Mannok has won the Operational Excellence in Manufacturing category at this year’s Operational Excellence Awards in Dublin, with its Operational Excellence Manager also named Operations Manager of the Year.

The prestigious awards programme, held annually in Dublin, recognises and rewards individuals, teams and organisations who have made a commitment to achieving operational excellence and business transformation.

This year, more than 60 organisations were finalists in 20 award categories, with Mannok up against six other high-performing businesses in the category it won.

Operational Excellence (OpEx) is an approach to business management that emphasises continuous improvement across all aspects of the business and within all business processes by creating a culture where management and employees are invested in business outcomes, and empowered to implement change.

The Derrylin-headquartered business group has been working towards operational efficiency since January, 2022, following the launch of its ‘Mannok Leading Excellence Programme’, an operational excellence strategy, which helped the company to achieve the OpEx award.

Regarding Mannok’s wideranging company-wide initiatives, the awards ceremony at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dublin, heard judges hail: “The excellent and progressive work around Operational Excellence in Mannok grabbed the panel’s attention, with a great Lean and Continuous Improvement programme underpinning all the work and effort that is being put in by the team.

“This company is taking clear steps to make its operational vision a reality, and is a very worthwhile winner in this very competitive category. Congratulations to everyone at Mannok.”

Mannok’s Operations Director, Kevin Lunney, said: “The implementation of OpEx is under way in four of eight manufacturing facilities and associated support functions across our business, with performance already yielding significant improvements.

“I would like to congratulate the Operational Excellence Team on this prestigious award and the wider Mannok team, who have all been very receptive to adopting the operational excellence core principles of teamwork, problem-solving, innovation and leadership.”

Continuing, he added: “It was a very proud moment for the company to be recognised along with some of the most successful businesses across the country.

“It was also a very proud moment, when Conor Baxter, our Operational Excellence Manager, was crowned Operations Manager of the Year. On behalf of the whole company, I’d like to commend Conor and thank him for all his work.”

The Operations Manager/COO of the Year award was the only individual award of the evening, with judges looking for an individual who had made an exceptional contribution to the success of their organisation.

Commending Conor, the awards ceremony heard judges’ views that: “Conor demonstrates a real can-do attitude; he’s self-driven and has tapped into various levels of the business with his passion and leadership.

“Not only has Conor applied OpEx practices personally, but he’s also influenced his entire organisation and beyond, promoting OpEx on a large scale. Congratulations to Conor Baxter.”