22nd May 2015
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mr. Richard Bruton TD, today (22 May 2015) opened Enterprise Ireland’s Dublin Lean Summit at Dublin Castle.
Dublin Lean Summit – ‘Driving Competitiveness’ opened by Minister Bruton
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mr. Richard Bruton TD, today (22 May 2015) opened Enterprise Ireland’s Dublin Lean Summit at Dublin Castle. The summit is organised by Enterprise Ireland and supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation.
Participants of the Summit include 90 of the world’s leading companies, from Europe, Japan and Ireland. These companies will share their experiences of the impacts of Lean on their businesses and how it can drive competitiveness in global markets.
International speakers include Toyota, LEGO, Audi, FIAT, Bosch, Siemens, DHL, Schaeffler, Recaro and NorskHydro. Irish companies attending come from a range of different sectors as well as on the FDI side such as; De Puy, Lake Region, State Street, Zimmer, Acelity, Intel, IBM, Pfizer, Aerogen, Dairymaster, Openet, Paddy Power.
Opening the conference Minister Bruton said:
‘Maximising efficiency and productivity is critical to any business’s ability to survive, export, grow and ultimately add employment. Lean is one of a range of tools we have put in place to support the growth of Irish companies, and we have seen impressive results in the past 3 years with over 17,000 extra jobs created in Enterprise Ireland-supported companies, and record levels of exports achieved. Today’s event is a great initiative and provides a real opportunity for knowledge sharing. I hope that people here today who are focused on developing productivity in their own businesses get the opportunity to share with others and ultimately learn lessons which will help them grow their companies in the future.’
Enterprise Ireland’s CEO Julie Sinnamon added:
‘Process and product innovation is at the heart of gaining competitive advantage in business and a key priority for Enterprise Ireland. We help Irish companies lever-off the excellent innovation platform that exists in Ireland, to drive competitiveness, as a key accelerator of firm performance. As a result, Irish companies are competing and winning strong positions in niche sectors globally. This event is a great opportunity to showcase great Irish innovation, and of course, to learn from the experience of international experts.’
Over the last five years, Enterprise Ireland has supported over 700 Lean projects in companies resulting in significant improvements across a number of areas.
A recently published Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation report on the Enterprise Ireland Lean Business offer clearly identified the impacts of the Lean initiative which include:
- 20% increase in productivity
- 40% increase in sales
- 6,200 people trained in Lean
- 11% increase in employment
Evaluation of Enterprise Business Development Programmes
ENDS
For further information contact:
Aoife O’Sullivan, Senior Press Officer, Enterprise Ireland
T: +353 87 3288076 E: aoife.osullivan@enterprise-ireland.com
Notes for Editor
Enterprise Ireland’s Lean Business Offer
Enterprise Ireland’s core mission is to work in partnership with its client companies to develop a sustainable competitive advantage leading to a significant increase in profitable sales, exports and employment. Lean tools and techniques are helping companies across the globe to address competitiveness issues within their business, building the capability of their people to identify issues and improve their operations. Enterprise Ireland’s Lean Business Offer is designed to encourage clients to adopt Lean business principles in their organisation to increase competitiveness. The programme is based on 3 levels of intensity of interaction with clients.
LeanStart: focus on value
A short in-company assignment of up to 7 days by an external business development consultant, which will introduce Lean principles and agile
processes and complete a specific cost-reduction project. Assignments typically extend over eight weeks.
LeanPlus: performance improvement
A medium-scale business process improvement project by an external business development consultant, which will result in the sustained use of Lean techniques and related methodologies within the company. The objective is to achieve significant measurable gains in company capabilities and competitiveness. Assignments will typically be not less than 6 months duration.
LeanTransform: business transformation
An extensive, holistic company transformation programme by an external consultancy team of international reputation. It will embed the culture and competences in the company necessary for on-going competitiveness gains, sustainable continuous improvement and business transformation across the business and its supply chain. Assignments will typically extend for at least one year. The assignment is preceded by a diagnostic evaluation.
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