RPL launches ‘Lean Employee Engagement in Action’ to support UK Manufacturing Landscape

Leveraging over 85 years of Ricoh’s global manufacturing and continuous improvement innovation, Ricoh UK Products Ltd. (RPL) is inviting customers and partners to its Telford-based manufacturing site, delivering ‘lean’ experiences, designed to help people and businesses realise operational improvements through employee engagement.

This comes at a time where “employment costs are set to skyrocket” during 2025 (Make UK Executive Survey, 2025), with 31% of businesses expecting significant cost increases and 61% expecting moderate increases.

While many businesses are offsetting expenses by increasing cost to consumers, 68% of manufacturing businesses have cited a “focus on productivity improvements” as a critical mitigative response, in addition to energy improvements (46%) and investment in automation (31%).

Following collaborations with Manufacturers Network, Make UK and Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, RPL most recently welcomed Northwood Hygiene Products Ltd to its factory, to partake in a new ‘Lean Employee Engagement in Action’ programme.

Over 21 and 28 May, the leading manufacturer and supplier of paper hygiene and wiping products brought 13 employees from Telford and Grantham to RPL to take part in a dedicated half-day lean engagement package.

The 4-hour half-day package comprised:

• Experiencing ‘lean in action’ within RPL’s Gemba (shopfloor)
• Learning more about RPL’s continuous improvement engagement techniques
• Discovering how RPL applies lean tools and principles to drive efficiencies
• Gaining insights and knowledge-sharing to inspire and take new ideas away

Continuous Improvement Specialist, Rob Bland said: “Over 40 years, we have developed a culture where our employees see continuous improvement as an integral part of their ways of working. At RPL, we all have two jobs: our functional role and continuous improvement. Our CI philosophy is about everyone, every day, doing something a little bit better than yesterday.

“The engagement of all our employees in continuous improvement, through the deployment of the RICOH Way Production System – the systematic approach we take to ensure excellence in manufacturing – is key to delivering operational excellence, and Kaizen is at the heart.”

Reflecting on the ‘Lean Employee Engagement in Action’ experience, Northwood’s Site Manager and Operations Leader, Mike Sanders commented:

"When we set out to begin our lean journey, I reached out to the Ricoh team for support. Continuous Improvement Specialists, Rob and Anthony were both incredibly open and responsive, working closely with us to tailor an experience that truly met our needs.

“The site visits far exceeded our expectations, striking an excellent balance between time on the shop floor and insightful presentations and discussions. Their deep experience with the ‘RICOH Way’ provided valuable learning points that resonated with our team.

“I would highly recommend this experience to any manufacturing professional involved in continuous improvement—regardless of where you are on your lean journey, there is something to gain."

RPL strives to support the local, regional and national manufacturing landscape, through best-practice knowledge-sharing and lean employee engagement experiences.

Our mission-vision is to empower individuals to find Fulfilment through Work, by understanding and transforming how people work, so we can unleash their potential and creativity, to realise a sustainable future.

If you have, or your business has, a specific lean challenge, ‘pain point’ or area of focus, contact RPL today. Current offerings include:

• Half Day Lean Factory Engagement Experience (max. 6 people) - £645, excl. VAT
• Half Day Lean Factory Engagement Experience (max. 12 people) - £950, excl. VAT
• Full Day Lean Factory Engagement Experience (max. 6 people) - £1,350, excl. VAT

For teams seeking more in-depth engagement, the Full Day Lean Factory Engagement Experience offers all the benefits of a half-day visit, plus a complimentary lunch and customised afternoon workshop, with focussed discussions and practical problem-solving with RPL’s continuous improvement experts.

Workshop specialties include Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), 5S, Lean Competency System (LCS), Employee Engagement, Visualisation Tools, Kaizen and Problem Solving.

Businesses can also deepen their understanding of lean principles and methodologies, leaving with actionable strategies to implement.