(GBMP: Plymouth, MA) -- The Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership conference is coming Sept. 28–29, 2022, to Springfield, Massachusetts, and will focus on identifying and sharing the causes of successful lean transformation as well as overcoming constraints to collaboration.

“It’s hard to argue with the ideal of everyone working together to achieve a common purpose, but true collaboration is a catalyst seen in very few organizations; we call it the collaboration effect,” says GBMP president Bruce Hamilton. “Respect for people and human development cannot be truly realized without it. Business results, too, will be limited. Lacking a spirit of collaboration, persons are marginalized in their own work groups, departments work at cross-purposes, managers compete for resources, and customers and suppliers intentionally operate at arm’s length.”

Hamilton adds that Eli Goldratt referred to three unique constraints to flow that inhibit collaboration:1) logistical—layout, physical distance, time zones, and other aspects of the physical world that limit communication; 2) behavioral—cultural norms that muffle the information flow and sow disengagement; and 3) managerial—conventional policies and functional organization that discourage information sharing or out-of-the-box thinking. Goldratt asserted this constraint was 80-percent of the problem.

“While most organizations that aspire to enterprise excellence are thwarted at every turn by these constraints, there are leaders in every industry whose teamwork and collaboration amplify the continuous improvements of every individual in every part of the organization,” says Hamilton. “Through the collaboration effect, one perspective is replaced by many, and good ideas develop further into incredible ideas. What can we learn from these organizations and thought leaders? This is the question we pose for our 18th Annual Northeast Lean Conference.”

The Northeast Lean Conference attracts more than 500 passionate lean implementers every year from the manufacturing, healthcare, and service industries. Lean practitioners from the front lines to the back office attend with the goal of networking, benchmarking, sharing, and learning everything about continuous improvement and lean to get the tools, knowledge, inspiration, and confidence they need to bring their organizations to higher levels of operational excellence.

The annual event is ideal for executives and managers who play a role in driving lean transformation, and provides exceptional educational benefits to front-line team members, CI champions, and change agents from all functional areas of any organization.

Featured keynote presenters include Lee Erickson, chief quality officer at Tufts Medicine; Kevin Hancock, CEO of Hancock Lumber, and author of the book The Seventh Power: One CEO’s Journey into the Business of Shared Leadership (Post Hill Press, 2020); Ken Snyder, executive director of The Shingo Institute; and Bruce Watkins, president and general manager of KARL STORZ Endovision.

There will be more than 35 breakout sessions in five tracks: Strategic Thinking & Management’s Role in Fostering Improvement & Collaboration; Focus on People & Collaboration; Collaborative Workplaces & Lean Culture; and Innovations in Lean Thinking. There is also a track dedicated to those applying lean in healthcare. The final agenda was released earlier this month and is available to download from the conference website.

GBMP is excited to offer the event once again in person at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, but all sessions will also be available to livestream for those unable to make the trip.

If you would like more information about the Northeast Lean Conference and GBMP, call Lela Glikes at (617) 969–1396 ext. 2, or email LGlikes@gbmp.org. Exhibitor and sponsor opportunities are still available. Read more and register at www.NortheastLeanConference.org.