The 8th Northeast Shingo Prize Conference will be held on September 25 and 26, 2012, at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA, USA. According to organizers, the conference will highlight organizations and individuals who are “going beyond pockets of excellence to generate an environment that captures the creativity and involvement of an ever-expanding system in which the whole is much, much greater than the sum of its parts.” 

Bruce Hamilton, chairperson of the Northeast event, says: “The word ‘sharing’ is frequently advocated to kindergarden-age children, but by the time we are young adults, our learning often becomes specialized, solitary and proprietary. What we should be freely sharing between departments, divisions, business partners and (the) community, we are withholding to our detriment. The reality is that US manufacturers, hospitals, clinics, municipalities and other organizations have to implement Lean philosophies and tools together to remain competitive. Sharing ideas instead of hiding them both within an organization and between organizations and industries will only benefit our region and strengthen our economy. Our 2012 Northeast Shingo Conference will promote this kind of sharing and creating the mutual support network we need to rekindle in the US in order to compete globally.”

This year’s keynote speaker is James P. Womack, founder of the Lean Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit training, publishing and management research company based on Toyota’s business system. 

The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence is named for Japanese industrial engineers Shigeo Shingo, who distinguished himself as one of the world’s thought leaders in building operational excellence. 

Registration is open and there is an Early Bird rate for people who register before May 1. A group discount is also available. For more information, visit: www.neshingoprize.org.