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ABU DHABI / WAM
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) on Wednesday announced that its employee-led continuous improvement programmemes have delivered almost AED60 million in cost savings since the start of the year.
Since January, EGA employees also submitted 18,400 ideas through the company’s suggestion scheme to solve operational, safety and environmental challenges, with cost savings of over AED28 million. EGA’s ‘Tamayaz’ programme, has delivered over AED32 million. The ‘Tamayaz’ programme, launched in 2016, is led by experts who conduct detailed analyses of EGA’s operational processes and guide teams to implement improvements.
The most important ideas submitted in 2020 include using a laser detection system to prevent the entry of foreign objects into a critical piece of machinery. This helps prevent breakdowns which require time to fix. In addition, another team suggested a new, more energy-efficient mechanism, to help capture air-borne dust, protecting the health and safety of the employees working nearby as well as improving air quality.
Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, EGA’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “Continuous improvement has for decades been a focus for EGA in developing and maintaining our global competitiveness, and we engage all our employees in this effort. Often employees who are closest to a process are in the best position to generate ideas for improvement. This is particularly important during challenging market conditions, like we are experiencing in almost every industry in 2020.”
EGA has operated an employee suggestion scheme since 1981. Since then, some 500,000 suggestions for operational and technical improvements have been made by EGA employees, out of which 312,000 have been implemented to generate savings of AED416 million.
Savings from these suggestions are shared with the employees who generate them. These employees are also recognised at company events.
