Nominee: Seán Keenan Multis

FOUNDED IN Galway in 1994, Multis is involved in the remanufacturing and remarketing of used computer equipment.

Seán Keenan admits that this business activity is not uncommon, with thousands of brokers availing of the opportunity worldwide.

However, when he considered it as an opportunity, he saw that his potential competitors' existing flow of product and delivery to market was unstructured and more importantly, damaging to the brand manufacturer. Keenan and his team's vision was of a tightly-structured supply chain from source of product through to its value realisation in the market, aligned to the brand manufacturers' objectives of control, asset value realisation and customer satisfaction. This was unique and visionary.

The company combines extensive technology industry expertise, sophisticated logistics management capabilities, and meticulous application of remanufacturing, remarketing and recycling best practices, to offer customers a new way to strategically manage the reuse and redeployment of their products.

With Multis, manufacturers achieve effective control of their product assets and channels, preserve customer satisfaction and realise significant economic returns.

The company's head office remains in Galway and they have developed operations in the Netherlands and the US, employing a total of 180 with close on 50 per cent based in Ireland. Multis has contributed over €51 million to the local economy.

Product/service:

Multis provides a range of services involving asset management, remanufacturing, sales and marketing support. Their uniqueness is in the holistic nature of the service and the manner in which they integrate the chain for their clients' value maximisation. The services provided include returns administration and control, supply/demand management, off-lease services, remanufacturing, reclamation, recycling, order fulfilment, sales and marketing support and planning and development.

Customers:

All Multis customers are in the computer storage and networking sector, with an emphasis on the high-end of that market; enterprise servers and mainframes.

They have three main corporate customers: Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and Network Engines. They also serve HP and Sun's global channel partner base with 180 customers in a total of 37 countries, representing Europe, North America, South America, Middle East/Africa and Asia Pacific.

What role has corporate social responsibility played in your business strategy?

We are a strong player in environmental social responsibility. Our re-use paradigm is the highest order of resource sustainability and we have the opportunity to combine economic and environmental objectives. We are an advocate of recycling and have a partnership with one of the largest recycling companies in the world.

What do you do to recharge your batteries?

I don't consciously work at it, but I am fortunate to have a good life balance.

Family is a good retreat. I am an active golfer and I have an active interest in all sports - rugby, soccer and less so Gaelic - after this year's first round of the Connacht championship. My main sporting passion is for motor sport - alas these days as a spectator and observer. Back in the 1990s, I was twice F2 International Tarmac Rally Champion. I sometimes miss the thrill and camaraderie of those campaigns.