This week in our ‘5 questions with…’ series, we put the spotlight on Ryan Pittam, Manufacturing Engineer.
Q.1 – What excites you most about Gill and your role here?
What excites me most about the opportunity to work at Gill as a Continuous Improvement Lead is the chance to use data to identify opportunities, improve throughput, and drive meaningful improvements. I enjoy understanding how processes work in practice, identifying constraints or inefficiencies, and then using data-driven decisions to deliver measurable results.
Equally important to me is empowering people closest to the process to contribute ideas and be part of the improvement journey. In my experience, the best improvements come from engaging teams, building a culture of continuous improvement, and giving people the confidence and support to challenge existing ways of working. Being able to combine data, problem-solving, and collaboration to help move the business closer to its goals.
Q.2 – What interests you most about the industry?
With over ten years in the industry, what continues to interest me most is understanding which Lean Six Sigma tool is right for each situation and how applying the correct approach can completely change the outcome of a project. No two problems are ever the same, which is why I still enjoy learning and developing my knowledge after all this time.
I’m also always interested in exploring new methodologies and toolsets, such as the Theory of Constraints, and understanding how they can be implemented alongside Lean Six Sigma to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and solve more complex challenges.
Q.3 –How do you see technology impacting your role over the next 5 years?
I think the biggest change will be how AI helps make Lean Six Sigma tools more accessible and easier to use, reducing the amount of training, time, and effort needed to deliver improvement projects. Far too often, I see either the wrong tool being used or the right tool being used incorrectly, which can slow projects down and reduce their impact.
Q.4 -Who has inspired you the most in your career, and what did you learn from them?
Early on in my career, a Continuous Improvement Manager once told me that making a process simpler is often far more complex than people realise, and that time is the most valuable resource we have. That mindset has stayed with me ever since
Q.5 -Tell us something about yourself that might surprise us.
What might surprise you is how much I love travelling. I’ve spent time travelling around Thailand, explored parts of Europe, and recently discovered how much I enjoy cruising. There’s something amazing about waking up in a completely different country and getting the chance to experience different cultures, food, and ways of life along the way.
I’ve been lucky enough to visit places like Iceland, Colombia, Barbados, and Norway, as well as cities such as Dubrovnik, Limón, and Venice. One of my favorite parts of traveling is seeing the contrast between places – whether that’s incredible natural scenery, wildlife, or architecture you’d never experience at home.
For me, travelling is less about ticking destinations off a list and more about experiencing different cultures, trying new foods, understanding local customs, and seeing how other people live. I know it’s impossible to see every corner of the world, so I’d rather experience small parts of lots of different places than spend all my time trying to fully experience just one.
