Improvements proposed by BMW Group employees to save cost reached a new record for savings in 2019, the company has said.

"Over EUR62m in annual savings from employees' suggested improvements is the highest amount the BMW Group's idea management programme has ever achieved. More than 8,000 ideas for improvement have been submitted in 2019," said Ilka Horstmeier, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Human Resources, "and more than a quarter of those ideas were implemented."

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One proposal – submitted by two employees from Munich – stood out financially from all the others, the company said. Together, the two were able to increase the functional efficiency of the head unit, the central electronic control unit in every current BMW vehicle – with potential savings of EUR39m in the very first year.

"Idea management is another area where our employees make all the difference. Their dedication to optimising processes is an important aspect of the BMW Group's innovative capacity," adds Horstmeier.

The company has honoured its employees' outstanding ideas for the past 80 years. Its idea management programme focuses on ideas outside employees' own field of work. Employees receive a bonus if their proposal is implemented. The amount reflects the creativity and commitment of the idea, the level of quality improvement and how economical it is to implement. It is also financially worthwhile for employees. In this case, each of the employees who put forward the idea received the maximum amount, BMW said.

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