Tom Southworth, a label industry veteran and Lean Manufacturing consultant for CONNSTEP, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) for Connecticut, was named MEP Practitioner of the Year at the MEP National Conference, held in May in Orlando, FL, USA. Southworth, who writes the Printing Lean column for Label & Narrow Web, won the top prize out of a group of 12 nominees.

The award recognizes MEP center staff members whose specialized contributions to the MEP mission have made a significant, innovative and sustainable impact on the MEP system and the manufacturing clients served.

CONNSTEP provides assistance to Connecticut manufacturers in a wide range of industries. Southworth’s specialty is in the printing and related fields. CONNSTEP’s work is supported by the Department of Commerce National Institutes of Standards and Technology and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.

Southworth has more than 23 years of experience in manufacturing, 18 of those in the printing industry. He has a track record of profit improvement, customer satisfaction and change management, illustrating the ability to control cost, increase revenue and drive process improvement through effective training and motivation. He is SME Bronze Certified and is an ASQ Certified Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence, a member of the Association of Manufacturing Excellence, a member of American Mensa, and a volunteer firefighter.

He was recently invited to present at the fifth annual conference of Dscoop, a digital printing cooperative, where he spoke on Lean in the printing industry. In addition to contributing to L&NW, he writes for the CONNSTEP publication The Manufacturer, and the CONNSTEP blog, On Point, where he receives recognition not only for his writing skills, but for his solid and informative knowledge exchange.

CONNSTEP President Bonnie Del Conte underscores his commitment: “CONNSTEP is fortunate to have Tom on our team; his interpersonal skills and leadership have been instrumental in the success of client engagements and the launch of CONNSTEP’s Training Within Industry Program.”

Visit Tom Southworth’s blog at http://leanprinting.blogspot.com/. His latest L&NW column is here.