Join VMEC and Generator for their 2025 Advanced Manufacturing Day (AMD), a unique opportunity to celebrate Vermont manufacturing and its community of continuous improvement and innovation enthusiasts. This year’s Problem Solving Symposium is designed for Vermont manufacturers to come together to share challenges, explore solutions, and strengthen our statewide manufacturing ecosystem.
AMD 2025 is more than a networking event – it’s a hands-on, high-energy forum to connect, learn, and get inspired. You’ll meet local innovators, see real-world applications of improvement methods, and engage in meaningful exchange with peers across business, education, and government. While blogs, books, articles, and webinars abound on topics like systems improvement and talent development, this symposium offers a rare chance to interact with the people driving change, right here in Vermont.
The event includes:
- A dynamic poster session showcasing continuous improvement methods
- Engaging networking opportunities
- Focused learning from experienced problem solvers
Come celebrate what makes Vermont manufacturing strong and help shape its future!
Agenda
10:00 am – Companies check in, set up their poster and table
10:30 am – Doors open, Welcome remarks, Visit tables
11:30 am – Focus Session, Visit tables, Generator Tour (at discretion of attendees); Focus Session Topic – Workforce Development – Why and How Investing in Training and Development Makes Good Business Sense, presented by Rhino Foods
12:15 pm – Break for Lunch & Informal Networking; lunch provided by VMEC – please note: only postering attendees and select invited guests will receive a complimentary lunch
1:00 pm – Focus Session, Visit tables, Generator Tour (at discretion of attendees); Focus Session Topic – Strategy Deployment – Engaging Everyone with Focus, Alignment and Swiftness, presented by GlobalFoundries
1:45 pm – Poster voting closes
2:00 pm – Presentation of Awards (3 People’s Choice Awards courtesy of and provided by Generator) and Closing Remarks
2:30 pm – Networking
3:00 pm – Generator Electronics Lab Ribbon Cutting (funding provided by SBA in partnership with LaunchVT)
3:30 pm – Event concludes
Poster Session/Networking: Teams display and discuss their use of Continuous Improvement and Innovation methods to address a problem or strive for a future state in their workplace. Examples of past projects include meeting a technical or business challenge with Structured Problem Solving, gaining more capacity, cash flow or customers with Value Stream Mapping, sharing know-how and getting consistent results with Standard Work, Improving engagement and individual development toward organizational goals with Strategy Deployment, reducing variation and controlling costs with Six Sigma, etc. We suggest that you bring at least two (2) people from your team so you can take turns discussing your poster and walking around to talk with other teams about their projects. When registering for this event, please note in the Comments field the name or theme of your poster. It doesn’t need to be formal or fancy; choose from the examples below or create your own! And feel free to make it fun!
Focused Learning: The event will also include scheduled times when experienced practitioners will share and lead discussions on mindsets, methods, systems, tips and traps. See the agenda above on when these sessions will occur. There is no pre-registration for these learning opportunities but seating will be limited in each session, first-come, first-seated.
Cost to Attend: There is no fee to attend this event, but registration is required. Your “ticket” for 2 to 4 team members is your poster highlighting the continuous improvement or innovation method you used to learn and move toward your challenge. Don’t worry if you think your example isn’t “good” or isn’t “complete.” The symposium presents an opportunity for you to both showcase your team’s work AND get coaching from a knowledgeable and interested audience. Table space is limited; please register at your earliest convenience. If a waiting list becomes necessary, we’ll alert you ASAP when/ if a table becomes available.
Participant Poster Guidelines
- Keep it simple, time and budget friendly; a standard 36” X 48” tri-fold cardboard or foam poster board with drawings and pictures – think high school SCIENCE FAIR – seriously!
- Reflect on your learning about the process and methods you used
- Consider company confidentiality information sharing
- Consider capturing those wild and seemingly unrelated ideas, network opportunities…innovation comes from diversity!
- Think about sharing with folks outside of your industry to spark fresh ideas and new connections
- Ensure someone is always present at your poster; bring at least two people from your company – no one should be stuck at the poster all day!
- When registering for this event, please note in the Comments field the name or theme of your poster. It doesn’t need to be formal or fancy; choose from the examples below or create your own! And feel free to make it fun!
Ideas and Examples
Show your learning and application of continuous improvement and an innovation process by using a recognizable Lean method. Consider the following examples or use one of your own.
- Process Focus or Appreciation for a System
- Assessments – automation, competency, team dynamics, etc.
- Strategy and Scenario Planning, Activation or Deployment
- Root Cause Analysis or other Structures of Problem Solving
- Six Sigma or DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control)
- 5S, TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), Kanban/ Visual Signals, Daily Management
- Value Stream Mapping or Management
- Storyboards – A3, Kata, Visible Project Management
- Improvement or Coaching Kata, PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act)
- TWI (Training within Industry) – Job Instruction, Job Relations, Job Methods
Below are examples to make an A3 into a poster or for a Value Stream Map or other innovative Future State process, where go-see data could be charts or photos.
Need more information or inspiration? Contact VMEC’s Carla Wuthrich or Robynn Albert.
