Future proofing a business through Lean the focus of Shannon Chamber’s Mid-West Lean Network Conference.
With the global economic environment posing challenges for companies in the domestic and export markets, Shannon Chamber has been busy assembling a panel of impressive speakers to demonstrate how companies can future-proof their businesses through using lean principles.
The conference includes an A3 Project Storyboards’ Street event, sponsored by LBS Partners, which is a very dynamic way of showing how companies are solving problems within their organisations.
The ‘Street Event’ will include displays of nine shortlisted A3 storyboards which have been submitted by:

• Atlantic Aviation Group – Material returns to stock
• Edwards Lifesciences – Output increase by 500% on Cleanroom Manufacturing Process
• Edwards Lifesciences – Problems as Gifts – Using A3 approach during enforced downtime to transform process
• Cook Medical – The Plastic Stents manufacturing business unit project
• Analog Devices Limerick – Analog intends to half its carbon footprint by 2030 and has a carbon neutrality goal of zero by 2050
• Berka Solutions Ltd. – Operational Excellence Program for SMEs
• Zimmer Biomet Oranmore – PPK Rosler Risk Reduction
• Zimmer Biomet Oranmore – G7 Hip Cup Anodising Process Capability Improvement – Using Lean methodology to reduce rework rate from the anodising process from 22% to 3% 
• Zimmer Biomet – Rework for two tone and blotching on the anodised surface. 

Each project storyboard will outline the process the company used to attain a solution for their identified problem, with each milestone recorded and an overall quantifiable benefit derived. The storyboards will outline how the judging criteria – problem, process, milestone and benefit – were met. Conference attendees will select the winner via an online voting system in the auditorium.

Webinar discussion on the future of the workplace post covid-19

Webinar in implementing sustainability in FM

Webinar on Sustainability in FM - Emerging Technologies

Delight to host this webinar with Portobello Institute on the 22nd of June 2021.
A really fantastic line-up of speakers with Aine Mulcahy from OCS, Joan Mulvihill from Siemens, and Tomás MacEoin from Hereworks.

Workplace Strategy in a VUCA environment

The challenges facing Facilities Managers in 2020 has significantly changed over the past number of years - climate change, political uncertainty, the banking crisis, and now the Corona Virus are all changing the workplace, not just for Facilities Management but for society and the world we live in.
There can be no denying that in a world characterized by VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment), Facilities and Workplace leaders now have a choice to make, accept the unknown and focus on reacting in the moment or seek out new ways to observe and proactively guide their workplace in a manner that will counteract the risks and impacts associated with our new VUCA environment.
So how can we move not just from reactive to proactive, but to adaptive?
I recently undertook a strategic review on how to adapt and present a dynamic approach to mitigate the risk associated with VUCA, allowing organizations to develop strategies that not only ensure long-term sustainable prosperity but also seek out the opportunity to leverage the benefits of a VUCA environment.
The challenge is to change how we plan strategically and to base our strategy in the core principles of change management.
My 4 Ds model focuses on the key changes that need to be implemented to deliver long term success
Drive Change - Don’t wait for the burning platform before seeking to change. Kotter’s eight step model works well

• Establish a sense of urgency about the need to achieve change
• Create a guiding coalition
• Develop a vision and strategy
• Communicate the change vision
• Empower broad-based action
• Generate short-term wins
• Consolidate gains and produce more change
• Anchor new approaches in the corporate culture

Diversification - this spreads and disseminates risk, therefore reducing the impact of unforeseen events. This could be in terms of geographic property portfolio, services offered, customers and resources.
Data - Workplace technologies, IT platforms, and ERP systems - ensuring real time internal information to be able to react immediately to an event, combined with Local Knowledge utilization, therefore adapting to trigger points to improve decision-making in an accelerated fashion
Dynamic - Agile and dynamic Leadership and resource management to steer the organization through the changing environment at pace.

Change isn’t just coming, it’s here! We now live and work in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world and the sooner the facilities and workplace industry embraces it, the better it will be for our customers and clients.

Stronger together.

Bernard MacOscair
Managing Director
Berka Solutions
+353 87 2678453
“As we grow, we adapt. As we adapt, we learn. As we learn, we create our stories”

www.berkasolutions.com