In 2018, the total financial benefit of the introduction of innovation suggestions at the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) amounted to 453.6 million rubles.
Last year, MMK’s expert commission considered 5,792 proposals, of which 3,872 (66.8%) were selected as innovative ideas to be implemented. Traditionally, most of the ideas submitted addressed the issues of labor protection and industrial safety, energy efficiency, as well as of saving material and technical resources.
The confirmed financial benefit of the innovation suggestions (of which there were 2,579) amounted to 453.6 million rubles. The most economically advantageous aspects of the rationalization proposals were the blast furnace production in the main metal workshops (124.1 million rubles), sheet steel production in the main rolling workshops (55.2 million rubles), steam-blowing in the plant’s energy workshops (50.6 million rubles), and logistics management in other areas (5.4 million rubles).
In 2018, two annual competitions dedicated to innovation were held at MMK. Following the results of the competition “Best Young Innovator and Inventor of MMK”, 15 of the best innovators under the age of 30 were identified. The competition “Best Innovation Proposal of PJSC MMK” was split into categories: “Occupational Health and Safety”, “Saving of Material and Technological Resources” and “Energy Saving”, with the best innovation proposals in each category winning prizes.
In order to attract new employees to invent and innovate, teams in MMK divisions hold quarterly competitions for the best ideas for solving current issues. The issue at hand is chosen by the head of the division, the winners are determined through expert evaluation and the prizes are 15,000, 10,000 and 7,000 rubles. A further aim of the innovators is to identify bottlenecks and introduce the best global practices in technological and functional processes, equipment, tools, designs, and to attract new workers to innovation.
In May 2018, on the basis of the Personnel Corporate Training Center for MMK initiative specialists, the “School of Efficiency” program was introduced: using TIPS (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) to search for new solutions to problematic production scenarios. Last June, in order to motivate employees to be technically creative and to attract them to innovate for the third year in a row, publicity for “Fresh Idea” was held in time with the Day of the Innovator and Inventor.
The inventors and innovators of MMK make a significant contribution to increasing productivity and reducing the cost of production. Thanks to the innovative proposals of employees, production efficiency has increased, costs have been reduced, the consumption of material, technical and energy resources has decreased, labor safety has improved, and environmental issues are being resolved.
MMK Group’s policies allow for rapid development through increased efficiency and cost control. This is facilitated by scientific and technological projects and a high level of employee involvement in the company’s creative technical work. At the same time, modern IT technologies are actively used in these scientific and technical activities. In particular, in order to reduce the amount of time between the submission of an idea and its implementation, technological tools such as “Evolution” and “Energy Management Platform” apps are used to track the project’s progress. This approach increases the transparency of the process and is aimed at strengthening internal corporate relations and creating new opportunities for MMK specialists. (MMK/Ukrainian metal)