A representative from the Best Manufacturing Practices (BMP) Program participated in the Sixth Annual Advancing Manufacturing Summit held at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana on 10 May 2007. The annual event offers unique insights into achieving manufacturing competitiveness. This year’s Summit brought together 400 industry, government, and university leaders in a day-long event to discuss a variety of manufacturing-related issues, learn about cutting-edge manufacturing research, and network with manufacturing peers. The morning’s general session featured speakers from the governor’s office, the National Association for Manufacturing Technology, the Indiana Manufacturing Association, the Association for Manufacturing Technology, Honda America, and Subaru of Indiana. Each shared a message of having achieved manufacturing competitiveness through process improvement, workforce development, and the application of best practices. The afternoon session examined understanding and strengthening the role of suppliers in the manufacturing value chain. Valuable case studies were presented by Rolls Royce, the ITT Corporation, Cummins Inc, and Allison Transmission that emphasized achieving quality parts, lower cost, and on-time delivery through long-term agreements, strategic alignment with suppliers, proper use of process improvement tools, waste elimination, management and workforce engagement, and communication between customers and suppliers.