Celebrating Innovation and Excellence

Projects in our Excellence Showcase highlight Tirlán’s culture of operational excellence

Our third annual Excellence Showcase was held in the Abbey Quarter Collaborative Hub, featuring 24 finalist projects across eight award categories. Each project represents a commitment to continuous improvement and innovation within Tirlán.

Event Highlights

The event, hosted by the Operations and Supply Chain Excellence Team and the Irish Centre of Business Excellence, allowed finalists to present their projects and engage with attendees. Each project team had the opportunity to vote for all projects, using a voting card system to rank their top three choices. Additionally, a QR code was released during the event, enabling attendees to cast their votes for the People’s Choice Award.

Winners by Category

  • COVI: Virginia FFMP Yoghurt Performance (Greek 2.0) – Donal Reilly, John Reilly, Anthony Farrelly, Brian McDonnell, Grainne Gilsenan, Tania O’Connor (R&D), Lab Technicians and Powder Operators
  • Quick Win: Eliminate Casein Downgrade from Food to Feed Post DAFM Sampling – Amy Ward, Paul Hickey and Patrick Furlong
  • Customer Impact: Project Flow: Development of Liquid Oat Base & Collaboration with Tirlán’s Key Customer “Diageo” – Helen Walsh, Mairtin O’Coinceanainn, Mark Hannon, Ruairi Murnane, Garry Sheehan, Carol Power, Diarmuid Doran, Colm O’Brien, Kyeesha Glenn-Davi and Eve Nolan
  • Problem Solving: Cheese Right First Time – Catriona Twomey, Aoife O’Rourke, Alan Fox, Patricia McGrath, Brian Mullally, Louise Lynch, Yvonne Owens
  • MES/Data Driven Decision: Future Proofing Milk Quality – Gordon Grey, Eamonn Comaskey, Louise Campion
  • Strategic Impact: Farming for Water: River Slaney Project – Matthew Moylan, TJ Phelan, Michael Hassett, Thomas Ryan, Donnacha Ryan, Elaine Brady, Bryan Harte, with guidance from Milk Supply Managers and Business Managers
  • Sustainability: Wexford Water Reduction – Matthew Roche, Wojciech Grab, John Kelly, Ed Doyle, Fintan Mullins
  • Continuous Improvement: 25% Reduction in Quality Release Time for UHT Products – Trevor Jordan, Sarah McCabe, Stephen Emmett, Rosie McCourt, Brendan Carbin, Eoin Murphy, Alan Costigan, Marco Quatrana, Raymond Li, Lisa Stewart, SGRS (Neil Roche)

People’s Choice Award

The People’s Choice Award went to the Cheese Right First Time project, led by Catriona Twomey, Aoife O’Rourke, Alan Fox, Patricia McGrath, Brian Mullally, Louise Lynch and Yvonne Owens.

Congratulating all the teams, CEO Seán Molloy said: “Our commitment to continuous improvement is resolute. All of our people contribute to it every day and bring about our culture of operational excellence. Congratulations to all the participants and winners.”

Thank you to everyone who participated and made this event a memorable celebration of innovation and teamwork. We look forward to seeing these projects implemented and the positive changes they will bring.