Seán Kelly

Seán has a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry and is a lean six sigma black belt and Shingo Prize Examiner with 28 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industry (Abbott, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Elan Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline). His technical and operational leadership experience spans medical device and drug substance manufacturing, drug product development and drug discovery research & development. Prior to moving to a divisional role, Seán, was the Business Excellence Manager at Abbott Diagnostic Longford, a 2016 Shingo Prize recipient. Seán led the site’s operational excellence transformation and focused on creating a culture where principles of operational excellence are deeply embedded into the thinking and behaviour of all leaders, managers and employees. Under Seán’s leadership, Abbott Diagnostic Longford also received the National Business Excellence Award from Irish Centre for Business Excellence (ICBE) in 2015, the 2015 Irish Medical Technology Company of the Year and the 2017 International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) Facility of the Year Award for Operational Excellence. Seán has been recognised by the Shingo Institute as a Shingo Examiner and Alumni. In his current role Sean has developed the Abbott Diagnostic Division’s Pinnacle Operational Excellence assessment model. This is a world-class operational excellence framework that blends Shingo, Class A and doing it right principles and is anchored by Abbott’s core competencies.