SEAT celebrated the first edition of Innovation Day at its headquarters in Martorell, an inspirational event that recognises and encourages a mindset and culture of innovation in the company among employees. During the event, 20 innovation projects that were developed throughout the year were presented, all related with new mobility solutions, Industry 4.0 and new business models, among others, and the winning projects were announced.
SEAT Vice-president for Human Resources Xavier Ros declared that “the Innovation Day is open to all company employees and the initiative arose with the goal of connecting ideas, projects and talents from different areas. At the same time, events like this will have a multiplier effect, as they drive an innovation-driven mindset, create synergies among projects and identify new opportunities.”
With this initiative, aimed at the company’s more than 15,000 employees, SEAT detailed how innovative projects are launched, from the moment someone comes up with an idea until it is put into operation, in order to motivate creative thinking among all of the brand’s professionals. Inspirational talks were also organised with experts in innovation who shared their experiences. Furthermore, all company employees had the possibility to share an innovative idea through a digital platform created for the Innovation Day.
The winning initiatives, awarded with the ‘Passport to Innovation’
With the aim of promoting the professional growth of the participating teams who developed the different projects, these were evaluated by a jury made up of employees from several areas of the company. They based their decision on the innovative value of the projects and on how they benefit customers, the market and the company itself.
The winning projects include the “Click, Click & Go” e-Commerce service in Norway, an online and offline selling process that i integrated in a single e-Commerce platform whose aim is to streamline the purchasing process and enable cars to be sold 24/7; the ByBus bus on demand service, which aims to improve internal transportation at the SEAT Martorell facilities to reduce the use of cars; the Smart SEAT Heating predictive seat temperature system, which has resulted in a technology patent; and finally, the new logistics control centre that connects and displays every point and supplier in the supply chain, enabling enhanced traceability and transparency.
The teams that developed the winning projects were presented with the ‘Passport to Innovation’ award in order to promote their professional growth and development with experiences such as a course on drones, a visit to 4YFN (MWC) and passes to attend the Smart City Congress and the Silicon Valley Tour.
A day devoted to innovation
All visitors had the opportunity to visit a demonstration area of the participating projects, including a preview of several recent initiatives, such as drone simulations. In addition, they were also invited to attend the 10-minute Sprint Talks, where they received insights into the most innovative projects as explained by their drivers. Finally, 35 participants divided into seven teams took part in the SEAT Challenges, where they took on four challenges related with new mobility forms, collaborative economy, sustainability and connectivity, following the methodology applied in the creation of disruptive projects.
Students from SEAT’s Apprentice School have attended a conference on entrepreneurship delivered by Pau García-Milà, a cofounder of eyeOS. The rest of the participants could also listen to a speech on disruptive leadership by Javier Rodríguez Zapatero, President of the Advanced Institute for the Development of the Internet; and a final conference delivered by Carlos Buenosvinos, CTO of SEAT:CODE, the company’s new software development centre.
