SUGGESTION SCHEMES Prof Bharat Nadkarni The only way

SUGGESTION SCHEMES Prof. Bharat Nadkarni

The only way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas - Winston Churchill

What is a suggestion scheme? • A formalized mechanism which encourages employees to contribute constructive ideas for improving the organization in which they work. • The overall aim is to gather, analyze and implement ideas in order to create results that have a positive impact on the business and /or deliver new value to customers.

Objectives • • • Understand the keys elements of suggestion systems. Explain how to plan and launch on effective suggestion system. Define how to set up a management infrastructure to generate ideas, capture quality ideas, evaluate ideas and sustain a constant flow of ideas. Explain how to develop employees to identify opportunities for improvement and write good quality ideas. Define ways to recognize and reward participations.

Two approaches to suggestion schemes Traditional approach • Cash for your ideas • Innovative, big ideas • Low participation Participative approach • Let us improve the way we work • Continuous improvement through implemented proposals • High participation

Scope Of Suggestions. Acceptable Suggestions • Improvements in one’s own work and the working environment. • Savings in energy, labor, materials, and resources. • Improvement of processes/ practices. • Improvement on tools, jogs and equipment. • Improvement in safety. • Methods of increasing production. • Prevention of waste. • Improvement in quality of goods and services • Ideas for new products and services

Out Of Scope. Unacceptable Suggestions • Company policy • Compensation and benefits • Complains or criticisms • Disputes and grievances

Benefits Of A Suggestion System • Improves one’s own work and the working environment • Engages and empowers employees • Creates ownership and trust • Builds teamwork • Enhances communication between employees and management • Improves motivation and morale • Promotes self-development • Discover hidden talents • Improves customer satisfaction • Improves profitability

Process of suggestion scheme

Means of suggestion schemes • Suggestion boxes in common areas example - lunch room • Online submission system -emails -internet • In house voice mail box. • Regular meetings designated to hear suggestions. • Ideas generated from brainstorming activities

Measures “If you want to manage, you have to control. If you want to control, you have to measure. ” Measurements Will Show Whether You Are Efficient And Effective In Scheme Implementation.

Efficiency Measures &Effectiveness Measures Efficiency Measures • Suggestions / week, • Suggestions / month, • Suggestions / year, • Suggestions / employee / year, • No. of recognition / rewards granted. Effectiveness Measures • % Suggestions implemented, • Number of gainful process changes, • Money saved, • Waste reduction • Accident reduction, pollution reduction, • Cycle time reduction, • Improved customer satisfaction.

Outcome of suggestion schemes

Benefits

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Is the First Auto Manufacturer in India to Automate Its Suggestion Scheme with ABBYY Form Reader ABBYY’s data capture solution makes Maruti Suzuki India Ltd’s suggestion scheme cost effective and time saving for successful product reengineering and customer satisfaction.

Background Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. has a sales network of 600 outlets in 393 locations, and provides maintenance support to the customers at 2, 628 workshops in over 1, 200 towns and cities (as of March 31, 2008). Sinception, they have produced and sold over 7. 5 million vehicles, including almost 500, 000 units in Europe and other export markets. More than 50% of cars sold in India were a Maruti Suzuki brand. Situation Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. created suggestion (feedback) forms not only for its customers but also for its employees, and it led the company to the popularity and success. Collected monthly from the employees the suggestion forms help to enhance performance in terms of product quality, safety and cost consciousness that are entrenched into the manufacturing process. Moreover, the best suggestions in terms of cost effectiveness are being awarded. Previously, data from suggestion forms were entered manually, and the results sent to a database. It was time-consuming, and as deadlines had to be met, most of the time the team ended up working overtime at the end of the month.

PROBLEM

Solution Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. set out to automate its system, and a search on the internet led them to Net. Spider India (NIIL). This started a whole new process wherein, for the first time in India, automation using forms processing solutions was being taken up in the automobile industry. The first step in the process was to redesign the existing suggestion form using ABBYY Form. Designer™. Therein, ABBYY Form. Reader 6. 5 was used for processing and finally, codes were written by NIIL to extract data from the processed forms and send to a database. Net. Spider India provided an end-to-end solution to the entire suggestion scheme.

RESULT Using ABBYY data capture solution Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. saves time and manpower, doing away with overtime. Net. Spider India (NIIL) and ABBYY’s acclaimed forms processing solution opened a new avenue in the world of automobile industry.

Operating A Successful Staff Suggestion Scheme Is Not Easy! If a company has a complaining workforce the following things can be done to tackle the problem To overcome this problem, the management must do 3 things (at least): • Set clear standards of what is meant by a quality suggestion. • Train all staff in how to spot opportunities for improvement and how to write a quality suggestion. • Train managers and supervisors to guide their subordinates in writing suggestions.

From a “complaining workforce” to a “thinking workforce”

Few Facts Toyota has started implementing Suggestion Scheme since 1950 and has achieved following measures last year – • 1 Million ( 10 Lakhs ) suggestions / year, • 37 suggestion / employee / year, • % Suggestions implemented = 87 %, • Saving = $ 2000 / employee / year ( = 1, 000 / emp. / yr. ) Employees’ Suggestion Scheme International Labor Organization promotes this mechanism under its Factory Improvement Program (FIP). Government of India, under its Ministry of Labor and Employment, through Director General, Factory Advice Service and Labor Institutes ( DGFASLI ), promotes this, and every year, declares 28 Vishwakarma Rashtriya Purashkars ( VRP ).

Published 1991

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