About
Paula Lawton
Co-founder and COO of Expertivity Technologies. More than 30 years in operations, leading Lean and operational excellence programmes for banks, insurers, life sciences companies and healthcare.
Biography
From the stock room to the boardroom
At Maidenform’s EMEA distribution centre in Shannon, Paula rose from Purchasing and Inventory Manager to Operations Manager and then General Manager, responsible for EMEA strategy, operations, sales and distribution. Along the way she cut stock holding by 30% while supporting 20% sales growth, and took the centre from three shifts to one.
Earlier, at Burle Industries, she led the company’s ERP implementation, from the stock room through electronics production to management reporting. As a Senior Associate with O’Kelly Sutton, she then advised SMEs in Ireland and the UK on structure, process and performance reporting.
In 2003 she co-founded Expertivity with Alex McDonnell, where she leads delivery of the firm’s Lean and operational excellence programmes. She has worked with the senior teams of Bank of Ireland, Irish Life, New Ireland, PermanentTSB, Rabobank/ACCBank, FBD Insurance, ICON and Kforce Clinical Research in the USA, and with senior clinicians and front-line staff in healthcare. She also co-designed CollabForce365 (formerly ServiceForce), a cloud-based workforce-management system.
Career
Running operations, then improving them
Earlier
Burle Industries
Led the ERP implementation: data set-up, integration, user training and management reporting.
1992–1999
Maidenform International, Shannon
Purchasing and Inventory Manager, then Operations Manager, then General Manager for EMEA strategy, operations, sales and distribution.
1999–2002
O’Kelly Sutton, Kildare
Senior Associate in strategic and financial consulting, advising SMEs in Ireland and the UK.
2003–today
Expertivity
Co-founder and COO, leading delivery of Lean and operational excellence programmes.
Qualifications
Training and credentials
- Diploma in Lean and Six Sigma Quality Systems, University of Limerick
- Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
- Master NLP Practitioner and qualified life and business coach
- Just-in-Time Production Methods; Production and Inventory Management, IPICS, University College Cork
- Certified in Interpretation of Financial Statements, ACCA
- Lean Service Provider of the Year 2019, awarded to Expertivity by Lean Business Ireland
Why leaders work with Paula
Practical, and built to last
- She has run operations herself, so her advice starts from how work really gets done.
- She coaches managers and internal teams, so improvements outlast the programme.
- She makes sure systems fit the work, not the other way round.
Outside work, Paula is an award-winning amateur photographer, a runner and a keen traveller.
Next step