Ornua has become the first recipient of the ‘International Continuous Improvement Excellence Award’ this morning, June 27.
Awarded by the Leading Edge Group at a ceremony at Kerrygold Park in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, the award recognises the work carried out by Ornua’s operational excellence programme – which has reportedly resulted in financial benefits of €2.4 million in 2016.
Ornua’s operational excellence team was acknowledged for successfully deploying ‘The Ornua Way’ programme across six European processing facilities last year.
The award was presented to Ornua’s Chief Operations Officer (COO), Anthony Proctor, by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Leading Edge Group, Joe Aherne, at a ceremony which was also attended by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed.
After receiving the award, Proctor said: “Ornua’s operational excellence teams across the globe are using ‘The Ornua Way’ to deliver sustainable improvements and costs savings in an ever dynamic global competitive environment.
“Improving operational efficiency is key to achieving our ambition to deliver a sustainable EBITA margin of 3% by 2021 and ensuring strong returns for our members.”
Delivering improvements in these areas can yield “dramatic results” for a business, reducing costs and increasing margins, according to Ornua.
During the course of this year, the programme has been rolled out to an additional four sites; Ornua plans to have all operational sites embedded within the programme by 2018 – including China, Africa, Saudi Arabia, the USA and Europe.
‘Best standards possible’
Minister Creed commended the Ornua operational excellence team for its “commitment and dedication to ensuring that all Ornua processing facilities, around the world, operate to the best standard possible”.
Irish dairy enterprises operate in highly-competitive markets. It is crucial that we implement best practice in operations, which reduce costs while promoting sustainability.
“Ornua has a well-earned reputation for innovation, not just in product development but in terms of both leading the industry and how it does business.
“What we are celebrating here today is proof that Ornua and Kerrygold are taking the steps necessary to ensure that Irish dairy products remain market leaders in a highly-competitive global dairy market,” he concluded.