Food & Drink

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How can we help?

Organizations within the Food & Drink sector have been part of our portfolio for over 27 years helping them to achieve operational excellence; increase throughput; deliver a consistent service; reduce lead times and improve overall quality; among other improvements.

We provide training programs and improvement consultancy support, specifically designed for the sector, empowering staff at all levels to achieve positive change.

We have been working with the Food and Drink industry for over 27 years, helping them with their operational excellence and lean journeys.

In the food and drink industry, lean manufacturing principles can be applied in a variety of ways. For example, a lean approach to food manufacturing might involve streamlining the production process to reduce waste and inefficiencies, implementing just-in-time inventory management to minimize the need for storage, and using advanced technologies such as automation and data analytics to optimize production.

Some key principles of lean manufacturing in food and beverage industry are:

Eliminating waste
Maximizing efficiency
Improving quality
Enhancing safety
Increasing flexibility
Reducing lead times
Optimizing flow
Increasing productivity
Reducing costs
Enhancing customer satisfaction

By implementing these principles, food and drink manufacturers can improve their operations and become more competitive in their markets.

We help the Food & Drink sector to develop and enhance a culture of continuous improvement through Lean and Agile certification programs and tailor-made Lean training courses.

Over the past 27 years our consulting team has successfully worked with a range of clients from single-site, local and national companies to large, multi-site global operations. Our approach is based on a collaborative, partnership-driven working style; effective stakeholder engagement, knowledge transfer and consensus building to develop an optimal future state that will best meet the needs of the organization.

Our Food & Drink clients are achieving real, sustainable results ranging from savings of €100,000+ on a Black Belt training project to €10 million on a large scale, multi-site, consulting, transformation project. Furthermore, there are enormous benefits through positive culture change; employee engagement and soft skills development.

Further Information

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Request a Proposal

Leading Edge Group can assess the unique needs of your Food and drink organization and provide you with a tailored proposal. Please get in touch with us to find out more.

Joe Aherne | Ireland

+353 87 253 3038

contactus@leadingedgegroup.com

Practical Training Programs

Our training programs are suitable for all Food & Drink sector employees. We can also provide tailor-made programs that focus on a specific tool or technique – for example, Lean strategic planning and deployment; value stream mapping; 5S; visual management; etc.

Lean Belt Certification

Training options are suitable for staff at all levels.

Agile Belt Certification

Agile is a proven way to transform your organization, encourage innovation and accelerate a culture where everyone is working better, smarter and more efficiently. We have developed a portfolio of Agile support programs and services to enable organizations to build standard capabilities and maximize the execution of improvements depending on your requirements.

View All Our Courses

Consultancy Support

Leading Edge Group delivers both strategic and operational consulting for Food & Drink sector organizations.

Establishing a Lean Deployment and Management System

Inclusive of vision and strategy; governance; capability building model; measurement framework; stakeholder engagement plan and deployment roadmap.

Lean Transform

Our transformation framework is designed to support the individual needs of each organization. This journey takes your organization from daily firefighting and silo managed processes to work area self-reliance and sustained growth.

Lean Performance Improvement

Leading Edge Group provides both structured Lean consulting programs and tailored support for your organization. Our Lean Start and Plus programs introduce Lean to your organization through facilitating short and medium sized process improvements built around a framework for further progression. We can also provide expertise to support specific continuous improvement initiatives including service delivery reviews and specific Lean improvement initiatives.

Research and Evaluation

We provide qualitative and quantitative research services that help organizations make data-informed decisions and improve programs and services. Our services include digital and continuous improvement assessments; commercial feasibility studies and specific health check diagnostics to measure baseline performance of relevant processes and services.

Lean Digital Transformation

Lean Digital transformation is the process of using Lean practices and digital technologies to improve operational performance and customer experiences. It will drive innovation across your teams and enable you to successfully evolve your organization. Our 5D approach to digital transformation integrates seamlessly with our Lean Transformation framework to deliver an integrated model for your organization. Our 5D approach to digital transformation integrates seamlessly with our Lean Transformation framework to deliver an integrated model for your farm.

Agile

Agile is a proven way to transform your organization, encourage innovation and accelerate a culture where everyone is working better, smarter and more efficiently. We have developed a portfolio of Agile support programs and services to enable organizations to build capabilities and maximize the execution of improvements.

Case Studies

Lean at a Quick Service Restaurant Chain

We worked on a Continuous Improvement (CI) project through the provision of management consulting, training and certification support.

Read More case study

Food Authority: Research and evaluation engagement for feasibility study

Research and development of a study to explore the feasibility of a new spin-out company…

Read More case study

Dairy Food Processor: Lean Transform with a focus on creating and sustaining Lean culture & behaviours

Significant growth was projected in the milk pool by 2020 with a circa 60% increase…

Read More case study

Global Supplier of Diary Foods: Implementation of a Lean management system to support sustainable growth

An operational excellence programme supported by simple governance and a clear vision was established and…

Read More case study

View All Case Studies

Led by Experts

Our experts have significant experience in delivering process and quality improvement consulting, facilitation and training across diverse stakeholder groups from all levels across the Food & Drink sector.

All Experts

Pat is our senior transformation practitioner with the ability to connect with all levels of an organisation, from C-suite in developing strategy and direction, to front line coaching & mentoring, imparting expertise to enable self-sustaining teams. Pat’s expertise is in operational excellence and advising on change management & strategy with…

To view the full profile, please click here

Bill has over 29 years’ experience implementing Lean & continuous improvement programmes in a variety of industry sectors in Ireland, UK, Australia, USA, Denmark and Central America. Bill has also accumulated academic qualifications in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Quality Assurance, a Lean Green Belt and an MBA. Bill is both…

To view the full profile, please click here

Barry is a senior consultant with the Leading Edge Group with over 20 years’ experience in both SMEs and large multinationals. Barry joined the Leading Edge Group team in 2017 and has led projects across a range of sectors leading to improvements in various companies business practices. Barry has industry…

To view the full profile, please click here

What Our Clients Say

“Post our merger, we partnered with Leading Edge Group to launch the Lean Upskill Program, targeting over 200 managers across the organisation in Phase 1. Leveraging their strong global network of Lean experts, the program was delivered seamlessly, on time, and with a very high satisfaction rate among our Green Belt participants. The structured training, combined with intensive post‑training coaching, enabled rapid translation of capability building into measurable results. Within a few months, the program unlocked thousands of productive hours and delivered substantial financial and operational impact, amounting to hundreds of millions. This partnership has played a pivotal role in accelerating our Lean journey and embedding a results‑driven continuous improvement culture across the business.”

Abdallah Raouf Mohammad Al Qatanany, Manager – Business Process Excellence. TAQA Distribution.

“Irmgard was a truly refreshing green business consultant who took the time to deeply understand our business before co-creating a highly achievable and business-minded action plan. Her excellent communication and guidance on circularity make her an invaluable resource for anyone seeking grounded, relevant, and technically sound green business strategies. A joy to work with.”

Ellen, Founder. Hurst Botanicals.

“We recently engaged Leading Edge Group to support the rollout of Microsoft Copilot across our teams. With existing in-house AI expertise through our CEADAR collaboration, we needed a partner who could design and deliver an implementation project that complemented our internal capabilities and Leading Edge were able to. The training provided has been of a very high standard, delivered on tight timelines by an excellent trainer. We’re now working through a series of case studies focused on real business challenges, helping to embed learning in a practical, results-oriented way. As a growing SME, time is always at a premium. We value Leading Edge’s pragmatic, outcome-focused approach and their ability to keep the project moving without the need for constant oversight. To date, I’ve found Leading Edge to be open, responsive, agile, and highly knowledgeable.”

Melissa Sheridans, Operations & Marketing Director. Strata.

“Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals engaged Leading Edge Group to support “flow design” for laboratories in their new facility in Tuas, Singapore. The work was excellent and has been used by the team to design equipment set-up and workflows to aid an efficient facility start-up. The Leading Edge Group team was very knowledgeable in operations and Lean Methodologies, as well as being partnership focused. Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals continues to engage with Leading Edge Group on other projects.”

Pat Field, Senior Director, Pfizer

Our Clients

We work with staff at all levels and functions of the organization, from the Supply Chain to front-line staff. We’ve helped both large and small enterprises across Canada, Ireland and Australia with their Continuous Improvement efforts.