AME Conference 2018 Keynote Speakers Announced

Purpose Driven Operational Excellence

AME’s 2018 Leading Through Excellence and Innovation Conference is centered on helping you to realise your purpose and to create a lasting impact within and outside your organisation.  

Held from the 5 to 8 March 2018, at the Leopard Lodge Melbourne Zoo, the Conference will provide you with an opportunity to develop new relationships by connecting and learning from and with the best. You will discover practical ways to apply creative ideas to your organisation. Build, recapture and rejuvenate your sense of purpose. Expand the depth and breadth of your knowledge. Sharpen your lean skills, intensify your understanding of lean tools and learn how to integrate industry practices into your organisation. Learn about best-in-class practices, compare your experiences to the most successful businesses in the world and make sure your continuous improvement efforts are on target.

We are pleased to announce Ron Harper, President at Cogent Power and George Saiz, President and CEO at AME North America, will be joining us as the International Keynote Speakers in 2018. 

Ron Harper

Ron Harper, P.Eng., is president of Cogent Power Inc., in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. He has worked in manufacturing for 25 years, mostly in senior leadership positions in marketing, engineering, operations and general management and has been with Cogent since 1995. The organisation has been on its lean journey since 2004, and Harper has taken a highly personal role in leading the company and its teams to create a self-propelling lean organisation and culture.

Harper is a member of the AME executive committee and the Canadian regional board. He is also a highly active board member of The Centre for Skills Development and Training, in Canada, the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), and regularly advises on local government policies and initiatives with Next Generation Manufacturing. As part of the AME board of directors, Harper is a leading member of the strategic initiative for People-Centric Leadership. This movement is intended to educate leaders to engage and lead teams in a manner to maximise job satisfaction and fulfillment, while creating significant value in business.

George Saiz

George Saiz is president and CEO of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence. A practitioner and strong proponent of lean and continuous improvement since 1992,he is excited to help AME grow its footprint, and to promote enterprise excellence and people-centric leadership among the next generation of manufacturing leaders. Saiz previously served as president of MicroAire Surgical Instruments, LLC.

During a career spanning more than four decades, Saiz worked for a number of medical device manufacturing companies in increasing roles of responsibility from manager, director, general manager, vice president, owner and president. He has significant experience in leading complex organisations and generating growth in sales and earnings. Saiz earned his master’s degree in business administration at the University of La Verne in La Verne, Calif., and his bachelor’s degree in business administration from West Coast University in Los Angeles, California. 

 

Watch Ron Harper and George Saiz at the AME Dallas Conference