As a manufacturer, you work hard to keep costs down, profits up, and your customers happy. But can you stay competitive and reduce your environmental footprint at the same time? The answer is yes.

CAMT has partnered with the Green Suppliers Network and the 2008 Sustainable Opportunities Summit to offer "Lean & Clean Manufacturing" on February 27. Attend this seminar and learn how coupling Lean Manufacturing techniques with sound environmental strategies can give you the Lean and Clean Advantage. In one day, you'll learn how to:

• Turn Hidden Environmental Waste into Cost Savings
• Enhance the Effectiveness of Lean Implementation
• Meet Customer Expectations

Learning to see and eliminate waste is a cornerstone of Lean initiatives. In this course you will learn how traditional Lean tools, such as 5S, Kaizen and VSM are applied to environmental waste, saving you money. You'll also learn how CAMT and the Green Suppliers Network can assist you in applying these techniques to enhance your bottom line.

Attend the Sustainable Opportunities Summit Kick-off and Networking Reception following the Lean and Clean Manufacturing seminar at 5:30 for $25. Attendees of the seminar are also offered a discount rate of $225 to attend the entire Summit. See article below for more details about the Summit.

For more information or to register contact Merrily Hill Smith via email or 303.592.4087.

"Eureka! Winning Ways gave us a focus and the mechanism to move things forward. We are ready and equipped to continue to improve and grow this company." - Richard Powell, General Manager

Brunson Instrument Company manufactures high- precision alignment products and accessories for large-scale, three-dimensional measurement. The Kansas City, Missouri-based company has been in business for 80 years, and has 42 employees with annual sales of $9.5 million. Still family-owned by a third-generation president, the company had experienced 8-12% incremental growth for the last five years. A focus on making their internal manufacturing processes lean resulted in more capacity than they once thought they had, and they needed to fill that new capacity.

Using the Eureka! process, Brunson pared down their ideas to two. The first idea was for a low thermal expansion scale, one-meter bar to calibrate instruments. The second was for target holders for laser trackers that would be certified and serialized to be traceable. Investigation into the viability of both proved to be promising, and six weeks after their initial Eureka! session the company had both in development. Ten weeks later, they were the featured items in the company's exhibit booth at the trade show of the Coordinate Measurement Society, which attracts attendees from the aerospace industry. Reaction from customers was overwhelmingly positive, with many saying "we've needed one of these for a long time and no one's been able to provide it." Pre-show sales coupled with requests for quotes at the show sent both products into quick demand.

Based on early sales and customer interest, Brunson estimates conservatively that they will create $200,000 in sales from the bars, and another $100,000 from the target holders in the next year. In addition, the company has started the Eureka! process again with new ideas and is already looking into new projects that could potentially result in an additional $400,000 in sales revenue.

To learn more about how Eureka! Winning Ways can help your company achieve growth goals, hear Doug Hall, founder of Eureka! Ranch at the Made in the USA - Choices for Growth breakfast event on January 31st at the Colorado History Museum. To learn more about this event, please visit the CAMT Web site.

The rules of business are changing. Climate change is at the height of media attention and has become an important part of current business trends. The 2008 Sustainable Opportunities Summit will explore how companies can financially benefit from becoming more engaged in addressing climate change.

As evidence mounts that human activity is contributing to global warming, many leading businesses are taking meaningful steps to address the climate challenge. In the process, they are realizing significant opportunities by creating new sought-after products, realigning the way they operate, and reducing their energy costs. Companies are finding that managing the risk of climate change and lowering their impact on the environment allows them to gain investor confidence, reduce their exposure to non-compliance, and increase their profits.

The 2008 Sustainable Opportunities Summit will bring together business leaders from across Colorado and the nation in a unique forum to assess the growing opportunities created by climate change. CAMT will be offering a one-day seminar as a pre-institute conference to the Summit on February 27, addressing how expanding the traditional definition of Lean Enterprise to one that includes environmental wastes opens up significant business improvement opportunities, further strengthens Lean results, and improves environmental performance.

Would you like to keep costs down AND support your community? The Bruno Vocational Center, a program of the Developmental Disabilities Resource Center (DDRC), offers specialty packaging & fulfillment, light manufacturing, and minor assembly & production services to Colorado manufacturers at competitive rates.

The Bruno Vocational Center provides employment opportunities, skill training, and support to able individuals with developmental disabilities. The center utilizes a 20,000 square foot building with loading docks and forklifts, making those large volume jobs manageable for your company. Services such as shrink-wrapping, heat-sealing, blister pack, and collating and binding are completed on time to your specifications. The Center can also provide supervised work crews to work at your location.

For more information, please contact Tom Pripish at 303.908.6499.