{"id":195786,"date":"2025-11-23T09:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T09:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/195786\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T09:57:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T09:57:11","slug":"what-an-impact-they-made-clare-students-win-industry-support-at-leading-network-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/195786\/","title":{"rendered":"‘What an impact they made’: Clare students win industry support at leading network conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transition Year students from St Patrick\u2019s Comprehensive School in Shannon<\/a> stole the show at this year\u2019s Mid-West Lean Network Conference after taking to the stage and seeking companies\u2019 support in solving real problems within the school.<\/p>\n

In a first for the conference, the organiser, Shannon Chamber, replaced its traditional mid-event showcase of lean solutions with student-led pitches, highlighting issues they face daily.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two companies immediately volunteered to take on the challenge:\u00a0Berka Solutions,\u00a0an Ennis-based consultancy specialising in business transformation and continuous improvement and\u00a0Cook Medical\u00a0in Limerick, a global leader well practiced in lean and continuous improvement methodologies.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0<\/strong>‘Eleventh hour’ postponement of oral hearing into proposed Clare wind farm is slammed<\/a><\/p>\n

Berka Solutions will work with the school to streamline canteen operations, reduce queues and improve payment efficiency. Cook Medical will help develop a solution aimed at reducing unauthorised student exits by 90% within three months. Both companies will also train staff and students to ensure effective adoption of the new systems. The completed projects will be presented at a Mid-West Lean Network event in 2026.<\/p>\n

Shannon Chamber CEO,\u00a0Helen Downes,\u00a0expressed her delight with the initiative: \u201cWhile we regularly include secondary students in events that support their learning, this was our first time inviting them to actively participate in our annual lean conference, and what an impact they made.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were articulate, well prepared and impressed the audience of senior executives from diverse sectors. Their futures are certainly bright and their CVs will be in demand when they complete their studies. We look forward to seeing the solutions they help deliver,” she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The students\u2019 involvement was one highlight in an action-packed conference, featuring speakers from Cook Ireland (Pat Burke, vice president and general manager), PPG Ireland (Gerry Cahill, global operations director), Lufthansa Technik Turbine Shannon (Pat Foley, CEO and managing director) CSG (Kevin Quinn, CEO), J&J Vision Care (Maeve McLoughlin, process excellence lead), Ei Electronics (Nicky Mullen, process development engineer), Zimmer Biomet (HR business partner), Penn Engineering (Goda Zvikaite, quality assurance\/design and compliance quality), Ballygowan Britvic Ireland (Kieran Stack, plant manager) and Shannon Precision Engineering (Dominic Murphy, managing director).<\/p>\n

Their panel discussions and presentations explored the conference theme: The role every layer of an organisation plays in driving continuous improvement. Topics included \u2018Transforming Lean Mindsets\u2019, \u2018Bringing Lean to Life – From Vision to Reality\u2019\u00a0and\u00a0\u2018Cultivating Mindset and Perspective.\u2019<\/p>\n

The keynote address was delivered by Marie Power, head of leadership development at Uppercut, who opened her talk by singing \u2018There Is an Isle\u2019\u00a0in a striking operatic performance. Drawing from her background in opera, she highlighted how orchestral performance mirrors lean principles: each role working in harmony to produce a refined, value-driven outcome.<\/p>\n

Along with this, practical case studies from J&J Vision Care and Ei Electronics resonated strongly with attendees and students alike. They underscored that failure, embarrassment and setbacks are inevitable, and invaluable teachers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEmployees must feel comfortable contributing and driving improvements,\u201d presenters stressed.<\/p>\n

Keynote speaker Marie Power echoed this sentiment, noting that opera taught her timeless lessons about high performance: \u201cEvery role, from soprano to stagehand, is vital. If one person falters, the entire performance suffers. Opera is intentional, every action adds value. Just as in lean, there is no room for waste or unnecessary noise.\u201d<\/p>\n

She reminded attendees that lean tools alone do not create high-performing organisations, people and culture do. Her advice included: focus on actions that truly matter, eliminate negativity and ego, admit mistakes, repeat without fear, empower everyone and manage energy to avoid burnout.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t rely on short-term bursts,\u201d she cautioned.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the event, Cook Medical continuous improvement engineer and outgoing Mid-West Lean Network chair, Jennifer Stratton said: \u201cOur goal was to equip and inspire everyone, regardless of their role or experience, to contribute to operational excellence. Through practical examples and rich knowledge sharing, the day achieved exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She formally handed the chair role to James Martin, continuous improvement facilitator at Atlantic Aviation Group, who will lead the network for the next two years. She expressed her thanks for the opportunity to serve, noting that her lean journey began in 2019 and has since led to strong connections with fellow practitioners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Transition Year students from St Patrick\u2019s Comprehensive School in Shannon stole the show at this year\u2019s Mid-West Lean…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[66085,18,19,17,2994,4172,40299,108742,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-195786","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-cook-medical","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-johnson-johnson","13":"tag-schools","14":"tag-shannon","15":"tag-shannon-chamber","16":"tag-technology"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115598422461883198","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}