a brief introduction to the

north of england transformation network

We are a not-for-profit network of individuals who share a common interest in organisational transformation in the north of England. The group developed in the spring of 1999 from the North East Regional Group of the British Deming Association. Although W Edwards Deming still provides the central philosophy of most of our membership, we welcome input from people who share our aims from outside the 'Deming paradigm'.

The group serves the geographical area of Yorkshire and the North of England and its members represent a wide spectrum of organisations such as engineering, Local Government, building materials, Civil Service, leisure / tourism, education, banking and retailing. Many perspectives are brought to the network: owners, managers, employees, consultants. We all share a common interest in making the workplace a better and more productive place to be - for the benefit of everyone in the system.

The group has four regular meetings each year, plus two or three 'special' events. At our meeting in May 1999 we collected a lot of thoughts about the aims of the network and the possible content of future meetings.

The venue for the four regular meetings is Kirkdale Conference Centre in Brighouse, West Yorkshire.

• Access for coffee and networking, is available from 9:00 a.m.
• Meetings commence at 10:00 a.m.
• Lunch is provided from 1:00 p.m.
• Regular meetings close by 2:00 p.m.

Membership

Be our guest!  Attendance at your first regular NET2 meeting is entirely free of charge.  Please contact Alan WInlow if you would like to attend as our guest.

The annual membership fee is £80 (UKP) per annum, to cover attendance at the four regular meetings, and includes lunch and any materials. Substitution is permitted and guests are welcome to attend regular meetings at the individual rate of £30 per meeting. Special events are charged for on an individual basis. The membership 'year' runs from September to September. Members joining mid-term may pay pro rata.

The primary channel for communications is text based E-mail. Membership also covers inclusion on that distribution list.

Administration is carried out by a group of volunteers:

Alan Winlow

Jacqui Kirby

Paul Hollingworth

David Oliver (treasurer)

The following are some areas of common interest in the network:

• business excellence
• continuous improvement of quality and productivity
• customer focused process improvement
• lean thinking / lean manufacturing
• creativity and innovation
• systems thinking
• co-operation not conflict
• effective use of data / understanding variation
• psychology - especially of intrinsic motivation
• learning and education
• environmental concerns