Coburg
Brose wins first place for “Best Idea Management”
Marcus Loskant, CEO of LVM Versicherung and patron of the top management initiative "Ideas for the Future" (l.) presented the award to Dagmar Hörnlein, Employee Suggestion Program Brose Group, and Bernd Schell, Head of Employee Suggestion Program Brose Group, on March 13, 2024 in Augsburg.
The automotive supplier Brose has received the German Idea Management Award in the main category "Best Idea Management". This is the highest award presented by the German Institute for Idea and Innovation Management. In addition, junior staff from the family-owned company took second place in the "Best Apprentice Idea" category.
"The ideas of our employees make a significant contribution to continuous improvement at Brose. From their day-to-day work, employees know best how we can increase our efficiency and avoid unnecessary costs," explains Bernhard Blauth, Executive Vice President Human Resources.
The expert jury particularly recognized the positive development of the IDEAS employee suggestion scheme in recent years: in 2023, more than 60 percent of the ideas submitted were implemented at Brose. The approximately 9,500 improvements resulted in total savings of around 9.2 million euros in the first year after implementation alone.
"The jury awarded top marks for the excellent link between idea management and the corporate strategy, the well thought-out marketing, the appreciation of the idea providers and the regular reporting within the company," explains Birgit Rausch, CEO of the German Institute for Idea and Innovation Management.
An example of one of the ideas implemented is a suggestion by Würzburg Brose apprentices Nico Krückel, Roman Posselt and Marvin Schäflein. They suggested integrating the temperature control of control cabinets in a production hall into the hall air conditioning system via a ring cooling system. This reduces energy consumption and therefore operating costs, CO2 emissions and the risk of heat-related system downtime. The reward: second place in the "Best Apprentice Idea" competition and a great end to their apprenticeship. The three apprentices were taken on by the Würzburg plant on March 1, 2024.
The company suggestion scheme IDEAS was initiated in 1969 by Gisela Brose, daughter of the company founder, and driven forward for decades by Michael Stoschek, her nephew and Chairman of the Brose Shareholders' Meeting. It forms an important basis for the supplier's innovative strength and is coordinated worldwide from the Coburg location.
