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This month in Jacksonville, Florida, the fifth annual FAME National Conference drew its largest crowd yet—a testament to the growing demand from employers for FAME-trained talent. Attendees representing FAME chapters from across the country spent three days exchanging ideas, solving problems and advancing the work of the FAME USA network.

What is FAME: FAME, the Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education, is the premier American model of manufacturing skills training. Created by Toyota and now overseen by the Manufacturing Institute, the NAM’s 501(c)3 workforce development and education affiliate, FAME provides manufacturers with a reliable pipeline of highly skilled, work-ready Advanced Maintenance Technicians who understand their culture, expectations and operations.

• FAME students complete a rigorous full-time earn-and-learn program where they attain associate’s degrees, attending classes at their partner community college while working for their sponsoring employer.

The event: This year’s conference covered everything from artificial intelligence in manufacturing to the Quality Assurance initiative  and chapter branding. The event received sponsorship support from several organizations, including Amatrol, Johnson & Johnson, CNC, Smurfit Westrock and Snap-on.

• Chapters that achieved unique successes shared their approaches in the Collective Genius session. The AL FAME Rocket City chapter explained how they doubled their employer partner count in a single year, and the TN FAME Tri-Star chapter shared how they created a study abroad opportunity for their AMTs.
• The inaugural recipients of the FAME Catalyst Grant also attended. These six new chapters will open in the fall.

The competition:  A highlight of the conference was the student Manufacturing Core Exercise competition. MCEs, a key component of FAME’s curriculum, allow students to identify, implement and present innovative solutions to persistent problems in their workplaces. Six presentations were selected from across the network to compete on the conference mainstage.

• These projects deliver real-world impact. A group of Alabama FAME Shoals students working at Constellium noticed a critical motor was losing integrity due to excess dust and poor airflow. They cleaned it and sealed the room, extending its lifespan and potentially saving upward of $1.21 million in replacement costs.

The winners: Judges scored each presentation based on professionalism, presentation content, relevance to the MCEs and project impact.

• Mat Klapetek of the Alabama FAME Huntsville Tech chapter won first place in the first-year student competition. He standardized damaged and mismatched production control boxes across Discovery Body Weld’s plant floor, improving reliability and ease of preventative maintenance.
• Jefferson Hymer, Brendan Gallagher and Cody Newsome of the West Virginia FAME Kanawa Valley chapter won first place in the second-year student competition. They reduced a machine’s emergency downtime by 8.52%, saving Niterra North America nearly $5,000 per year.
• Xavier Bethea from the Michigan FAME Mitten chapter won the People’s Choice Award, as selected by the audience. He created an app that reduced the time Toyota teams spend evaluating vehicle performance data by 83%.

Join us in 2027: Next year’s conference will be in Kansas City, Kansas, May 18–20. Stay tuned for more information later this year.

Get involved: Visit FAME USA’s website to learn more about how manufacturers and educators can get involved with FAME, and check out this Q&A with FAME USA National Director Tony Davis about how the FAME model operates.