Germany
IN4PUT Idea Management Harnesses Employee Creativity
With its IN4PUT idea management program, Brenntag GmbH is drawing on the wealth of ideas within the company. This move is designed to increase innovations, improve quality, reduce costs – and keep job satisfaction high.
Photo: Brenntag
A suggestion scheme has been in place in Brenntag in Germany since as far back as May 1995, but this has never yielded more than a few suggestions for improvements. That has changed with IN4PUT, a modern idea management system, which is now a fixed part of the Brenntag corporate culture in Germany (Brenntag GmbH and joint venture partners BCD and H&B). Ideas can be submitted via the company intranet either by individual employees or by groups, and traced at any time. Mentors provide assistance to employees who do not have their own PC workstation, as well as publish up-to-date information on ideas or on-site campaigns. Once suggestions have been submitted, they are first formally inspected by project manager Andrea Geng from Quality Management. After this, they are evaluated by a committee consisting of employees from IT, Sales, Operations/Logistics, Marketing, Quality Management and representatives from the Works Council and joint venture partners. It is the top management who ultimately decides whether – and, if so, how –a suggestion is to be implemented. No ideas are lost in the process – even if they cannot be put into practice directly, they will remain in the database for possible use in future projects. Furthermore, every 25th suggestion submitted is rewarded with a non-cash prize, regardless of whether it is implemented or not. Contact: Andrea Gengin4put@brenntag.de
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