At NWHPEC, we believe continuous learning extends beyond our own offerings. On this page, you’ll find a curated selection of webinars and conferences from trusted external sources that align with our mission to support your efforts to foster a culture of continuous improvement. These recommendations are chosen for their quality and relevance and to compliment our offerings.
ALL TIMES PACIFIC
KSC Webinar: When the People Who Hired You Won't Engage - Recording link below
You were brought in to lead change. Now the same people who hired you have gone quiet — meetings get rescheduled, decisions stall, momentum leaks.
Improving a process is one problem. Getting the people who sponsored the work to stay engaged is a very different one.
Let’s talk about what’s actually going on in these moments, and what change agents can do to keep the work alive past the launch. Join our coaches, Mark Rosenthal and Tilo Schwarz for this informal conversation.
What you’ll leave with:
- A clearer read on why sponsor engagement collapses after the kickoff
- Two or three coaching moves to test in your next stakeholder conversation
- A pattern you can recognize before momentum leaks
Who this is for: Internal change agents, Lean and CI practitioners, and coaches working with sponsors who started strong — and then went quiet.
Presenters: Mark Rosenthal & Tilo Schwarz
AME Webinar: Digital Transformation in Manufacturing - Recording link below
ICYMI: Recording link (available until July 18)
In today’s rapidly evolving industrial landscape, the lines between traditional manufacturing and cutting-edge technology are blurring. This presentation, “Digital Transformation in Manufacturing” explores how Roche not only adapted to this change but thrived by embracing a digital-first mindset. We will demystify the concept of digital transformation and illustrate why every company, regardless of its industry, is becoming a technology company and every leader is taking on the role of a tech CEO. We will dive into actionable strategies for seamlessly connecting digital initiatives with operational goals, ensuring that technology that includes AI serves as a powerful accelerator for efficiency and growth. The session will feature practical, real-world examples of projects that are driving tangible improvements.
Join us to uncover how digital tools and strategies can elevate your operational excellence and secure your company’s competitive advantage in the new era of manufacturing.
Presenter: Dhruv Bhatt is the Head of the Digital Transformation Office at Roche, Branchburg. With over five years dedicated to shaping the company’s future, Dhruv has been instrumental in transforming traditional manufacturing processes into a highly efficient, data-driven enterprise. His work centers on implementing a unified digital platform that leverages advanced technologies such as Snowflake, Tableau, and automated data pipelines. This initiative is designed to enhance reporting, improve data accessibility, and foster a culture of continuous improvement across all functions. Dhruv’s focus is on harnessing data as a strategic asset to streamline operations, reduce errors, and ultimately boost the company’s responsiveness and profitability.
Learn more and register (free)
AME Virtual Tour: 2 Second Lean tour of Valleyview Industries - July 8 @8am
Join AME and host Paul Akers for the next highly rated 2 Second Lean tour series!
The 2SL approach is like Mentoring on Steroids for companies who are interested in developing their people.
On the tour, visitors will see Valley View Industries’ ongoing continuous improvement journey across manufacturing, installation and daily management systems. The tour will include the morning meeting area, visual management systems, spray booth, carpentry shop, sawmill line and production flow throughout the facility. The focus of this tour will be on how the company has continued building a culture of continuous improvement through training, cross-training, daily accountability, visual management, hoshin planning and problem solving. Attendees will also see how Valley View has developed internal digital workflow systems to support communication, production flow and operational visibility across the business. Rather than focusing on perfection, the tour will highlight the accumulation of many small improvements over time and the lessons learned throughout the journey.
This event is part of AME’s 2 Second Lean Tour series hosted by Paul Akers, author of the book “2 Second Lean” and owner of FastCap.
Kata Together 2026: Leadership & Coaching Conference July 13-17 in Mukilteo WA
Most leadership programs send you home with frameworks and an action list. This one sends you home different.
You spend five days on real conversations — coaching a hesitant team member, setting a meaningful target, leading without authority — alongside experienced coaches giving feedback in real time. You try. You miss. You try again.
Fifth year running. Not a conference. A working week designed to make you better at the work that matters most: yours.
Who comes to Kata Together?
For managers tired of having all the answers.
Ops directors, plant managers, team leads — anyone running a real operation. You’ve got a capable team, problems that keep coming back, and not enough hours to solve everything yourself. There’s a different way to lead — not softer, sharper. Better questions, fewer fires, a team that thinks for itself.
For Lean coaches and change leaders.
CI managers, internal consultants, transformation leaders. You’ve spent years helping organizations improve, and you know — the hard way — that the bottleneck is rarely the process. It’s the conversations around it. This week sharpens those: coaching the planning phase, engaging upward without authority, helping leaders make change actually stick.
For the Kata community, returning.
You know what a week in Mukilteo does to your thinking. This year, two new moves: a planning-phase dojo we’ve never run before, and a deeper leadership track that takes the work upward and across. Same group, deeper waters.
Learn more and register
AME Webinar (in Spanish): Respect For People - The Least Understood Pillar of the Toyota Production System - July 14 @4pm
Join us in this session to learn about improving the way your organization works as a collective by improving the way coworkers think and interact as individuals. Specifically, enhancing the way employees enterprise wide perceive, support, and work together to build a collaborative and positive workplace culture. This webinar will be presented in Spanish.
AME International Conference - Oct 26-29, Milwaukee WI
AME hosts one of the most impactful and influential lean conferences each year. This year’s theme is People First, Progress Together.
Join other NWHPEC members in October as we learn together. Reach out to Jennifer for information about discounts.