Josh Valman is the founder and Managing Director of RPD International, an innovative business with a global reach. They design, develop and manufacture products for companies who seek to take advantage of innovative ideas, cutting edge processes and international markets.

At 10, Valman designed his first robot. At 13, he sent off his designs and his £500 life savings to a factory in China to make the components. By 15 he was working as a freelance engineering and supply chain consultant taking conference calls with China after school.  Five years later, his company employs over 60 people around the world supplying some of the world’s largest manufacturing businesses from over 100 factories.

RPD operate a global network of people and facilities, making use of the best design minds from heavy and precision engineering to sculptors and artists, and with manufacturers specialising in all manner of areas. This ‘distributed creativity’ model pools all sorts of talent and experience. The network of factories also means RPD can produce anything from a unique prototype to a run of a million units of anything from a bracket to an engine and for clients from airlines to hotels.

Covering everything from problem-solving to market disruption, manufacturing and supply chain process to R&D and innovation, to the internet of things, wearable technology and the 3D printing revolution, Valman looks at how manufacturing is changing and is changing the world.