Maruti saves over Rs 280 cr from staff suggestions

Every company wants to save as much money as possible during its operations, whether at its headquarters or at its production units. But it is rarely seen that employees’ suggestions are sought on this front and it is further rare that a company saves money through these suggestions. However, country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) has saved over Rs 281 crore in the last financial year through the suggestions given by its employees. Rajiv Gandhi, Executive Director, Plants, MSIL, talks about this aspect.

Q. Why and when did Maruti introduce this scheme?

A. 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.

In FY 2015-16, over 6.98 lakh suggestions were received, which led to a saving of over Rs 281.8 crore.

Most of these suggestions relate to improving quality and reduce costs, ways to speed up operations, improve efficiency and streamline supplies.

Q. How did Maruti stumble upon this idea?

A. As explained above, we inherited this concept from our parent company Suzuki. It was among the finest Japanese practices that we adopted and put into practice immediately. 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.

As a good practice, the suggestion scheme is being practised at many of Maruti Suzuki vendors also.

Q. Does the entire workforce at Maruti participate in this exercise?

A. Yes. The entire company participates in this exercise across levels, business functions, plants and facilities. Geographies don’t come in between them. It is now a strong culture across the company. To encourage participation, there are several enablers in place. To ease operations of the suggestion scheme, an online version is available across the company. This online portal “Sujhav Sangrehika” is especially advantageous for the non-production areas which have access to computer.

Ideas from different departments, across levels are captured on this portal. The portal gives them a real time update on an employee’s suggestions. A robust tracking mechanism is in place that reflects the suggestion performance of each individual, section, department and division.

Q. Are employees rewarded if their suggestions are incorporated?

A. Yes, employees are rewarded every month for their suggestions both monetarily and non-monetarily. Depending upon the quality of the suggestion (cost saving and non-cost saving) they are rewarded with cash in their salary, or movie tickets, family luncheon coupons etc. The monthly newsletter carries profiles of the top three winners in both the categories, namely the cost saving and non-cost saving. This encourages other employees also to participate and look around for suggestions in their work areas. 

Q. In what areas/functions has the company been able to save cost(s)?

A. Though the suggestion scheme is across all business functions, mostly savings come from operational areas such as production, supply chain and engineering. Improvements come in processes, parts, materials, functions, localisation and energy savings.