and breadth of Lean deployment experience and success have discovered passion and purpose for sharing on many levels. The 2012 Shingo Prize Medallion and Award winners will be recognized on the first day of the conference, while the Silver Toaster Award for Employee Excellence in Lean will be awarded on day two. Nominations for the Silver Toaster Award are still being accepted. Visit http://www.gbmp.org/training/recognition-programs to learn more.

The event is appropriate for executive leadership, general, plant and department managers, team leads, materials, supply chain and quality managers, and administrative management and staff, including nurses, doctors, sales teams, customer service reps, engineers, IT and finance managers, and human resources professionals, and will provide learning opportunities for both those new to lean as well as experienced practitioners. More than 700 participants are expected this year.

Registration is now open. The event will be held at DCU Center in Worcester MA on September 25-26, 2012. If you have not registered yet, now would be a good time. Capacity is limited and hotels offering reduced room rates for conference attendees will fill up fast. For more information, to view the agenda and to register, visit www.neshingoprize.org or call Lela Glikes, Conference Coordinator, at 617-287-7630. For a limited time, sponsor and exhibitor opportunities are still available. Contact Ms. Glikes for more information.

About GBMP
GBMP helps develop a strong and vibrant regional economy through training in continuous improvement principles. GBMP is the educational partner of The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence in the Northeast. Our annual conference is THE lean event of the year.

The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence is named for Japanese industrial engineer Shigeo Shingo who distinguished himself as a thought leader in building operational excellence. Dr. Shingo has been described as an "engineering genius" who helped formalize the concepts, systems, and techniques that, under his tutelage, became fundamental to the renowned Toyota Production System, often referred to now as the Toyota Business System.

Pricing & Group Discount Information
The price is unbeatable, still only $875 for two full days, plus there's a group discount. Send five and the sixth is free! GBMP Members save $50. Optional Tuesday night networking event only $35 per person.