Last week was a whirlwind of excitement for AME. We kicked off the week with the AME Champions Club event in Cleveland, Ohio. Thanks to Marc Kuzik, AME Champions Cub volunteer director, and Rick Wiltse, AME Cleveland Consortia facilitator, we experienced a week of incredible learning, sharing and growing.
We started with a visit to Avalign, a company that designs, manufactures and delivers high-quality, precision-machined tools and implants for a variety of surgical and medical specialties around the world. Instrumental to the event’s success was Manoj Mohta, director of CI at Avalign Technologies. Mohta provided an opportunity to go behind the scenes in this fascinating industry. Ron Speagle, Avalign chief operating officer, presented an informative overview of Avalign’s journey. Thank you and your team for the opportunity.
Next, we toured Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital and received informative insight into CI in the hospital environment. Everyone who works there is so proud of their role as a caregiver, no matter what professional title they hold. I want to thank Tasha Stanley, senior continuous improvement advisor, and Aaron Hamilton, chief medical officer, for taking the time to share learnings and experiences with the Champions.
Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital
Day two was just as incredible. The Champions Club members had the privilege of meeting with Rami Goldratt, the son of Eliyahu Goldratt. Eli Goldratt’s book, “The Goal,” remains one of the most popular business books worldwide, explaining the Theory of Constraints (TOC) in an accessible and engaging way.
TOC is a management philosophy based on the idea that any system, no matter how complex, is vulnerable at its weakest point, and it’s the improvement of that point that has the most significant impact.
The five focusing steps of TOC:
1. Identify the constraint: Locate the part of the process that limits the system’s output.
2. Exploit the constraint: Maximize the performance of the constraint without large investments.
3. Subordinate everything else: Align other processes to support the constraint.
4. Elevate the constraint: If necessary, invest resources to improve or eliminate the constraint.
5. Prevent inertia from becoming a new constraint and repeat the process!
Goldratt’s ideas have had a lasting impact on operational excellence, process improvement and systems thinking. His goal-oriented philosophy encourages organizations to continually focus on what’s holding them back from achieving their objectives.
AME Champions Club and guests with Rami Goldratt
Thank you, Rami Goldratt, Andrew Hargrove and Sridhar Chandra, for a memorable day! The Champions were thrilled with the opportunity to connect and share and plan to do it again at the AME Atlanta 2024 International Conference.
Rami Goldratt and Bart Reimer, vice president, operations at Charter Steel and AME Champion
As if that wasn’t enough, I had the privilege to meet with the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) in Auburn on Friday, where Rami Goldratt shared TOC and simulation exercises with the MEP and AME Northeast Regional Board members. The learning was dynamic and energizing. Thanks so much to Charles DaRosa, MASS MEP director of operations, for hosting this event.
What’s exciting for the MEP is that anyone attending the AME Atlanta 2024 International Conference will be invited to an MEP meeting at the conference. This is a wonderful opportunity to network with AME practitioners as well as other state programs.
Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) simulation
The week was a tremendous success. AME is proud to announce that we will be offering Theory of Constraint training for companies and organizations. Reach out to me if you would like to host this training for your team at your facility or open your doors to group training. You don’t want to miss this awesome opportunity. It is always fun to have a full networking week. That is why I am so excited that the AME Atlanta 2024 International Conference is in less than six short weeks! This is your opportunity to connect with like-minded continuous improvement professionals to share, learn and grow. It is not too late to register!
As always, please stay safe and keep looking out for one another.
