Beyond the Production Line: Connecting the Lean Ecosystem
Most organisations focus their Lean efforts on the production floor. However, if your support functions aren’t operating at the same level, your business isn’t Lean – it’s constrained. Delays in procurement, misaligned planning, unclear communication, and reactive office workflows quietly undermine even the most efficient production lines. The result is longer lead times, higher costs, and missed delivery targets.
Lean in Support is designed to address this gap.
This one‑day conference will showcase how leading organisations connect operations and support functions through Lean/Operational Excellence – building a common language, a holistic cross‑functional view, and a culture that makes continuous improvement sustainable.
Full Programme coming soon…
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
8.30 am Registration and Networking
9.00am Welcome and introductions
Communication: Creating a Common Operating Language
9.30: TBC
9.55: Lost in Translation: Bridging the Communication Gap
Ann Sheahan, Managing Director, Entellexi
10.20: Agentic AI: Enabling End-to-End Organisation Flow
Brian Hanly, Co-Founder & CEO, Brightbeam
10.45: Q&A with presenters
11.00: Coffee/Tea Break
World View: Managing the Whole, Not the Parts
11.15: Managing Behaviours & Mindsets, not just the end goal
Nicky Flanagan, Senior Operations Excellence, Kinisla
11.40 Continuous Improvement Beyond the Manufacturing Floor
Eric Hennessy, Director of Production, Boston Scientific
12.05 Continuous Improvement in Wider Value Stream of a Manufacturing Plant
Dr. Gerard Grace, Director of Business Excellence, Edwards Lifesciences
12.30: Q&A with presenters
12.45: Lunch and networking
Culture: From Firefighting to Continuous Improvement
13.45: Making the Invisible Visible
Marie Clifford, Managing Director, ATC Group
14.10: From Mission to Metrics: Connecting our Purpose to Everyday Performance
Frank Keane, CEO, Vitalograph Group
14:35 The Culture Advantage: Creating the Conditions for Continuous Improvement to succeed
Tom O’Carroll, Director of Manufacturing Ireland, Zimmer Biomet
15.00: Q&A with presenters
15.15: Problem Solving Challenge A presented by local secondary school
15.25: Problem Solving Challenge B presented by local secondary school
15.35: Keynote Speaker: Micheál Geraghty, Vice President Operations – EMEA, Coca Cola
16.05: Remarks from Anchor Sponsor-Pat Burke, Vice President and General Manager, Cook Medical
16.15: Closing Remarks – Helen Downes, CEO, Shannon Chamber
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James Martin
Atlantic Aviation Group
James Martin is a Continuous Improvement Facilitator with Atlantic Aviation Group and has more than 35 years’ experience in the aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry. Beginning his career as an aircraft mechanic before qualifying as an EASA B1 Licensed Aircraft Engineer, James transitioned into Lean and continuous improvement in 2008. Over the past 15 years, he has led Lean transformation initiatives across Europe, the Americas and China, including developing the Lufthansa Technik global Visual Management standard, which has been implemented throughout its heavy maintenance network. His expertise spans visual management, problem solving, leadership development and organisational transformation. A regular speaker at Lean conferences, James has presented on visual management, employee engagement and practical problem solving. He also serves as Chair of the Mid West Lean Network. Combining deep operational experience with international Lean leadership, James is passionate about helping organisations use visual management to change behaviours, improve decision-making and achieve sustainable performance improvement.
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Ann Sheahan
Entellexi
Ann Sheahan is Business Owner / Manager at Entellexi, a High Technology Small Firm (software development). Ann has over 35 years working with people and teams at all levels in organisations, of all shapes and sizes, delivering operational excellence as well as lean and digital transformations. Her experience spans working with small companies with support from the LEO’s, small and mid-caps through Enterprise Ireland as well as large companies through the IDA. Ann also works with EU institutions monitoring funded programmes for the benefit of SMEs across the EU. Ann is known to many of you in this Network as her former students. She lectures and mentors Masters students at Irish Universities; specialist areas include Lean and Six Sigma (Master Black Belt), Problem Solving Courses based on TQM Methodology as well as Basic and Advanced courses in Statistical Process Control.
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Brian Hanly
Brightbeam
Brian Hanly is the co-founder and CEO of Brightbeam, the integrator of digital intelligence. Brightbeam integrates digital intelligence into regulated enterprises so completely that AI becomes second nature, meaning, fully embedded across technology, process and culture, and integrated with the human expertise, judgement and accountability that regulated industries depend on. Brian is passionate about helping companies and their people be the best they can be; he has set Brightbeam’s core identity on the aim of being the most helpful company in the world.
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Nicky Flanagan
Kinisla
Nicky graduated from UCC with a degree in Food Business leading on to the Kerry Group Graduate programme in 2013. Working through various Operations roles across Charleville, Listowel & Ossett (Near Leeds) where he is currently based since 2015”. He is Lean trained by Toyota executive residence in the University of Kentucky, Nicky began branching into Continuous Improvement roles in Kerry Group covering sites In Ireland & the UK since 2022. In his current role he is tasked with facilitating the CI strategy across the newly branded “Kinisla” business across Listowel, Charleville, Newmarket, Portadown, Coleraine & Ossett Dairy plants
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Eric Hennessy
Boston Scientific
Eric Hennessy is a senior operations and manufacturing leader with more than 25 years of experience in the medical device industry, including over 20 years with Boston Scientific. Currently serving as Senior Director of Production, he managers production within the Galway site and manages the Operational Excellence team on site. Eric has worked in several functions within the operations organisation, including Manufacturing Engineering, Project Management and Production. He has successfully managed multimillion-dollar programs, including the transfers to and from Galway. As a strong advocate for Continuous Improvement within the manufacturing environment and business support functions, Eric is always looking to enable and grow the continuous improvement culture within the site, by educating teams, system development and growing a culture of teams looking to improve their areas. Eric holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) from the University of Limerick.
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Dr. Gerard Grace
Edwards Lifesciences
Experienced Professional in best practice deployment in Operations Management, lean Six Sigma, Asset management, TPM and Class A in Manufacturing and Transactional processes. Ger’s primary Degree is in Industrial Chemistry and has a PhD in chemistry from UL. He is also an experienced Master Black Belt. He has ran & mentored hundreds of improvement projects so learned a lot about what works (and doesn’t!) in real life situations. He transferred this experience into tailored green belt, Problem Solving and TPM programs which he delivered in multiple locations. Ger’s key strengths are in problem solving, detailed data analysis capabilities combined with clarity of communication, facilitation, and ability to interact with people at all levels of the business. His interests outside of work include his family, Mountain biking, Dogs, Philosophy and anything outdoors.
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Marie Clifford
ATC Group
Marie Clifford is Managing Director of ATC Group, based in Shannon, Ireland, a company that designs and engineers workspace and flow solutions for manufacturing organisations, with particular expertise in regulated industries including medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Her work is centred around a simple principle: Make Work Flow. This philosophy extends beyond equipment design into operational thinking, workplace culture, communication, and organisational behaviour. Under Marie’s leadership, ATC Group has evolved from a traditional engineering business into a behaviour-led Lean organisation focused on improving flow across both production and support functions. Marie is also founder of The Lean Company (TLC), a business focused on providing practical, standardised Lean tools that help organisations improve flow, communication, and workplace organisation without unnecessary complexity. A strong advocate for people-first Lean, Marie believes that sustainable operational excellence comes less from tools alone and more from behaviours, ownership, standards, and daily routines. Her particular interest lies in the intersection between people, culture, leadership, and operational performance, especially how support functions and production teams can operate as one connected system rather than isolated departments
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Frank Keane
Vitalograph
Frank Keane is the CEO of the Vitalograph Group, having joined in 2004 as the General Manager of the Ennis, Ireland site. Vitalograph was formed in 1963 and designs, manufactures, and supplies Class II respiratory diagnostic medical devices and accessories to primary, secondary and tertiary care as well as equipment, services and software systems for clinical drug trials globally and has completed over 280 trials to date. The company employs 450 globally in the USA, UK, Ireland, Germany and Japan. Before joining Vitalograph, Frank worked with Parthus Technologies (2001-2004) as the General Manager of the GPS chip division. Prior to that, he worked with Artesyn technologies (1995-2001), a US multinational, as Global Director of product marketing and R&D Manager. Previous roles were in R&D and R&D management in several companies from start-ups to multinationals, including Intepro and Burr-Brown. Frank has a B.Eng (Electronics) from UL (1986) as well as an M.Sc (Mgnt) from TCD (2003) and graduate diploma in strategic marketing from the Wharton School of Business at Penn State
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Tom O’Carroll
Zimmer Biomet
Tom O’Carroll is an experienced and inclusive leader, with a demonstrable track record of implementing change and delivering results through people and process. He is committed to the guiding principles of integrity, accountability and developing talent to strengthen the organisation. He continually seeks out value propositions to both organisation and customer and through engagement, collaboration and innovation, he delivers results that facilitate growth and foster a winning culture.
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Pat Burke
Cook Ireland
Pat Burke is Vice President and General Manager at Cook Ireland, based in Limerick. With over three decades of leadership in electronic and medical device manufacturing, Pat brings deep expertise across engineering, operations, facilities management, customer service, supply chain logistics, and distribution. His career includes key roles at Sumicem Optoelectronics, Dell, AST Computers, and Intel, where he built a strong foundation in high-tech and regulated industries. At Cook Ireland, Pat leads strategic initiatives that drive innovation, operational excellence, and global competitiveness. He is known for fostering collaborative teams and delivering results in complex, fast-paced environments. Pat holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics from the University of Limerick.
