Continuous Improvement at Ricoh
When reviewing their material handling needs, office solutions manufacturer
Ricoh
found a
kaizen
process lead them to Toyota.
Ricoh manufacture and distribute a wide range of office products including Photocopiers from their two UK sites. A focus on continuous improvement across their operations ensures they maintain their position as market leader, supplying office solutions to businesses throughout the world.
Ricoh carried out a detailed tender process to find the supplier who could best meet their needs both now and in the future. The decision team was keen to increase the flexibility of the fleet and ensure it matched their requirements more closely. They also wanted to make use of more sophisticated technology to help their operations remain as productive as possible.
The team felt that Toyota Material Handling was best able to meet their needs. Andy explains: ”Toyota offered a good balance between the resources of a global company and locally based service and account support. They were able to supply a huge range of equipment from hand pallet trucks to tow tractors giving us the flexibility to change the mix of our fleet if our needs changed, all under the umbrella of a single supplier.”
The Ricoh team presented a ten step kaizen to their board to secure the new agreement. They were able to identify cost savings through initiatives such as a dedicated engineer and modern fleet, plus demonstrate productivity and safety benefits through superior technology.
A fleet of over 45 units has now been in place for 12 months at the two sites.
Andy adds: “One of the biggest changes for us has been moving away from having an onsite engineer. We now have a dedicated Toyota engineer who visits our site each morning to address any issues we may have logged and carries out scheduled maintenance. We then have access to Toyota’s fleet engineers for the rest of the day with a guaranteed two hour call out. The new system is working very well, allowing us to only pay for engineering time that we are using rather than a full time salary. The Toyota equipment has proved exceptionally reliable and combined with a good first fix rate our uptime has been improved.”
Safety is improved by the System of Active Stability (SAS) built into all Toyota’s counterbalance range. The performance of the forklift is constantly monitored for critical factors such as speed and turning rate. If a potentially dangerous situation is detected, SAS automatically steps in to help keep the truck stable.
Andy concludes: “Toyota had the range and expertise to partner us in our business; they had several suggestions to help improve the way we worked. The quality of the fleet certainly fits with our ethos of providing the best and safest equipment for our team. “
