Ideas.Arabia conference to highlight ‘living innovation’

A one-day workshop will be held on Sunday for members of Ideas.Arabia subgroup prior to the meeting. 

Dubai Aluminium Company Limited (Dubal) is the main sponsor of the conference for the third consecutive year. 

Organised and hosted by the Ideas.Arabia subgroup of the Dubai Quality Group – a non-profit organisation that offers many knowledge-sharing programmes to its members – the event will once again bring global knowledge on suggestion schemes and their benefits to the Middle East, thereby sharing international best practice with local players. 

“Moreover, we follow the guidance of Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Minister of Finance and Chairman of Dubal, in terms of encouraging and highlighting the importance of employee participation. Accordingly, we place our employees at the forefront by encouraging and rewarding their suggestions to enhance our productivity, minimise energy usage, protect the environment and improve Dubal’s safety records.” 

As in previous years, Ideas.Arabia 2008 also includes the annual Idea of the Year Competition, which aims to recognise the most significant idea implemented by members throughout the calendar year.  

“Dubal won three awards at the Ideas.Arabia Idea of the Year Competition 2007, namely Idea of the Year; the Health and Safety Award; and the Environmental Award,” said Buhumaid. 

“Given the high quality of suggestions made by our employees during 2007, we are quietly confident that Dubal will triumph again in this year’s competition.” 

The seventh largest producer of high quality primary aluminium in the world, Dubai’s industrial flagship, a pioneer of employee involvement programmes through its own suggestion scheme, and the founder of the Ideas.Arabia subgroup, Dubal has an established reputation as a quality-driven organisation that thrives on continuous improvement, much of which is based on employee involvement. It says employees continue to play a major role in company’s growth.