After working in the electronics (Measurex, Seagate, 3COM) and pharmaceutical industries (Stafford Miller, Norton), Noel Hennessy joined Lake Region Medical in 2001 as Production Manager.  Lake Region Medical began their lean manufacturing journey two years later and Noel’s passion & enthusiasm for lean led to his promotion as Continuous Improvement Director in 2005, and then as Op Ex Director for Europe and Asia when Lake Region was acquired by Greatbatch Medical in 2015

During Noel’s tenure the site achieved the Shingo Bronze Medallion and Irish Medical Technology Company of the Year in recognition of their Operational Excellence Program. The Shingo Prize is widely recognised as the ‘Nobel Prize’ for manufacturing.  Noel is now an examiner for the Shingo Institute and participates in assessing sites globally on a regular basis.

He was awarded his MSc in Lean Operations from Cardiff University in 2007 and his Doctorate in Business Administration from Waterford Institute of Technology in 2017.  The focus of Noel’s doctoral thesis was exploring the relationship between Employee Engagement and Continuous Improvement.

Noel’s search for best practice has seen him participate in global benchmarking visits to Europe, the US, India, and Japan.  He is a very passionate advocate of the transformational power of Lean and the Shingo Model in particular as he feels this places the emphasis on the behaviours and systems required for sustainable transformation.

In November 2021 Noel co-authoring Human Lean with John Bicheno (Author of The Lean Toolbox). In the book Noel & John make the case that that while 21st century employees demand greater participation and better leadership, they also bring along vast opportunities for betterment to their organisations, to society, and to the environment. Noel’s hope is that the book will assist organisations and leaders in applying apply lean as a means of getting the best, rather than the most from their employees.

The webinar titled “The People Side of Lean” will be facilitated by Steve Halpin (Lean Teams MD) who will pose questions to Noel on his experience of implementing lean over the past 20 years.