Chair:
Sean Ryan, Managing Director and co-owner of Thormac, Shannon.
Thormac is a leading custom plastics, injection moulding and contract manufacturer, operating in Shannon, Ireland. Thormac specialise in plastics design, prototyping, large part moulding & value-added assembly. It’s range of machines enables Thormac’ engineers to cater for all customers’ needs, from both large and small parts and low to medium volumes. Our innovative team provide our customers with relevant solutions, for example, a number of plastic for metal substitutions and continue to be driven by the emerging new materials in plastics.
Sean has over 30 years’ experience in the sub contract manufacturing industry and in more recent years, plastic injection moulding. Throughout his management career, Sean has gained extensive experience in working with different technologies in assorted manufacturing environments such as PCBA, assembly, injection moulding, sheet metal fabrication and turned parts. He has a proven track record in achieving results in commercially competitive environments. He is experienced in project management, cost reduction programmes, new product introduction and implementation of ERP systems.
Sean has a Master’s in Business Administration as well as an Electronic Engineering degree. He also holds diplomas in Lean Systems, Quality Management and Project Management. Sean is also the chair of the E2E Manufacturing Group within of the Irish Medtech Association
Panelists
- Colm Sheils, Director of Operations, Boston Scientific Galway.
- Padraic O'Keeffe, Engineering Manager, Boston Scientific Galway.
- Brendan Shephard, CEO, Smart Factory.
Colm Sheils, Director of Operations, Boston Scientific, Galway
Colm is responsible for operations in 5 Production Units on the Galway site. Also site lead for the Operational Excellence group which oversee the site People Engagement (culture) program, all aspects of product builder training, production line layouts and Production Unit space strategy. Prior to being promoted to Director of Operations, Colm was Manufacturing Engineering Director, and led the creation of Galway’s digital factory future vision. Before working with Boston Scientific, Colm worked the Raychem (now TE Connectivity) as Business Development Manager; and R&D Manager. Colm holds a BSc and MSc in Mechanical Engineering, an MBA. Colm is an active member of the Ibec Medtech & Engineering Advanced Manufacturing Working Group.
- Padraic O’Keeffe, Senior Equipment Engineering Manager, Boston Scientific, Galway.
Padraic leads a large professional team specialising in Software Validations, Project Management and Business Systems. He holds a BSc in Software Engineering, a MSc in Software Engineering & Database Technologies, and is a Certified Project Management Professional.
Padraic has 27 years of industry experience, 20 of which is in the medical device industry, primarily focused on areas of Equipment Automation, Software Engineering, Process Design, Medical Device Production, Software Validations and Project Management. He has been responsible for the creation and implementation of multi-site software systems, and is a lead in the global community of practice for software validations and the software lifecycle, within Boston Scientific. He has a passion for developing his team, inspiring them to reach their full potential and for incorporating the latest technology in delivering projects. Most importantly, Padraic is proud to be part of a group whose vision is to enhance lives through innovative solutions.
- Brendan Shephard, CEO, Smart Factory.
Brendan is a professional Mechanical Engineer with more than 20 years’ experience in project management and engineering consultancy gained in a range of leading multinational organisations including Procter & Gamble, Coty Inc., Accantia, Tambrands and Boeing.
Expert in data capturing, reporting and continuous process improvement systems gained in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and Lean manufacturing environments.
As CEO of SmartFactory, Brendan has been the driving force behind the development of an innovative data capturing, analytics and visualisation solution, particularly focused on medical device manufacturing.
Managing Director of Sheppard Consulting since 1999 - proven track record of managing multi-million euro projects for clients. Brendan has vast experience with process control and automation including P&ID design, digital-workflows, robotics, high-speed labelling, laser coding and vision systems.
Joining panel discussion:
- Domhnall Carroll, Country Lead, Digital Industries, Siemens Ltd – Ireland
Domhnall leads the Digital Industries business in Ireland at Siemens, a leading global supplier of manufacturing automation equipment, software and services. In addition to the local business of Siemens Ltd., Domhnall is currently focussed on the global development of data driven services in support of digital transformation, Industry 4.0 and the factory of the future. Based in the Siemens Mindsphere application centre in Dublin, this work is part of Siemens’ R&D activities in industrial data analytics.
Domhnall joined Siemens in 2003, prior to this having held roles in engineering, sales and marketing in the engineering industry.
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