The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME), founded in 1985, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to cultivating understanding, analysis and exchange of productivity methods and their successful application in the pursuit of excellence.
The AME Champion's Club is exclusively for the "Champions of Excellence" within a plant or facility. Membership in the Champion's Club enables these agents of change to interact directly within a select group of individuals who shoulder similar responsibilities to improve their company's competitiveness and who approach that challenge with an equally high level of enthusiasm and insight. Champion's Club membership also enhances their company's commitment to the "Excellence" process, while creating a broader alliance of companies with AME.
The principal benefit for a membership in the Champion's Club is the unique opportunity to meet and network with your peers who have similar problems and responsibilities. Only members in the Champion's Club and their guests are invited to the three to four meetings a year where specific topics are discussed and noted authorities are asked to present.
Members in the Champion's Club are senior executives from large and small companies and represent a large cross section of industries. We seek and encourage membership from a diverse array of companies to provide each member with exposure that would be unattainable in other types of organizations and industry groups.
The objective of the Champion's Club is to provide its members with "state-of-the-art" management techniques and skill development opportunities that will help them help their companies compete more effectively in a ever increasingly globally competitive marketplace.
The Champion's Club seeks to provide senior managers of North American based manufacturing firms with informative insights and events in the following areas:
- Skill development events for their people
- Accessibility to state-of-the-art manufacturing plants, processes, and people
- Learning what they need to be competitive
- Future of manufacturing processes and technology
- Business growth with profitability
- Developing and sustaining a competitive edge in the marketplace
- Designing and implementing programs and processes that add to stakeholder value
- Each year Champions create a top ten list of topics that is used to develop meetings for the next year
The program format and content are designed with input from the members of the Champion's Club. Programs generally consist of:
- Roundtables which focus on topics that challenge and develop thinking at the member's level of responsibility
- Study missions and visits to companies exhibiting state-of-the-art processes which are generally not accessible to most people
- Case studies that focus our thought processes towards modern management techniques and practices
- Ample time is provided for peer to peer conversations where members are encouraged to pursue specific topics of interest.
Meeting attendance is important in building a meaningful relationship among the Champions and to encourage openness and experience sharing. Champions are encouraged to attend a minimum of two roundtables per year to foster openness and experience sharing.
Annual dues for Champion's Club membership are $3,500 and provide the following:
- Complimentary/admission for the Champion to the AME Annual Conference
- Complimentary admission for the Champion to most AME workshops and seminars
- Complimentary admission for the Champion to Champion's Roundtables to exchange and discuss new philosophies and techniques
- One year membership in AME
For additional information about the AME's Champion's Club please contact Patrick Carguello Director, AME's Champion's Club Office: (315) 387-5611
