Employees at Roche Clarecastle were in celebratory mood this week when their work in implementing lean processes in the company was recognised at the Lean Business Ireland Awards 2019.
The Clarecastle team brought two awards home to Co Clare – the Lean Organisational Leadership Award and an individual Lean Champion Award.
The Lean Business Ireland (LBI) Awards, held annually, recognise and acknowledge the effort of companies in Lean and continuous improvement.
The Roche team received the LBI award for Lean Organisational Leadership for demonstrating lean leadership at all levels and in all functions of the organisation.
Roche site leader Gerry Cahill said: “This award reflects the leadership shown by the entire team in driving the Lean into Our Future programme, which we introduced in 2017 to equip staff with new and beneficial skills. By surfacing and solving business issues every day we worked together and strengthened our Lean skills and performance. This has equipped us all, management and employees alike, with essential skills that will serve us well into the future.”
Special recognition was given to Roche’s director of operational excellence, engineering and environment, Billy O’Shea, for the crucial part he played in the company’s Lean programme.
His dedicated focus and vision in creating and maintaining the Lean programme in Roche resulted in his receiving the Lean Champion Award 2019, an award given to an individual who plays a critical part in an organisation’s lean programme.
“This is fitting recognition for the enormous contribution Billy has made to rolling out the entire programme,” added Mr Cahill.
Commenting on the awards overall, he added: “These awards are a great recognition of the calibre of the team on site in Clarecastle and their ability to introduce and maintain a Lean programme throughout an organisation. It recognises all the hard work that made our Lean programme a tremendous success.
“Receiving national recognition for their work will elevate the team’s profile. It will be something we can all associate with and will certainly improve our employment prospects,” added Mr Cahill.