At KaiNexus, we firmly believe that the true measure of our achievements lies in the accomplishments of our esteemed customers. That's why each year at KaiNexicon, we celebrate some of our most successful customers by hosting the Nexie Awards. Our Annual Nexie Award Ceremony is one of our most beloved parts of KaiNexicon. The Nexie Award Ceremony is our way of honoring our customers for their hard work and commitment to excellence throughout the year. 

Now, drum roll, please…. 

Here are the 2023 Nexie Award categories and winners:

The Ofie Award: Pella Regional Health

The winner of this year’s Ofie Award is Pella Regional Health. The Ofie Award is given every year to a team that captures the spirit of joy and continuous improvement represented in our mascot, Ofie.

The team at Pella Regional Health works hard - and has a good time doing it. They approach the platform with a sense of fun and enthusiasm and are always willing to share their immense knowledge and experience with other customers. This team is a delight to work with. They’re a true partner of KaiNexus, always helping to make us better - be that through enhancement requests, participating in webinars, or finding new ways to engage their users to get involved. Thank you for everything you do! 

Best Optimization Partner: Ryder

This year's winner of the Best Optimization Partner is Ryder! This award goes to Ryder, who was the ideal partner for our new Optimization Review process. Here at KaiNexus, we are always looking for new and innovative ways to support the amazing CI work of our customers, and one of our most successful changes has been the introduction of the Optimization Review.

This team invited us to their office for an all-hands-on-deck two-day work session, committing the time and energy necessary to make improvements to their instance. This customer embraced our recommendations, putting forth the time and effort necessary to make the changes that ultimately maximized the KaiNexus experience for their users. 

Since then, they’ve committed the resources necessary to make KaiNexus a success and have seen tangible improvements in activity and engagement as a result. We are so lucky to work with a great team like you!

The True Grit Award: Mersen

This year’s winner of the True Grit award is...Mersen! The Mersen Team won this award because they are always fully engaged and continually working to improve their systems. They’ve pushed through the challenges of launching a new platform with grit and grace, admirably demonstrating both patience and a can-do mindset. This organization has stayed focused on the long-term importance of continuous improvement and KaiNexus despite competing priorities.

Their commitment to improvement is apparent in their constant drive to iterate on their KaiNexus configuration. Though this is only their first year with us, we’ve already reworked their ideation workflow and launched Hoshin planning. They do an incredible job of soliciting and incorporating internal feedback to build their system in a way that is truly valuable. We continue to be impressed by you, Mersen!

Top Turnaround Award: Rockwater, A Select Company

This year’s Top Turnaround Nexie goes to Rockwater, A Select Company. The Top Turnaround is awarded to the organization that has displayed the most progress using KaiNexus to build its improvement culture since last year’s conference. Rockwater's champion was brand new to her role- and her company - when she attended KaiNexicon last year. She embraced the opportunity to learn everything they could about KaiNexus and the ways our customers use it. In the year since the conference, this organization, thanks to the hard work of its champion, has revitalized and revolutionized its improvement culture. They’ve integrated KaiNexus, and CI, into the very fabric of their company, and we’re proud to have been a part of this journey. We can't wait to see what the next year brings you! 

Outstanding Achievement Award: UMass Memorial Health

The winner of this year's Outstanding Achievement award goes to UMass Memorial Health. The Outstanding Achievement Nexie is awarded each year to a team that goes above and beyond to support and grow continuous improvement at their organization. 

UMass Memorial Health has continued to engage their employees by supporting a myriad of initiatives in KaiNexus. From Lean Belt certifications to Grant Funding, if you can think of it, they have probably done it. Not only does this team selflessly support the employees at their organization, they do so in all of the right ways. They embrace and welcome curiosity and innovation. They face challenges head-on. They listen to the people around them and are always willing to grow and listen. We can't wait to continue on this journey together!

Rookie of the Year Award: Sherwin Williams 

The Rookie of the Year award goes to – Sherwin Williams! Sherwin Williams joined us after the prior year’s conference and has really knocked their rollout out of the park. Most of our team first met the winner of this award at last year’s KaiNexicon, which they attended before they were even a customer - and it’s been such a joy to be a part of their journey since.

This team has partnered up with us across many departments to continuously improve both the platform and our implementation process as their adoption grows. They’re a true partner for us, and we’re incredibly excited to continue working with - and learning from - this organization throughout the coming years. We're so lucky to partner with you! 

Honorary KaiNexian: Adam Grimwood - AB Agri

This year’s Honorary KaiNexian is awarded to Adam Grimwood at AB Agri. The Honorary Kainexian Award is awarded each year to the person who truly embodies the spirit of a “Champion.” Adam challenges us to grow and approaches the platform with a CI mindset that pushes us to always improve. He has a reputation within KaiNexus for giving the most direct and useful feedback with such kindness and patience, always asking insightful questions, and recommending product enhancements that you’ve all benefitted from. He might work somewhere else, but it feels like he’s a part of our team, and we are truly grateful for his dedication to helping us better KaiNexus! Thank you, Adam! 

The Team of the Year Award: Abbott Laboratories 

Finally, the Team of the Year Award goes to....Abbott Laboratories! This year’s Team of the Year Nexie goes to Abbott Laboratories because their entire CI team is truly rockstars. Through an engaging and collaborative approach, the team is on the same page and working toward the same goals. Each person we work with has a unique skill set, and when combined, they are a force to be reckoned with. 

When this team wants to achieve something, they make it happen. From standardizing processes around their network and growing the user base to creating and designing intuitive and powerful workflows, this team does it all. They are not only fun to work with, but also push us to be our very best. Thank you for all that you do!

The KaiNexie Award: Elise Miller and Dillon Murray

Our last Award is a very special one(or two!). The KaiNexie Award is the highest honor we present to KaiNexus Employees! But this year, we couldn't decide on just one -- so we awarded two KaiNexie Awards!

The first Nexie was awarded to Elise Miller, Manager of Solutions Engineering. Elise has been with KaiNexus for going on three years, and in that time, her relentless pursuit of knowledge and improvement has changed the way we serve our customers and left a lasting mark on the organization. She leads by example, embodying the curiosity, empathy, and dedication to her craft that make us… us. She pushes us to be better in so many ways, and it’s an honor to work with - and learn alongside her. Thank you for everything you do, Elise! 

Our second Nexie Award goes to Dillon Murray, KaiNexus Developer. KaiNexus was Dillon's first 'real job' after he graduated from college, and he's been an incredible part of our team ever since. Dillon's personal and professional progress is the definition of continuous improvement - each project he takes on is a bit better than the prior one. Dillon is not afraid to spend a little more time on a ticket to make sure it is done correctly as opposed to getting it done quickly. In addition to getting his own work done well, he is also a great teacher to both inexperienced and experienced developers alike. We couldn't do it without you, Dillon! 

That's a wrap on our 2023 Nexie Award Season. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more content about what all happened at KaiNexicon.