Employee ideas help Continental save 550 million euros in four years

Do you know that Continental employees have saved around €550 million (Rs 4,204 crore) over the last four years through Continental Idea Management – saving approximately €124 million (Rs 947 crore) in 2015?

The Continental Idea Management (CIM) program reveals that the automotive supplier’s employees are creative and overflowing with good ideas. Last year, employees at over 160 locations around the world helped boost the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the company with more than 470,000 ideas. The over 212,000 employees had more than two ideas each on average.

Ideas factory

“Good ideas are our most valuable resource. Our employees’ skills and capabilities and their wealth of ideas are what safeguard our competitiveness. This is why we instill a culture that welcomes their ideas,” said Dr Ariane Reinhart, Continental executive Board member for HR.

“Our employees not only support Continental with the outstanding work they do, but they also make an equally valuable contribution to the company with their creativity. The ideas range from process and quality improvements, knowledge exchanges, and collaboration across national borders through to developments in the spheres of environmental protection and occupational health and safety. Continental employees worldwide are thus demonstrating the intensity of their commitment to their technology company. Mutual networking also means that everyone can benefit from the ideas of others,” said Reinhart.

The number of participating locations has risen from 156 to 161 in 2015. The most successful international locations are Icheon and Sejong (both in South Korea) and Guadalajara (Mexico). The Roding, Regensburg, and Rheinböllen locations contributed the most ideas in Germany.

One idea in particular received special recognition. It came from the clever minds at the German ContiTech location in Waltershausen. Previously, the combustion furnaces for steam generation with oxygen were heated using a cold air supply close to the ground. In the future, Continental employees will use warmer air from the ceiling. Prewarmed air increases the efficiency of the combustion process resulting in decreased energy expenditure for the same amount of steam.

This saw the ideas team from Waltershausen win the award issued by the German Institute for Idea and Innovation Management in the category ‘Best Employee Idea 2016’. The team beat all other competitors in a nationwide competition comprising a number of industries including automotive, mechanical engineering, chemicals, and electrical engineering.

“This idea can be implemented worldwide – both at Continental and other companies, too. It therefore makes an immeasurable contribution to protecting the environment and conserving resources. This is testament to how diligently and consciously our employees follow our sustainability targets in their day-to-day work, in terms of cutting energy and costs and protecting the environment,” expressed Reinhart.