Helen Downes, CEO, Shannon Chamber (centre) pictured at the Mid-West Lean Network conference in Dromoland Castle Hotel with (from left): Paul Taylor, Panametrics, Baker Hughes; Noel Hennessy, keynote speaker; Martin O’Shaughnessy, Advanced Technical Concepts; Dolores Ryan, Beckman Coulter Diagnostics; Ciara Barrett, Regeneron; Maria Ryan, Crystal Lean Solutions, conference sponsor; Jennifer Stratton, Cook Medical and Network chair; Niall Tuite, LBS Partners, Street Event sponsor; Teresa Prendergast, Cook Medical; Jamie Bridgeman, Panametrics, Baker Hughes; and Ruairi Ó hAilín, Enterprise Ireland. Photograph by Eamon Ward

With a theme that questioned whether people were central to lean, attendees at the annual Mid-West Lean Network conference, held in Dromoland Castle last week, were left in no doubt that keeping people interested, informed, involved and inspired is critical to operational success and that lean isn’t lean if it does not involve everyone in the organisation.

Business leaders from across the region joined Shannon Chamber for this sixth annual conference, which drew speakers from Advanced Technical Concepts (ATC), Panametrics Baker Hughes, Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, Regeneron and Cook Medical with the keynote address delivered by lean expert, Noel Hennessy, managing director of Practical Lean Solutions, who summed up the day by telling the audience that the role of leadership is getting the best rather than the most from their employees.

The conference also included a ‘Street Event’ where nine companies displayed key lean projects they had undertaken during the year and the gains derived from them. The nine companies included Atlantic Aviation Group, Aerogen, Cook Medical, Macmarts, Milford Care Centre, Zimmer Biomet, Zagg, Berka Solutions and J&J Med Tech. The projects were assessed by conference attendees who selected the winner in two categories – SME and multinational or large indigenous – with Milford Care Centre and Cook Medical taking the honours.

The conference was sponsored by Crystal Lean Solutions and supported by LBS Partners, WrxFlo, Ei Electronics, Analog Devices, ICBE Advanced Productivity Skillnet and Shannon Chamber Skillnet, with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland also supporting the Network’s wide range of activities.

Explaining the rationale for selection a theme that zoned in on people, Shannon Chamber CEO Helen Downes said that over the past six years, the Chamber, via the many Network events and visits to companies, has learnt that empowering people at all levels in an organisation and encouraging them to participate in problem solving and decision making is essential to the success of any lean implementation strategy.

“Effective collaboration among people is vital to implementing lean successfully as is creating a culture where employees are actively involved in improving their work processes. This requires lean leaders to develop, coach and mentor their teams, enabling them to grow their problem-solving skills and their capacity for innovation,” she added.

This collaborative, instructional and inspirational approach was borne out in each of the presentations made on the day.

Martin O’Shaughnessy, operations director, Advanced Technical Concepts, spoke about the value of delivering to corporate values, which in ATC’s case are focussing on excellence, getting things right first time, being passionate about striving to find solutions, being there for others, including colleagues and customers and, taking personal ownership to drive the company forward.

Paul Taylor, global quality leader and Jamie Bridgeman, global advanced manufacturing engineering, value stream and lean leader at Panametrics, Baker Hughes, referred to every day as a school day, with the need for continuous learning, particularly in a company that is integrating intelligent digital technology into its manufacturing and industrial processes.  Stating that lean gives employees a tool kit but not the experience of industry, their advice to attendees was to get out and visit other companies, benchmark their progress against others and take in new learning, continuously.

Director of manufacturing operations with Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, Dolores Ryan, reiterated this message that lean is not just a set of tools or processes but a mindset and a core responsibility of every employee.

Ciara Barrett, senior continuous improvement specialist with Regeneron, said that empowering people is at the heart of Regeneron’s continuous improvement programme and that company leadership challenges everyone in the company to identify and implement one continuous improvement idea every year. This approach, she said, has resulted in a one hundred per cent participation rate in continuous improvement and 4,557 improvements delivered in 2024 alone.

The progress that Cook Medical has made since it first adopted lean in 2016 was most impressive and even resulted in the company winning the MNC category in the Street Event this year. As Teresa Prendergast, director of continuous improvement and business operations with Cook Ireland said: “Individual and team recognition and celebrating improvements are key elements of the company’s continuous improvement programme.

“People are central to lean,” she added.

Keynote speaker at the conference, Noel Hennessy, summed up this emphasis on people in lean by focusing on employee engagement and stating that work shouldn’t just be about making a living, it should be about making a positive difference, in the lives of employees, customers, business partners and the community in which a company operates.

“Employee engagement is the one thing that changes everything. Engaged people apply more discretionary effort, make a greater contribution to the organisation and enjoy increased job satisfaction,” he added.

Advising leaders in the room to be their authentic selves, but with a healthy dose of self-awareness, to use every opportunity to engage with their employees and create a personal connection, to always assume good intent and to do what they say, and say what you do, he said that trust comes from interactions between people.

“The more positive interactions you have, the more you know and come to trust one another. As others share your perceptions, experiences, and feelings, it is important to treat that sharing as a precious gift, “he advised.

Summing up the learnings from the conference, Mid-West Lean Network chair, Jennifer Stratton, continuous improvement (CI) engineer with Cook Medical said: “Lean requires constant monitoring and measuring, celebration of successes and learning from failures, of which there might be many. Having the capacity, driven by a corporate culture of continuous improvement, to get back on track and moving forward is so critical. That can only be achieved through people.”

Referencing feedback received from a student undertaking an MSc in Lean at the University of Limerick who said he had gained so much from listening to each speaker, she added: “That’s what conferences should do; impart new knowledge to attendees at all stages of their working lives and enable collaboration and the sharing of ideas and best practice.”

Thanking Enterprise Ireland for its ongoing support and the growing number of businesses who have been involved with the Network since it was set up in 2016 and whose contributions make the conference and the many workshops held during the year a success, Chamber CEO Helen Downes drew the conference to a close with a call to attendees to invite any company commencing or enhancing their lean journeys, to link up with the network, one of a number of industry-lead networks set up by Shannon Chamber.

With the 2024 conference now concluded, the Mid-West Lean Network committee have turned their attending to being part-organisers, in association with Box Media, of the Lean Business Ireland annual conference, which will be held in TUS Limerick on 21 May 2025 and is expected to attract over 500 delegates to the Mid-West region.

Representatives from Milford Care Centre receive the Mid-West Lean Network best SME problem solving project award from Niall Tuite, director LBS Partners, joined by Jennifer Stratton, chair, Mid-West Lean Network. Photograph by Eamon Ward

Representatives from Cook Medical receive the Mid-West Lean Network best MNC problem solving project award from Niall Tuite, director LBS Partners, joined by Jennifer Stratton, chair, Mid-West Lean Network. Photograph by Eamon Ward

Shannon Chamber CEO Helen Downes (centre) pictured with representatives from conference sponsor companies (from left): Pat Sheehan, Ei Electronics; Tim Crowe, WrkFlo; Jennifer Stratton, Network chair; Maria Ryan, Crystal Lean Solutions, main sponsor; Alan Kelly, Shannon Chamber Skillnet; Aidan Kelly, ICBE Advanced Productivity Skillnet; and Gavin Sheehan, Analog Devices. Photograph by Eamon Ward