FUTURE STATE OUTLOOK REPORT
A Letter to Members
Leverage the Need for Change
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in February-March 2020 struck many organisations ill-prepared for what was to become a series stretches of uncertainty, unpredictability and stress for Leaders, Business Owners, Value Chain and Households alike.
For those willing to persist and adapt, the global pandemic also presented an opportunity for many to transform how they conducted their business, maintained discipline to serve their markets and continue developing their teams along their pathway to excellence.
Luckily for us at the Association for Manufacturing Excellence Australia, just 4 months prior to the outbreak, a new Board and National Committee was formed and were already exploring new ways to connect to and engage our Members.
We already settled on wanting to bring our National and Global connections closer together, improve the Member experience and build upon our strengths as a practitioner-to-practitioner volunteer-led organisation.
At the onset of the pandemic, it was clear that we had to quickly adapt away from our traditional face-to-face event model to keep the connection and meet our promise to help our Members share, learn and grow together, let alone increase the activities we had hoped to take across the region.
Our Virtual Excellence Membership was hence born and taken up by an impressive number of new, returning and renewing Members – allowing us all to continue the important support us all as practitioners need.
The AME Team created significant standard work building quality into the >30 Virtual learning and networking events delivered between April-20 and our Digital Excellence Conference in May-21 where hundreds of participants joined in-person or on demand through our Conference portal. (https://www.ame.org.au/events/ame-conference-2021-on-demand)
AME Australia has been extremely pleased to form strong partnerships with solution providers to bring our Members new and novel approaches to problem-solving through training, the application technologies and advisory services delivered across our region.
In 2021, AME Australia celebrated 20 Years of being the premier not-for-profit organisation for operational excellence knowledge, networking and experiences in the region having supported thousands of Leaders and Practitioners pursue their improvement goals.
Our gratitude and thanks are deserved by all our Members, the Board and Committees past, present and emerging for making these years a success.
At the 2020 International AME Conference – Toronto, we were honoured to share reflections from some of the founding Members, Committee and AME supporters to mark this special occasion. You can watch the video here: (Large file: https://1drv.ms/v/s!Apvv4HN7HjG1g85_rFzSvrGF_t9j6Q?e=XPTUAY - Password: AME20Years)
Our renewed and strengthened connection with the AME Global Network and especially through the support and guidance of Kimberlee Humphrey, AME CEO, is bringing more opportunities to AME Australia Members. We have been proud to help you connect with our broader excellence community, have access to thought-leaders, authors and experienced facilitators resulting in some incredible events including our deep-dive sessions.
Special recognition for National Manager Laura Robertson is due for her tremendous growth and willingness to take on each challenge to make the AME Australia community the strongest yet.
Providing constancy of purpose, wisdom and ensuring alignment, AME Australia’s progress as a team would not have been possible without the leadership of President Barry McCarthy whom I am personally grateful for his guidenance through his tenure over the last 2 years. Thank you Barry and we look forward to continue working together on our journey.
What's Ahead for AME?
As restrictions ease between borders, we’re working hard to carefully work with our Regional Committees and Members to open face-to-face events including Insight to Excellence Tours, the first of which is upcoming in December.
We encourage you to check your inbox for more announcements and you can always visit your event schedule for the latest. (https://www.ame.org.au/events/ame-australia-training-events).
Our event streams are filling up for 2022 and are geared to support development pathways from improvement concept all the way through to application in your workplace.
They will be easier to find by their focused themes of Management System (i.e.: policy/strategy deployment, visual management, leader standard work), People-Centric Leadership (i.e.: skills development and concepts of respect-for-humanity, morale, cultural change) and Improvement Methods (i.e.: waste elimination, total productive maintenance, pull systems, information flow, quality methods).
These events include Fireside Chats with celebrated Authors, Learning Events with our Partners, Networking opportunities and Insight to Excellence Tours.
If you are looking for a specific topic or event, we encourage you to reach out directly to us on ame@ame.org.au, LinkedIn or to me personally we’ll be glad to work together. Alternatively, provide us feedback on what help you need here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8Y2Y855.
We’re pleased to have Alliance Partners like Beyond Blue (https://www.beyondblue.org.au/about-us/about-our-work) bring special-interest events on important topics like Mental Health as one such example driven by Members feedback.
Be on the lookout for exciting announcements on our 2022 Animal Welfare and Defence Summits - bringing together Leaders and Practitioners building excellence in these sectors.
In October 2022, we look forward to having you join us in Dallas at the upcoming AME International Conference - Embrace Disruption. Come virtually or in-person to what’s shaping up to be the biggest and best AME Conference yet. Early-bird offers end soon so if we encourage you to act fast. (https://www.ame.org/ame-dallas-2022)
Building on our first Australian participation in the AME Emerging Leaders Program 2021 (https://www.ame.org/ame-emerging-leaders), we are again offering this exclusive and limited opportunity to represent our region with a cohort of international leaders. If you wanted to propel your career with access the program, connect with us for more information.
Want to Get Involved?
AME is built on the strength of its principles of volunteerism and professionalism of its Members.
AME has created a host of Sub-Committees and State Committees where you can get involved and show leadership in areas that you’re passionate about. We have opportunities across all regions and sub-committees that drive continual improvement for us as an association. Contact us to learn more and support the organisation that supports you and your team.
In 2022, are looking forward to providing solutions leveraging the AME Lean Sensei™ backed by certified assessors from around the world. A proven way to benchmark your excellence journey against past AME Excellence Award winners but also to educate your team on where to focus effort and investment next. If you are interested in becoming an assessor or your organisation wants more information on this solution, please contact us.
Also ahead, we recognise that our Members are keen to come together more often, learn from each other in the workplace and form lasting relationships across each other’s organisations. More is coming on how AME will support this engaging form of learning and networking.
Thank You!
On behalf of our volunteer Board, and the entire AME Community, thank you for being a part of our association.
As a Member, I encourage you to make the most of all the resources and connections at your fingertips from the AME.
Reach out to fellow Members, connect with the AME Board and Committees to discuss your excellence journey and don’t forget to visit your Member’s Portal to continue learning on-demand and take the opportunity to share new knowledge with your Teams, Customers and Suppliers as you work together to improve and build more a resilient organisation. (https://www.ame.org.au/members-portal).
I look forward to seeing you all in-person or virtually over the coming months as we share, learn and grow together.
Respectfully yours,
AME PROMISE
1. Continually Work to Understand and Meet Our Members’ Ever-Changing Needs
2. Provide Our Members World-Class Opportunities to Share, Learn & Grow Together Along Their Personal and Their Organisation’s Excellence Journey
3. Grow Our Services, Partnerships and Alliances to Ensure Valuable Resources and a Strong Association for Our Members
