Where quality, CI and operations people meet: October 2026 to June 2027
Ten US conferences, in date order, where the people who run quality, continuous improvement and operations in plants go to hear from each other.
Ten US conferences between now and June where people who run quality, continuous improvement and operations meet. Dates and audience figures are the organizer’s own, taken from its event page, media kit, prospectus or registration site. For The Quality Show they come from the organizer’s press releases (BNP Media, May 12 and August 31, 2026).
| Event | Dates | City | Who it’s for | Worth it for people who run the system | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo | Oct 18 to 21, 2026 | Washington, DC | “Pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical professionals from all levels of industry.” ISPE expects over 2,000 people and more than 300 exhibitors. | ISPE lists regulators from global agencies among those attending. | ispe.org |
| AME Milwaukee 2026 International Conference | Oct 26 to 29, 2026 | Milwaukee, WI (Baird Center) | 1,100+ participants, continuous improvement practitioners “from the C-suite to the frontlines,” with manufacturing at the core. | 30+ practitioner presentations and 15+ best-practice tours, with Molson Coors, GE HealthCare and Johnsonville among the hosts. | ame.org |
| The Quality Show | Oct 27 to 29, 2026 | Rosemont, IL (Donald E. Stephens Convention Center) | Quality professionals. Produced by Quality magazine, the show “connects manufacturing professionals with process improvement vendors and cutting-edge quality assurance solutions.” In 2026 it runs as a “curated Quality Show experience” inside The ASSEMBLY Show, which BNP Media describes as the event for “manufacturing engineers, operations leaders, and production professionals.” | A Quality Track on Tuesday, Oct 27, put together by the editors of Quality magazine; 15-minute ASQ sessions on Oct 28 and 29; technical sessions of ASQ’s Measurement Quality Division on Oct 28. Same week as AME. | qualitymag.com |
| OPEX Week: Business Transformation World Summit | Jan 25 to 27, 2027 | Orlando, FL (Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista) | 600+ “Enterprise Transformation Leaders.” | VPs of continuous improvement are among the speakers. The attendee companies run from banks and health systems to restaurant chains. | processexcellencenetwork.com |
| ASQ Lean and Six Sigma Conference | Feb 28 to Mar 2, 2027 | Louisville, KY | 500+ quality practitioners; 20% at management level or above. | One subject, lean and Six Sigma, in a room about a third the size of ASQ’s May conference. | asqmediakit.org |
| Shingo Connect USA 2027 | Mar 15 to 17, 2027; workshops Mar 18 and 19 | Atlanta, GA (Courtland Grand Hotel) | “Professionals from across industries,” with attendees from healthcare, mining, government, ports and logistics, and pharma. | Site tours are included with registration at no extra cost. Overlaps with LEI’s Lean Summit. | shingo.org |
| LEI Lean Summit 2027 | Mar 16 and 17, 2027 | Los Angeles, CA | “Leaders, practitioners, and learners from healthcare, manufacturing, technology, and services.” | Registration includes access to the 2026 Summit presenter videos. Overlaps with Shingo Connect. | lean.org |
| AISTech 2027 | May 3 to 5, 2027 | Nashville, TN (Music City Center) | The steel industry; 9,711 people attended in 2026. | “Hundreds of technical presentations spanning the full steelmaking process.” | aist.org |
| WCQI 2027, ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement | May 23 to 26, 2027; exhibits May 23 to 25 | Dallas area, TX (Gaylord Texan) | Nearly 1,700 attendees “from a variety of quality professional backgrounds”; 13% at director level or above; 87% from the US; 14% healthcare, 8% aerospace and defense. | ASQ’s flagship conference. | asqmediakit.org |
| Rethink 2027, Manufacturing Leadership Council | Jun 27 to 30, 2027 | Scottsdale, AZ | “300+ top-level manufacturing executives and their teams,” in the organizer’s description of past editions. | Content on “technology, organization, culture, leadership, workforce and more.” | manufacturingleadershipcouncil.com |
Last checked: October 9, 2026. Events whose 2027 dates we couldn’t confirm on the organizer’s own site are left out until we can.
Sources
- ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo, dates, audience, attendance and exhibitors: ISPE
- AME Milwaukee 2026, dates, venue, presentations and tours: AME; attendance and attendee profile: AME 2026 prospectus
- The Quality Show, dates, venue, audience and the description of The ASSEMBLY Show: BNP Media release, May 12, 2026; “curated Quality Show experience,” Quality Track, ASQ sessions and Measurement Quality Division: BNP Media release, August 31, 2026. Both releases link to the show page at Quality Magazine.
- OPEX Week, dates, venue, attendance, speakers and attendee companies: Process Excellence Network
- ASQ Lean and Six Sigma Conference, dates, city and attendance: ASQ
- Shingo Connect USA 2027, dates and city: Shingo Institute; venue, workshops, industries and site tours: registration site
- LEI Lean Summit 2027, dates: LEI events; city, audience and the 2026 videos: LEI, Lean Summit On Demand
- AISTech 2027, dates, venue and program: AIST; 2026 attendance: AIST
- WCQI 2027, dates and attendee profile: ASQ; venue and exhibit dates: ASQ
- Rethink 2027, dates, city, audience and content: Manufacturing Leadership Council
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