Representatives from the Best Manufacturing Practices Center of Excellence (BMPCOE) participated in the 19th Annual Shingo Prize Conference March 26-29,2007 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront in Jacksonville, Florida.  The theme of this year’s conference, “Leadership in Lean,” was appropriate to the event, which saw its largest attendance ever of more than 400 leaders and practitioners of lean principles participate in plant tours, conferences, and workshops.  BMP representatives acquainted attendees with the BMP Program, demonstrated the Best Manufacturing Practices (BMP) Database, and described to company representatives the benefits of hosting a BMP Survey to showcase their best practices.  BMP representatives also completed the “Shingo Approach to World-Class Manufacturing” workshop and are now certified Shingo Prize Examiners.

     The conference culminated in the awards ceremony during which 12 North American companies were honored with the 2007 Shingo Prize, dubbed by Business Week as “…the Nobel Prize of manufacturing.”  Raytheon Missile Systems’ Louisville facility was one of the 12 award recipients and had participated in a 2006 BMP Survey to have their processes validated in preparation for the Shingo Award.