The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) is a community of over 5,000 professionals focused on continuous improvement and enterprise excellence in manufacturing. AME offers a consortia program for networking and best-practice sharing through facilitated meetings and events, alongside various membership benefits including access to resources, conferences, and training. Members have reported significant ROI in terms of quality, engagement, and efficiency, making it a valuable and cost-effective collaborative platform for organizations aiming to enhance their practices.

2. What is AME?
A vibrant community of
5,000+ professionals.
Dedicated to
continuous
improvement
and enterprise
excellence.

3. AME passionately develops a modern-day manufacturing
renaissance, driven by people-centric leadership coupled with
enterprise excellence.
Organizations around the globe rely on AME to help them
continuously improve, build people, and benchmark.

4. When you join AME, you join a community of peers
travelling on a lean journey.

5. The AME Consortia program connects those on the lean
and continuous improvement journey in local peer
networks facilitated by highly qualified lean practitioners.
Consortia members meet regularly with fellow members
for networking and best-practice sharing. Each
consortium offers events throughout the year.
Share more. Do more. Get more.

6. How Does an AME Consortium Work?
1. Facilitator & AME recruits companies to join (target: 25+).
2. Company representatives create program:
a) Benchmark tours
b) Workshops
c) Roundtable discussions
d) Special Interest Groups designed around shared problems
3. Consortium meets 10 to 12 times a year.

7. Experiences of Others
“The consortium was one of the key
enablers of our improvement.”
Jim Parejko, VP Engineering, G&W Electric
(formerly with Bison Gear and Engineering)

8. Experiences of Others
“A good majority of what I learned about Lean and CI techniques
came from Brian and Michael [Chicago Consortium Facilitators].
They have a great skill their competitors lack: They are there to
listen and not to tell…The consortium served as a collaborative
environment for sharing best practices and getting feedback on
our operations from other professionals.”
Bruce Bechtel, President, Midland Stamping

9. Return on Investment
• Which outcomes are most important to you?
• Higher quality?
• Reduced scrap?
• Employee engagement?
• On time delivery?
• Lead time?
• Working together as a consortium provides opportunity to
create measurable results.
• Savings from moving even a small amount of any of these
outcomes will pay for the membership fee several times.

10. Investment
• AME charges membership fees so companies have a
facilitator accountable to them to keep the consortium going
long-term so that consistent progress towards company goals
are achieved over time.
• Since it’s a practitioner-to-practitioner and member-driven
experience, members often say it’s the cheapest “consulting”
they can get.

11. Other Features of AME Consortia Membership
• Lowest possible rate for AME International Conference
• Consortia Rate: $1,599 (Early Bird Price)
• Normal Rate: $2,399
• Free admission to one AME Region Event per year
• Subscriptions to Target Magazine
• Access to all other AME members through a closed online
platform (HigherLogic)
• Discounts for AME Champion Memberships

12. Other features of AME membership
that will help your journey…

14. Think you are lean?
How do you really rank?
What defines best-in-class?
Let The AME Lean Sensei app help you
improve the way you improve so you can
maximize your results!

15. The AME Excellence Award recognizes
primarily North American
manufacturers and their subsidiaries
who demonstrate enterprise
excellence.

16. AME hosts the largest continuous
improvement conference in the
world!
Learn best practices from other
practitioners, network with your
peers and see enterprise
excellence firsthand.

17. AME
MEMBERSHIP
INCLUDES…
Target magazine
subscription
(published
quarterly)
Target Online
subscription
(published weekly)
Regional
newsletter
subscription
Member pricing on
regional
workshops
Member discount
on webinars
Member discount on AME
conferences and summits

18. Other opportunities with AME
to explore another time…

19. AME offers more
than 100 small,
local go-see events
through its nine
North American
regions
SOUTHEASTERN
MIDATLANTIC
NORTHEASTERN
CANADIAN
WESTERN
SOUTHWESTERN
NORTHCENTRAL
MIDWESTERN
GREAT LAKES

20. There are two
international
affiliates
AME AUSTRALIA
AME UNITED KINGDOM

21. SHARE LEARN AND GROW with a group
of senior leaders in continuous
improvement throughout North America.
Membership in the Champions Club
enables these change agents to interact
directly with peers who approach
challenges with an equally high level of
enthusiasm and insight.

22. People
Centric
Leadership
• Courses throughout the year at
beginning through advanced
levels
• Custom training at your facility
• Online videos, articles and
resources
Focusing on Employee Engagement?

23. AME offers
webinars nearly
every week on a
wide range of
continuous
improvement
topics.

24. Get AME member discounts on digital learning from
select AME partners.

25. Lean Certification
The following meet Lean Certification training,
education, and recertification requirements:
• Attendance at AME regional workshops
• Attendance at AME International Conference
• Application for the AME Excellence Award
• Attendance at AME webinars

26. Packages Tailored to Your Needs
We will develop a bundled offering tailored to fit
your learning and development needs that will help
you achieve your targeted outcomes cost
effectively!

27. Connect
with AME
Learn more at AME.ORG
Join us to explore the latest continuous
improvement methods and best practices that will
help move your career, company and industry
forward.
Get in touch
with us
The Association for
Manufacturing Excellence
3701 Algonquin Road, Suit 225
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008-3150 USA
Tel- 224-232-5980 fax 224-232-5981
Email-info@ame.org