[RavenAvi]

In an interview to The Tribune, Rajiv Gandhi, Executive Director, Plants, Maruti-Suzuki India Limited, has disclosed that the homegrown auto giant has managed to save over Rs. 281 crores in the last financial year, simply by following the suggestions made by it's employees!

Making each and every Maruti-Suzuki employee an active participant in it's overall innovation, creativity and improvement goals, the numero uno auto company in India received over 6.98 lakh suggestions in 2015-16 from it's employees, which resulted in savings to the tune of over 281.8 crore rupees.

Most of the suggestions came from it's production, supply chain and engineering sections. The car company also has an online portal called "Sujhav Sangrahika" for it's employees, which is specially useful for the non-production sections.

Employees are rewarded for their (depending on the quality of) suggestions with extra cash in their salaries, family lunch coupons, movie tickets, etc., while the names of the Top 3 winners in both saving and non-saving suggestion categories are eminently profiled in the Maruti-Suzuki monthly newsletters.

The suggestion scheme in the company is as old as the company. It is one of the core values of the company that encourages innovation and creativity at workplace. It encourages the spirit of Kaizen (continuous improvement). It was among the finest people practices which we adopted from the parent company Suzuki Motor Corporation at the time of inception in early 1980s.

The guiding principle here is every employee, irrespective of his level, has the best knowledge of his work area. He is encouraged to look around his work area and come up with improvements that will enhance productivity, bring simplicity, save cost, energy, raw material etc. Interestingly, each year, the cost saving arising out of these suggestions have gone up. What is even more heartening is that the suggestions come from ordinary shop-floor workers. Not only is this beneficial for the company, it also lends a sense of pride and significance to the employees as it shows that their voice is not only heard but is important for the company’s progress.

Most of these suggestions relate to improving quality and reduce costs, ways to speed up operations, improve efficiency and streamline supplies. The broader objective was to engage with employees across levels and make them partners in the progress of the company. The company is of the view that as more young employees join the company, it is this culture of suggestion generation that will give them a sense of ownership in their projects and help them align themselves with the company’s goals and objectives.

The Tribune

[shivasi]

Very nice. I see they want to engage their people at every level.
In fact they also stress on employee development and reward them for this too.
I was at their workshop and saw a poster wherein an employee who undergoes training and completes 6-8 levels gets a bike as a reward.

[sgiitk]

I think the Japanese have a term for it Kaizen if I am not mistaken. This is standard in most Japanese firms, but then firm loyalty is far higher in Japan.

[MDED]

Yes, staff suggestion scheme is a very healthy and important preposition for any organization, whether it's service based or manufacturing oriented. In my organization too we have a staff suggestion scheme which encourages the employees, right from class four to the level of cgms to chip in with their ideas related to systems, procedures and processes which results in overall improvement of the organization. And yes we too get rewarded and recognized.
If an organization is able to keep its internal customers (read employees) happy and motivated by these encouraging schemes, I guess the beneficiary is the organization and employees and it definitely reflects in the overall profitability and their respective objectives. No wonders MSIL was able to save whopping Rs 200 crs plus.
Hail Kaizen !

[mudhasir]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I think the Japanese have a term for it Kaizen if I am not mistaken. This is standard in most Japanese firms, but then firm loyalty is far higher in Japan.

This has become a standard in European firms too. In fact, some of the Investment Banking firms I know, drive this project by the name of "Kaizen" itself. Never dwelled into the name until you mentioned it

Coming to MSIL, they never stop to amuse us, do they? This is one company that has consistently satisfied its customers and its employees. The refund on S-cross for existing customers is one such example. Only when they have such savings from existing employees, they will be able to make such bold and happy decisions for its customers.

[shivs2003]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

In an interview to The Tribune, Rajiv Gandhi, Executive Director, Plants, Maruti-Suzuki India Limited, has disclosed that the homegrown auto giant has managed to save over Rs. 281 crores in the last financial year, simply by following the suggestions made by it's employees!

Making each and every Maruti-Suzuki employee an active participant in it's overall innovation, creativity and improvement goals, the numero uno auto company in India received over 6.98 lakh suggestions in 2015-16 from it's employees, which resulted in savings to the tune of over 281.8 crore rupees.

Most of the suggestions came from it's production, supply chain and engineering sections. The car company also has an online portal called "Sujhav Sangrahika" for it's employees, which is specially useful for the non-production sections.

Employees are rewarded for their (depending on the quality of) suggestions with extra cash in their salaries, family lunch coupons, movie tickets, etc., while the names of the Top 3 winners in both saving and non-saving suggestion categories are eminently profiled in the Maruti-Suzuki monthly newsletters.



The Tribune

Kaizen or Continous Improvement is a highly common and thoroughly practiced trend in the industry. Esp. the automotive industry, which has a large number of Japanese players who insist that their up stream suppliers adhear to their practices.

I just wish MSIL shared some of these "methods" which led to improvements and profits. Would have helped others to improve their businesses also.