|
|
| • EXCH RATES |
|
Baht/$ 34.57/62 (Bid/Ask)
|
GOLD |
13,100
|
|
By encouraging staff to develop creative ideas, Mitr Phol builds a reputation as a sugar industry leader
Pornnalat Prachyakorn in Suphan Buri
Jeerasak Muyotha was always sure his hard work for his team over the past two years would be rewarded.
His belief was not mistaken. The team's sugarcane planting machine, the Na Nan Tub Innovative Transplanter, not only won first prize for in Mitr Phol's innovation competition this year. It also helped farmers double their crops, raising production at Mitr Phol Sugar Corp, Thailand's biggest sugar producer.
The Na Nan Tub team was among 181 contestants this year in the Mitr Phol Best Innovation Awards. Positioning itself as a leading global company in the sugar and biofuel business, driven by cutting-edge technology and management, Mitr Phol has long seen innovation and human assets as critical factors in achieving its goals.
 |
| The Na Nan Tub Innovative Transplanter developed by Mitr Phol employees allows sugarcane farmers to create wider rows and thus double yields. As well, it consumes less fuel and costs half as much as other machines on the market. |
The annual competition, launched eight years ago, encourages staff at all levels, both in Thailand and China, to show off their ideas for enhancing the company's competitiveness.
"We've always been open to accept every innovative idea from employees in all departments since they know the flaws well and can find solutions," said Kanong Sakpetch, managing director of Mitr Phol's sugar business, who added that every practical idea gets tested in the field to see if it really works.
This year, 17 projects from three departments in five factories went through to the final round. Mr Kanong said each project had to prove it could cut costs or add value to the company's sugarcane and sugar products.
The Na Nan Tub team reflected the company's open-minded attitude by gathering information and opinions from farmers. Members found that row width in sugarcane plantations was a factor that affected yield. The team then upgraded existing planting machinery to widen the rows from 35 to 50 centimetres. As a result, farmers have doubled cane yields to 25 tonnes per rai and above.
As well as making sugarcane planting more efficient, the innovative planting machine consumes less fuel and costs only 40,020 baht, compared to 88,000 baht for the existing transplanter.
Mitr Phol's domestic sugar sales in the first half of this year were worth 19 billion baht, up from 17 billion in the same period last year. This was due to an increase in sugarcane yields from 12.5 to 13.4 million tonnes.
As well as competitive production, the company focuses on delivering customer satisfaction.
Noppadech Jintanont, a programmer at Mitr Phol Sugar Mill's operation management department, said problems in logistics and stocks came to the company's attention two years ago after his department received eight customer complaints about stick-sugar product delivery systems including misdelivered and missing products.
To solve the problem, a Stick Sugar Inventory system was invented by IT, stock and logistics staff - and last year, after the new system was used in the field, there was only one complaint.
"The competition we've been holding has shown there is great potential for productivity and management systems in each unit and each department of our sugar industry," said Mr Kanong.
To promote growth in every part of the business, next year Mitr Phol will stage a business competition among the company's five units, including sugar, energy and particle-board products.
"One of our corporate mottoes is 'Believe in the Value of Human Dignity'," says Mr Kanong. "This can be done by allowing employees to freely express their ideas, which is basically a key driver of innovation and a major factor in becoming a leader in the business."
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Next
