SEAT saves 12.6 million euros thanks to the Ideas for Improvement programme

The Ideas for Improvement programme promoted by SEAT, which has been encouraging employee participation in achieving savings and process improvements for more than a decade, last year resulted in a savings for the company of 12.6 million euros. The company obtained this figure thanks to the proposals made by the employees, who came up with 11,200 ideas for improvement.

SEAT employees put forward their suggestions for optimising processes, and in so doing, contributed their vision for making the company more efficient. Nearly half of the proposals deserved a prize for their originality, implementation capacity or benefit to the company. In total, SEAT gave 2,123,000 euros in prize money to its workers for their contributions made in ten categories: Product, Facilities, Ergonomics, Energy Savings, Easy Ideas, Process Improvement, Quality, Environment and Innovation.

Highlights among the most original ideas are those initiatives that lead to energy savings and efficiency of the facilities. For example, in applying the adhesives used to seal the windows on vehicles. The idea put forward by an assembly line worker successfully proved that the adhesive applied is suitable for two different geometries that can be used on both the latest version of the SEAT Ibiza as well as the previous one. This suggestion prevented having to make an additional investment in the facility during the time both versions are still being made on the assembly line.

The Ideas for Improvement programme has been encouraging employee participation in achieving cost and energy savings, and studies general improvement suggestions for the working environment. Besides cost savings, it also aims to inspire creativity as a key competence. During the first six months of 2018, a total of 7,381 ideas were submitted, a figure which was higher than in the same period of 2017. The programme is being constantly updated to incorporate concepts of innovation, gamification and social partnership. It will be called SEAT IDEAS and is scheduled for launch in 2019.

SEAT Vice-president for Human Resources Xavier Ros emphasised the participation rate and “the way we are getting SEAT employees to change their mentalities so that they not only feel that their opinion matters, but also that they are aware of and involved in the need for a vision that includes the environment and improved processes.”

SEAT’s commitment to its workers

In addition to relying on the opinions of its employees, SEAT also carries out different activities to hone employees’ skills and inspire them to embrace continuous learning. One indication of this is the ‘Always Learning’ programme, which the brand is going to launch very soon.

At a time of major technological change, which alters the way people work, the different departments of the company are identifying their needs for the future in order to design training programmes that provide workers with the necessary knowledge.

Every employee will have the opportunity to take a training course of their choice, whether or not it is directly related with their job. All training will be subsidised and take place outside working hours in both onsite and online formats. Each completed course will automatically be updated to their professional profile in a process of mutual benefit, whereby employees receive training in any subject matter and SEAT has access to this information to locate and promote in-house talent.

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