EGA savings from implementing employee suggestions reach AED17 million since start of year

Over 18,000 ideas submitted by employees since January

United Arab Emirates, 18 July 2017: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today announced that savings from implementing employee suggestions have reached AED 17 million since the start of the year.

EGA employees have made over 18,000 suggestions for operational and technical improvements since January.

EGA’s employee suggestion scheme is an important part of its system for continuous improvement, and is a foundation of EGA’s competitiveness in the global aluminium industry.

The suggestion scheme was launched in 1981 and is open to all employees, from management to the most junior operator. Staff receive a proportion of the savings generated by their ideas that are implemented and make day-to-day work more efficient.

Ideas range from simple work process improvements to ingenious technical fixes.

Abdulla Kalban, EGA’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said: “EGA has operated an employee suggestion scheme for over 35 years, and it engages everyone to think constantly how we can do things better. We believe that often it is people closest to a problem that can both spot it and work out the best solution. In a competitive industry like ours, we have to improve every day.”

EGA recognises the best ideas each month, and in an annual competition that is judged by a panel led by Mr Kalban.

The best idea in 2016 was machine to separate small pieces of coke by size. A team of operators conceived, designed and built a small machine to perform this task, which was previously done by hand.

During the judging process, the team presented their idea to the senior executive panel and explained its benefits to the company and themselves in making their work easier and more efficient.

EGA also focuses on the continuous improvement of its core industrial process technology.

EGA has developed its own technology in the UAE for over 25 years. In 2016 EGA became the first UAE industrial company to licence its core industrial process technology internationally, in a major milestone in the UAE’s drive to develop a knowledge-based economy.