The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is planning to hire consultants to implement a “Lean review” of its bovine tuberculosis (TB) programme.
The department is currently inviting tenders from professional consultancy and support services for an 18-month contract valued at €500,000, excluding VAT.
“Lean” is defined as a set of management practices to improve efficiency and effectiveness by eliminating waste.
The five principles of the concept include identifying value; mapping the value stream; creating flow; establishing a pull system, and striving for continuous improvement.
DAFM
In 2023, DAFM carried out a pilot internal review of the operations of the bovine TB programme applying the “Lean principles”.
It said that it now wishes to move forward with the implementation of the recommendations of this review.
According to the tender documents, DAFM has “identified an opportunity to reaffirm the focus of the work within the TB programme underlining quality and an ethos of continuous improvement for the entire organisation”.
This will include the department’s local regional veterinary officers (RVOs) throughout the country.
“The department has identified LEAN as a vehicle to facilitate long-term success, feeding into increased customer satisfaction and a cycle of continuous improvement and delivery of quality frontline services,” the documents state.
DAFM believes that the development of these management structures will facilitate “high quality and timely information sharing within and across pillars, supported by robust data and effective streamlined communication”.
“Work has commenced in relation to key front facing processes and LEAN will complement this ongoing work, striving for operational excellence,” it said.
TB programme
Last year, total expenditure by the state on the national bovine TB eradication programme was around €74.3 million, a significant jump of 29% from the €57.4 million spent in 2022.
The latest figures from the department show the total number of herds restricted because of TB increased to 5,122 over the 12 months to the end of quarter one (Q1) 2024.
The total number of reactors removed in the last 12 months to the end of Q1 2024 also rose to 30,332 from 23,977 in the period Q1 2022 to Q1 2023.
The successful tenderer will be asked to develop a “LEAN framework” for the DAFM TB programme.
“It will be necessary to drive change management within the organisation, with a view to enhancing service delivery for RVOs,” the department said.
The framework will be underpinned by “ongoing and progressive intervals of engagement, assessment of performance delivery and measurement”.
The department noted that the “involvement and engagement of the organisation’s employees in this process is critical for the required service”.
The deadline for receipt of tenders 3:00p.m on Monday, July 15, 2024.