Imaginative Audi employees
250,000 ideas save more than DM 130 million
Ingolstadt/Neckarsulm (ots)
Audi employees have so far submitted a quarter of a million suggestions since the suggestions scheme was introduced in 1994. 150,000 of these were in Ingolstadt and 100,000 in Neckarsulm. Dr. h. c. Andreas Schleef, Member of the Board of AUDI AG for Human Resources, acknowledged the creativeness of the company's employees today in Ingolstadt.
The company has so far been able to save around DM 132 million by putting the ideas submitted into practice. The employees' imaginativeness has been rewarded with a total bonus payment of around DM 33 million. "But we don't just want those suggestions that generate the highest possible savings," commented Schleef, "we are also interested in achieving many minor improvements."
As Thomas Neuhaus, head of Audi's suggestions office, explained: "The main objective of the scheme is to exploit the creative potential of all employees in order to optimise operations and products. This helps to encourage the commitment of employees and their involvement in the company."
If put into practice, a suggestion with a calculable benefit may be rewarded with a bonus of up to DM 100,000. But a bonus is also paid out for suggestions which are put into practice but whose benefit cannot be gauged, if they achieve improvements in the area of environmental protection or occupational safety, for example.
"We are convinced that the active involvement of our employees helps to improve processes and products, and thus contributes significantly towards safeguarding jobs at Audi," remarked Georg Hertrich, Works Council spokesman for the assessment committee.
Audi is an international developer and manufacturer of high-quality cars. The company maintains production sites in Germany, Hungary, Brazil, China and South Africa. In 1999 Audi supplied around 635,000 cars and produced more than 1.2 million engines, bringing in sales revenues in excess of DM 29.6 billion. The Audi Group currently has around 48,000 employees.
Communication: Corporate and Finance Joachim Cordshagen, Tel: +49 841 89 36340 e-mail: joachim.cordshagen@audi.de Dr. Ute Röding-Lange, Tel: +49 841 89 36384 e-mail: ute.roeding-lange@audi.de
Original content of: Audi AG, transmitted by news aktuell