Best manufacturing practices...a uniquely successful approach to teaming and partnering

There is nothing quite like Best Manufacturing Practices (BMP) in either government or the private sector. BMP is a cooperative effort involving government, industry and universities. For most of its ten-year existence, BMP operated as a "virtual" entity without formal recognition or significant financial support yet was able to effectively harness increasingly greater amounts of people, resources and funding to achieve remarkable success helping to improve the competitiveness of US Industry. This paper highlights how BMP developed and implemented successful strategies for teaming and partnering with government agencies, industries, trade associations and academic institutions. The BMP approach is unique in leveraging resources within government to add value and maximize results. It provides a model for how public and private organizations can work together effectively. The BMP approach produced successful strategies for attracting people and resources from a broad range of agencies, institutions and private sector organizations. These are documented along with techniques for leveraging customer focus and delivering products that add value and meet needs. Traps and pitfalls in teaming and partnering and how to avoid them are also addressed.