Good ideas from associates - Bosch saves EUR 395 million thanks to its employees' suggestions

In the past ten years in Germany alone, Bosch has saved some 395 million euros thanks to suggestions for improvement made by its associates.

In total, approximately 21,900 associates submitted their suggestions in 2014, an increase of 2.4 percent over the previous year, the company announced Monday, stressing that they had been benefiting from their associates` ideas for 90 years.

Robert Bosch, the company`s founder, announced the launch of a company suggestions book in the fall of 1924. In so doing, he laid the foundation stone for what has since become a global ideas management program.

From that moment on, "the creativity of our associates continues to fuel our innovative strength," said Christoph Kübel, member of the board of management and director of industrial relations at Robert Bosch GmbH, on the occasion of the anniversary.

- The experience, creativity, and proactive thinking of each associate makes us more competitive and leads to better products. Often, small ideas that are beyond the scope of everyday tasks can make a big difference - Kübel said. According to Kübel, such ideas are also the product of a working culture that values cultural diversity and promotes creativity.

At Bosch, associates at every location are encouraged to submit suggestions for improvement. Ideas can include, for instance, ways of optimizing operations, improving product quality, avoiding waste, or promoting environmental protection, the release reads.

Associates are also encouraged to submit ideas that may even go beyond their direct areas of responsibility. If an improvement is implemented and results in cost savings, the associates concerned are given a cash reward of up to 150,000 euros.

In addition to this company suggestion scheme, Bosch also relies on systematic ideas generation.

- We don’t just submit suggestions, but also generate ideas - said Peter Schmid, who is charge of the Bosch Group’s ideas management program.

- For example, coordinators attend workshops to learn how they can use creativity techniques to actively support associates at their locations - he added.

Associates can even train to become “Bosch Innovation Agents.”

Today, Bosch ideas management is successful around the world. The program comprises a network of more than 60 coordinators, who support Bosch locations in systematically coming up with ideas for improvements. The Charleston location in the United States has been especially successful of late.

In the future, ideas management around the world will be even simpler. Many associates can already submit ideas electronically, and now the different IT systems used at Bosch locations in Germany and beyond are set to be standardized.