The Continuous Improvement Lean Collaborative (CILC) is a not-for-profit, multi-state network of public and private individuals, organizations, and companies who together promote continuous improvement in business, government, and services as a center of learning and mentoring for collaboration, innovation, and enterprise excellence in the public and private sectors.
Its goal is to provide opportunities for business, government, and service leaders to share enhanced approaches and methods for attaining greater excellence in operational effectiveness, efficiency, and value to customers, employees, and stakeholders.
CILC pursues this goal through providing forums for practitioner and organizational learning — with active collaboration and sharing of knowledge, experience, and resources across all sectors — by:
- Providing education and information for the effective implementation of continuous improvement philosophies, principles, and practices, with a focus on Lean.
- Developing, conducting, and promoting learning opportunities, such as seminars, workshops, study missions, conferences/summits, webinars, etc.
- Working collaboratively to assist in achieving world-class results through continuous improvement implementations.
- Sharing knowledge and best practices among all private and public sectors.
- Leveraging continuous improvement success and innovation to promote workforce and economic development
In its evolution, the Collaborative’s Leadership Board and Summit Planning Team have included representatives of Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership; Jotul North America; governments of Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New Brunswick CA; Lonza Rockland; the Town of Durham, New Hampshire; IDEXX Laboratories, Inc.; Infinite Services, Inc.; Lean Capitol LLC; Lean Enterprise Institute; AME; A Better Culture; and New Futures – New Hampshire.
In 2008, a small informal group of individuals came together to discuss their wish to share their continuous improvement know-ledge and experience and to learn from and collaborate with others. Recognizing the relationships and interdependencies, it was important to the CILC group that the Summit bring together the public and private sectors and all types of organizations and roles. So the idea of the Summit was born.
The Organization’s purpose is to address, educate, coordinate, and bring together all entities, private and public — non-profit and for-profit — to learn, collaborate, and innovate using continuous improvement philosophies and approaches, focusing on Lean concepts and methods, to achieve enterprise excellence.