Links Selected links for additional information on various topics: World Class/ Lean Enterprise: Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI): the not-for-profit organization of the co-author of "Lean Thinking", James P. Womack.  LEI offers various publications and workshops on the subject of Lean Thinking.  For more information visit the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) website. Several members of CMA are faculty of the institute. Institute for World Class Manufacturing (IWCM): The IWCM offers a comprehensive curriculum modeled after Richard Schonberger's four pillars of World Class Manufacturing: Flow Manufacturing, Quality Management, Employee Involvement, Information Technologies.  Located at the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center (DVIRC) in Philadelphia, PA, the IWCM offers regularly scheduled workshops, as well as on-site delivery of its entire curriculum.  Entering its 12th year in operation, the IWCM has educated thousands of attendees in the mid-Atlantic region in World Class Manufacturing concepts.  For more information visit the Institute for World Class Manufacturing (IWCM) website.  At the DVIRC webite, click on "Training and Education". Association for Manufacturing Excellence: AME consists of leaders of some of the  finest companies in the U.S. and abroad.  Its mission is to produce manufacturing excellence through integration of performance improvement techniques.  Since 1986, AME has been at the forefront of innovation in the manufacturing sector.  AME believes in information sharing and promotes networking among its members, which is accomplished through plant tours, participation in on-site application workshops (e.g. Kaizen events), publications, and its annual conference.  For more information visit the AME website.   Productivity Press: Since 1984, Productivity Press has been a leading publisher of books and training materials in the subject of World Class/Lean Enterprise.  Textbooks covering the full gamut of lean related subjects are available.  Videotapes in the subjects of Total Productive Maintenance, Workplace Organization, and other topics are also available.  Their "Shopfloor Series" provides excellent supplemental educational materials in the subjects of Mistake Proofing, SMED, One Piece Flow, along with other topics, including Spanish translations of many.  Productivity Press published the Shingo Prize winning “The Complete Lean Enterprise, co-authored by CMA’s Drew Locher, and "Value Stream Mapping for Lean Development", also by Drew Locher. For more information visit the Productivity Press website.   Visual Solutions Resource: CMA has partnered with Visual Solutions Resource, a printing and fulfillment service organization, to make its education and training materials available to companies. Companies can license the use of the materials to deliver its own training internally. For more information visit the Visual Solutions Resource website. Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing: The award was established in 1988 to recognize companies in North America for their successful application of Lean Enterprise concepts to achieve world class status. It is named after Shigeo Shingo, a key contributor to the development of the Toyota Production System. Drew Locher of CMA was a 2005 recipient of the award in its research category. For more information visit the Shingo Prize website. Lean Accounting Summit: Starting in 2005, the Lean Accounting Summit was instituted to address the formidable obstacles to business improvement that exist due to organizations’ accounting practices and processes. The summit brings together thought leaders in this important subject with finance and accounting professionals from a wide variety of industries. Subjects covered include, but are not limited to: accounting practices for the lean enterprise, leaning out accounting processes, and performance measures. For more information visit the Lean Accounting Summit website. CMA has been a presenter at the summit for the past two years. Superfactory Website: The Superfactory Website is intended to be a repository of Lean and World Class Enterprise related information. On this website can be found various reference materials on the subject, upcoming events, educational materials, as well as articles from some of the leaders in Lean Thinking and World Class Enterprise. The website is well organized by subject matter. Lean Office, Product Development, Job Shop, Lean Accounting, Six Sigma are just a few of the subjects that can be found. Drew Locher of CMA has contributed articles on the subject of Lean in Job Shops and Lean Office. Check out the Superfactory website. General Business Assistance: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP): NIST MEP consists of 74 extension centers nationwide charged with the mission to assist small to medium sized manufacturers to improve business performance and strengthen their competitiveness.  Partially funded at the federal and state levels, MEP centers offer a wide variety of resources and support to manufacturers.  For more information on the federal program, visit the NIST MEP website. Maryland World Class Manufacturing Consortium (MWCMC): Initiated in 1998, the MWCMC was established by the state of Maryland at the request of Allied Signal as a lead OEM sponsor to assist small to medium sized suppliers reach world class manufacturing status. Now, the consortium consists of over 60 member companies. The consortium provides access to member companies to the concepts of world class manufacturing, providing educational and training resources, as well as financial assistance and consulting resources. Visit the MWCMC website for more information.