From Handcrafted Production to Lean Digital Operations
LEAN BUSINESS OF THE YEAR — WINNER 2025
Crossogue Preserves
How a Tipperary artisan food producer saved €45,000 a year by replacing paper systems with practical digital tools
€45,000
Annual savings
70%
Faster order entry
75%
Faster production
reporting
10-20%
Increase in
production capacity
The Business
Crossogue Preserves is a family-run artisan food producer based in County Tipperary, producing over 200 handmade product variations using traditional methods. The business serves retailers and consumers across Ireland, with a reputation built on quality, craft, and authenticity. Sector: Artisan food production | Location: County Tipperary | Type: Family-run SMEThe Challenge
As the business grew, operations became increasingly complex. Crossogue needed better visibility and control over batch tracking and production, but off-the-shelf systems didn’t suit their way of working. The business was dealing with:- Manual batch tracking across a large and varied product range
- Limited visibility of stock levels and production status
- High admin effort spent on paperwork and Excel-based processes
- Off-the-shelf systems that didn’t fit their artisanal production methods
What We Did
Over several lean and digital programmes, we worked closely with the Crossogue team to redesign how the business operates — without disrupting production or compromising on quality.- Simplified and restructured product and stock data to bring order to a 200+ product range
- Connected order entry, production scheduling, and stock management into a single digital flow
- Introduced live stock tracking with automated alerts for low stock and reorder points
- Built a tailored digital traceability system designed around how the business actually works
Our approach: fit the system to the business — not force the business to fit the system.
The Results
The impact across the operation was significant and measurable:Operational improvements
- 70% reduction in order entry time
- 75% reduction in production reporting time
- 15% reduction in stock admin time
- €45,000 annual savings from efficiency gains
- 10–20% increase in production capacity — without adding staff
Traceability and compliance
- Full batch-level traceability across the entire production process
- Improved compliance and audit readiness
- Live stock visibility replacing manual checks
Customer impact
- Faster order fulfilment and improved delivery reliability
- Fewer errors in orders, improving customer satisfaction
- Stronger, more consistent product quality and freshness
Recognition
★ Lean Business Ireland — Lean Business of the Year (Micro) — Winner 2025“The new system has made stock management so much easier and saved us so much time that we can now put into other areas of the business.”
Veronica Molly — Managing Director, Crossogue Preserves
Get in Touch
We can guide you through the process and help you access the right supports,
whether through your Local Enterprise Office or Enterprise Ireland.
whether through your Local Enterprise Office or Enterprise Ireland.
