Lero wins €280,000 R&D programme to transform Limerick SME Kelmac into global internet player

Kelmac Group®, a Limerick based standards and compliance company, is collaborating with Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre on a €280,000 R&D programme, designed to transform the group into a global professional services practice. As part of the plan, Kelmac Group® will double its Irish workforce to 12 and open an international R&D technology centre at Plassey Technological Park, Limerick.

The €280,000 R&D programme is being jointly funded by Kelmac Group® and Science Foundation Ireland.

“To date we have operated as an audit, training and management consultancy company specialising in helping customers maximise ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certification, compliance and performance management,” commented Gerard Kelly, CEO, Kelmac Group®.

“Over the last 20 years we have built up a customer base in 46 countries. In order to service both our local and global customers better we are embarking on a technology strategy to develop cloud based products, services and tools to position ourselves for the future.”

“Organisations need to become more technology centred to respond to global challenges. This action research project will contribute to Kelmac’s business model by iteratively creating an e-learning process for deployment in regulated domains,” commented Dr. Noel Carroll, Research Fellow at Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre.

Gerard Kelly of Kelmac added, “The need to be constantly on customer sites across the world is not sustainable if we want to grow the company as well as achieve a work-life balance for our consultants. As a result, we are collaborating with Lero on this major research programme to develop our services as a global online offering. This will transform the delivery of our products, services and tools into an independent global professional services practice.”

Founded in 1996, Kelmac Group’s customer base covers food and beverage, life sciences, financial services, engineering, technology etc. Customers include household names such as Diageo, Glanbia, Dun and Bradstreet and Analog Devices.

“While we may be better known for our work with multinationals, an important part of our role is to help small, indigenous Irish companies implement R&D to help them grow and compete internationally,” added Professor Ita Richardson, Lero researcher at the University of Limerick.

“The broad impact of this research will be to ensure that Irish training companies will benefit, giving them the opportunity for them to fit the process model to their specific domains and areas of expertise. This will have a significant impact on job retention and competitiveness in the Irish market, as companies meet growing demands in complying with international standards and regulations,” she added.

A podcast interview with Dr. Noel Carroll will be published on Irish Tech News next week.