After an enforced absence of two years, the highly successful Mid-West Lean Network’s annual conference is returning to its now familiar venue, the Analog Devices building in the University of Limerick. The conference will take place on Wednesday, 9 November from 7.30am until 4pm.
A new feature introduced at the 2019 conference, the A3 Storyboard Award, is also being retained and conference organiser, Shannon Chamber, is now calling on companies who are members of the Mid-West Lean Network to submit an entry and give visibility to the great achievements their company is making through deploying lean principles and processes.
The overall award, which is sponsored by LBS Partners, will go to the best A3 project ‘storyboard’ entered as part of the ‘Street Event’ element of the day-long 2022 conference programme.
The ‘Street Event’ will include displays of the ten best A3 storyboards submitted by companies who have entered for the award. The winner will be chosen by Conference attendees via an electronic voting system on the day.
Announcing the return of the conference and the award, Shannon Chamber CEO Helen Downes said: “We are delighted to be able to host a live conference again. Whist we have maintained our series of lean-focused workshops throughout the pandemic through hosting them online, we missed the ability to meet in person, feature guest speakers and facilitate networking amongst our members.
“With final tweaks being made to the overall conference programme, which will be announced in the coming weeks, we are launching the very popular ‘Storyboard Award’ as it was so well received when we first ran it in 2019. The A3 project storyboard is a process within lean whereby a solution is sought for an identified problem within an organisation, each milestone is recorded, and the overall benefit derived quantified.
“We are now seeking entries for this new award. The ten (10) best posters submitted in terms of process and results attained will be shortlisted by an adjudicating committee of lean experts. They will then be displayed as a ‘street event’ at the conference with attendees getting the opportunity to visit and be briefed on each displayed entry. The winner will be selected by the conference audience through an interactive, online voting system in the auditorium.
“We expect companies will avail of this great opportunity to put the spotlight on the great strides their lean teams are making. Our judges will be kept busy this autumn, but in a very rewarding way,” added Ms Downes.
To enter the A3 posters Award, companies must:
- Submit their company name and project title to admin@shannonchamber.ie on/before Thursday, 15 September 2022.
- Complete an entry template, which will be forwarded on receipt of entry notification, and return to admin@shannonchamber.ie on/before Friday, 7 October 2022.
- The final 10 shortlisted entries will then be invited to participate in the Conference ‘Street Event’ through having their team attend on the day to present their project. The ‘Street Event’ display posters will be prepared by the organising committee using the content entered by each individual company as part of their award entry.
Full details of the Mid-West Lean Network 2022 Conference will shortly be available at www.shannonchamber.ie/events-training/
