This was a very beneficial visit; although it is a very different business to ours, the learnings were there to see and are applicable to us. Some of the observations are as follows:
- Impressed at how EMC sustain 5S in the last 2 years
- Noted how good their auditing process is, how well it is embedded
- They have managed a 5S program without high investment
- Very safety conscious, not overly fussy on aesthetics, seem to have the right attitude and a practical approach
Thanks for organizing this visit, well worthwhile and well done to EMC.
Boston Scientific2009 Best Practice Site Visit to EMC, Cork
I have been through the ILSF website and found it very informative. The best features, I found, were the Members and the Knowledge Sharing sections. It is an excellent website and rivals that of any University or training body in the country.
Boston Scientific
Galway
The ICBE Lean Benchmarking Trip to the USA has been, for me personally, a very worthwhile and eye opening experience. I feel privileged to have been in a position to see the inner workings of these great companies and to spend valuable time networking with many of their key staff. Looking back on the trip I feel it was something special. The learning experience was invaluable; you cannot obtain this level of learning from reading books, or going to conferences. I found that when you spend time with these talented people, you learn from the conversation on the bus, the story over dinner, the one to one’s at various points throughout the day and week. I also found that as a group of Irish based companies on the same itinerary, we formed a network or ‘club’ over the week that binds the group together.
Boston Scientific
2007 US Best Practice Visit
We were delighted with Ken Kreafle’s visit, speaking to over 100 employees in our auditorium. He held their attention and interest for two hours without a break, no-one left early. Great performance by Ken and great learning by us.
Boston Scientific Cork
2008 Keynote Speaker Event, Ken Kreafle, GM-Production Engineering, Toyota Motors
A short note of appreciation for allowing my colleagues and I to visit your plant on the 11th June, 2008. We were very impressed with the approach to Lean demonstrated. The passion and commitment to Lean shown shines through and is very evident.
I would have no hesitation in recommending to others that they should visit your plant if ever the opportunity should arise again.
We learned and saw many of the theoretical Lean techniques really being used in a cGMP environment which is refreshing. I only wish more of my colleagues could have take advantage of this opportunity.
I hope that we can stay in touch and network.
Trinity Biotech
2008 Best Practice Site Visit to Lake Region Medical, New Ross
Perfection! Learning from those who are doing it - warts and all!
Ballina Beverages
2008 Operational Excellence Development workshop
I was most impressed with the Lean conference on 4-5 March as organised by the ICBE. My experience of these conferences is that they tend to be talking shops with no tangible ideas/tools to take away/implement. However over the two days I and my colleagues were very impressed with the practical advice of the guest speakers ie get back to basics, standardisation, standardisation, standardisation. The 'Six Thinking Hats', was also seen as very practical and easy to implement. I also particularly liked the story of Dell senior managers starting a book club on lean to become experts over time. We have already implemented this idea and are starting to expand our lean knowledge base.
Bulmers
2009 Lean Symposium
Excellent course; well pitched. Great opportunity to have a Kerry only event, as we could adjust areas of focus. Bradley was an excellent trainer who presented very useful and clear material in an easy to understand and relaxed manner. His mixture of practical help and anecdotal evidence was helpful. The balance of listening and doing was just right.
Kerry Group
2009 Practical Problem Solving and A3 Workshop
