Productivity increases of 38 per cent have been recorded by companies participating in the World Class Business Cluster programme designed by Shannon Development.
Twelve companies recently completed the first year-long programme. The main aims are to improve productivity, waste management, marketing, sales practice and teamwork.
Participating companies are benchmarked against a European database and given wideranging training and 15 to 31 days' consultancy.
"Mixing with people from other companies has helped to encourage our people to develop their careers and put forward new ideas," said Mr Sean Ryan, founder and managing director of Galtee Wood & Veneer in Ballylanders, Co. Limerick. "It has also helped a lot in terms of motivation and teamwork."
Reviewing the first programme, Mr Billy Wixted, project executive with Shannon Development, said the programme had produced tangible results.
"Improvements of up to 38 per cent have been achieved in productivity, waste has been drastically reduced, and marketing and sales strategies have been drawn up," he said. "Most important of all is the fact that the participating companies are now adopting a team approach to problem identification and solution." The Shannon Region programme is a modified version of one run on a pilot basis by Enterprise Ireland, based on a book called An Introduction to World Class Manufacturing by Richard Keegan. "We have fine-tuned the programme to the Shannon region and built it around local and regional communications," Mr Neil O'Sullivan, Irish industry manager for Shannon Development, said. "We also used it to build up a local base of consultants with expertise in world-class manufacturing." Meanwhile, a second cluster programme began last October.
Contact number
Readers who wish to contact Eibhir Mulqueen can leave messages by dialling (01) 6707711, extension 6544, or email emulqueen@irishtimes.ie