EMAL bright sparks triumph at Ideas UK awards

Abu Dhabi: Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) has taken home top honours for its highly successful Suggestion Scheme programme at the 27th Ideas UK Conference. Testament to the company's key pillars of Operational Excellence, EMAL won the "Health and Safety Trophy", and entered the history books as the second organisation in UAE since Emirates Airlines in 1998 to have won the "Idea of the Year Trophy". The awards follow EMAL's recent Platinum certification from Ideas UK, which established it as the youngest and one of only three UAE companies to receive the maximum award on the first attempt. Held in Cardiff, eight EMAL suggestions were commended, six were highly commended and 12 were shortlisted and presented by the EMAL team in the finals. The Idea of the Year Trophy was won by the Reduction Maintenance Department's suggestion - In-House Design and Fabrication of Vacuum Cleaner for Potlines'. The Health and Safety Trophy' was won by the Central Maintenance Services department for its suggestion - Tilting Hooper'. EMAL President and CEO, Saeed Fadhel Al Mazrooei, said: "At EMAL we are "Dedicated to Excellence" and we relentlessly motivate our employees for their participation and interaction with the Suggestion System, following one of the company's core value, "Everything can be improved." "The EMAL workforce has cultivated a culture of continuous improvement, largely through an active employee Suggestion Scheme that facilitates improvements and recognises contributors. The Suggestion Scheme has been actively adopted by our employees with more than 18,000 suggestions presented, a participation rate of 75 % and implementation rate of 82%. As a result, we have achieved a total cost saving of over US$8,000,000 for the company" added Mazrooei. Ideas UK is an international, non-profit organisation founded in 1987, promoting innovation and suggestions through international competition among organisations with the best suggestions in various categories. Ideas UK Conference is an annual event which brings together organisations from across the world to celebrate innovation, share ideas and reflect upon the experiences as an innovative organisation. The conference comes to an end in an award ceremony, where the Ideas UK Idea of the Year is revealed. – Emirates News Agency, WAM