In the sixth of our “5 Questions with..” series, we talk to Kirk Leppard, Manufacturing Engineering Manager, at Gill. We asked him what’s exciting about manufacturing, what changes he sees coming and his love for water.
Q.1 – What excites you most about Gill and your role here?
What excites me about Gill is the fact that we’re always looking to improve and grow – this means we’re challenged to ensure we’re using the best practices in everything we do.
The Manufacturing Engineering team are focussed on the assembly and business processes – the ‘how’ we carry out our manufacturing tasks. I enjoy the systematic analysis of processes to make them more efficient and effective, leading to increased productivity and customer satisfaction.
Q.2 – You’ve been in this industry for many years – what keeps it interesting for you?
I’ve stayed with manufacturing because it is diverse, dynamic, and engaging. It may not quite be ‘every day is different’, but the breadth of activities and challenges you get, from running diagnostics to analysing data and optimising a process, to introducing new products with new technology, mean the role stays fresh.
Also, manufacturing is continuously evolving, with new technologies, like 3D printing and collaborative robots, introducing new opportunities learn and new ways to solve problems.
Q.3 – How do you see the industry changing in the next five years?
The changes I see coming are with factories getting smarter. By having greater connectivity and using technologies like digital twins, factories will have systems to monitor, analyse, and report process performance in real-time.
This will mean live identification of abnormal conditions (like a process running a bit slow, a test measurement drifting, or a machine’s condition deteriorating) and facilitate taking corrective action and predictive maintenance before an issue has the chance to impact the process significantly.
Q.4 – Who has inspired you the most in your career, and what did you learn from them?
I’ve worked with a few inspirational people over the years, but I guess the one’s that stand out for me are the mentors I had through transitionary periods.
John Snowden supported me as I moved from technician to engineer, showing me how to be proactive rather than reactive.
Tim Lamb was my director as I started out in a management role, and helped me understand the difference between management and leadership, and showed me what could be achieved with a properly motivated team.
Q.5 – Tell us something about yourself that might surprise us.
I enjoy getting out on the water in my sea kayak. Whether it’s just a paddle up and down one of the local rivers, trips along the coast or over to the Isle of Wight, I find being out on the water very relaxing. Wherever we are on holiday, I try to find a local company to go out with and explore different areas on the water. My longest paddle was a three-day expedition round the Isle of Wight which became a challenge on the last day to complete the circuit before a storm hit – made crossing the mouth of the River Medina even more exciting!
