#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Increasing production efficiency is one of the main trends in the modern world economy. International Productivity Week is a unique event that takes place annually in October. It allows you to study international experience in the field of increasing labor productivity, creating intelligent production systems, developing human capital, technology and Industry 4.0. Due to the pandemic, this year’s International Productivity Week (IPWeek) took place in digital format for the first time.
IPWeek 2020 Digital was attended by over 40 speakers from Russia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Germany, the USA and other countries, top managers of the world’s largest companies and industry leaders. At the grand opening, Norilsk Nickel’s senior vice president – head of the Norilsk Division Nikolay Utkin made a welcoming speech. The speakers at the conference were Daria Kryachkova, vice president for HR policy at Norilsk Nickel (topic – Transformation in the Name of Man) and director of the Operational Efficiency Department of the Polar Division Alexander Mamontov, who introduced the experience of building a system of continuous improvement at Norilsk Nickel.
“Our company has long and firmly embarked on the path of increasing efficiency. Now we are bringing this activity to a new, systemic level”, said Nikolay Utkin. “We are starting building a business system. It is not only a set of tools and practices, although this arsenal needs to be constantly increased. First of all, a business system is the creation of a team of like-minded people. That is why at Norilsk Nickel we welcome any involvement of employees in the process of improving efficiency, encourage their participation in events like the International Productivity Week, and are ready to partner with such an undertaking so that an expert community of professionals is formed in the country and abroad, new leaders and employees of our enterprise could learn the best practices and experience first-hand. Digitalization and innovative technologies are also an important part of Nornickel’s life today. We are one of the first in the industry to introduce robotic production technologies and digitalization in the management of production processes”.
IPWeek 2020 Digital included online conferences and teleconferences, virtual master classes in gemba, the International School of Industrial Craftsmen, B2B sites, and a competitive program. So, in the Transformation practical competition in the Increasing Productivity and Operational Efficiency category the 1st place was won by the Increasing the Production Capacity of the Copper-pouring Processing of the Copper Plant project. The 2nd place was shared by the projects of the Nadezhda metallurgical plant and the Skalisty mine, the 3rd place was taken by the Komsomolsky mine.
“Even during the Productivity Week 2019, a lot of new ideas were born”, said Olga Solodova, project manager of the HR Policy Department at Norilsk Nickel. “One of them is the idea of developing an expert community of industrial workers in the company. It was supported by the company’s management, and now we are working in this direction. The past experience has borne fruit, the preparation this time was even more serious, the projects were worked out deeper. This allowed us to take prizes. In general, participation in such events is a good motivation for new achievements”.
In five days, the participants of the International School of Masters completed the Master-Leader of Change course with homework assignments, successfully passed the final test and had the opportunity to get acquainted with the experience of other enterprises, watch the speeches of the speakers and ask them questions. The team of the Polar Division included 14 people. The result was the final testing, which showed a high level of knowledge of the Norilsk residents: the average score of the participants was 65.6 out of 68 maxima. The Norilsk team became the best among the five participating teams in the Most Orderly Team category.
At IPWeek 2020 Digital, Norilsk Nickel representatives also took part in the Operational Excellence Championship aimed at increasing the level of knowledge and competencies, sharing best practices in the field of lean management. The Polar Division team took second place in the Leader in Process Development category.
A total of 134 company representatives took part in the International Productivity Week.
Text: Tatiana Ermolaeva, Photo: ipweek.eu
