Akce / best-KVP-2025

Innovations that Make Practical Sense

The 10th anniversary edition of Best KVP 2025 not only delivered strong results but also generated record-breaking interest across all operations. Out of a total of 550 improvement proposals that emerged from the KVP workshops, 11 measures advanced to the finals, from which a jury — including employees — selected three winners.

1st place 

Camera inspection of final battery assembly

The measure, which won first place and the most votes in the Employee Vote, brought about the full digitalisation of final battery inspection and was developed by the PKP – Platform Production team. The camera system replaced manual supervision, standardised the evaluation of all monitored areas and ensured a verifiable record of the accuracy of inspections. The result is greater process stability, faster responses to complaints and significant time savings in daily operations. "The introduction of camera monitoring for the line represents a major benefit in terms of quality, because we have eliminated human error, making the entire process more stable," says Jan Bartůněk, production coordinator for PKP/22 – GS3, GS6 Battery Assembly.

2nd place 

Wax Level Adjustment

Second place went to a measure involving the preservation of cavities by flooding them with wax at the end of the painting process, which significantly improves the vehicles' corrosion resistance. Previously, during the flooding process, the bodywork would become contaminated with wax even in areas where it was not desired. For example, the engine compartment had to be laboriously cleaned by hand after wax flooding. During workshops, attempts were made to regulate the amount of wax. However, this was not enough. Subsequently, the PFO-L – Paint Shop A implementation team conducted tests in which they covered two to four critical openings (depending on the body type) with tape. "When trying to regulate wax levels for a system that wasn't designed for such precise control, we ran into problems, such as instability in the wax application. Sometimes the cavities were under-flooded, other times over-flooded, and the engine compartment was very dirty. In the end, a simple solution of taping them over helped resolve everything," says Michal Macura, Painting Technology – Decor, Cavity Preservation from PFS-K/31 – TS Paint Shops MB.

Over the ten years of KVP workshops, thousands of specific measures have resulted in cumulative savings of nearly 150 million euros.

3rd place 

Modification of robotic PVC application

Third place went to a solution focused on streamlining this process, submitted by the PFK-L – Kvasiny Paint Shop team. By modifying the robotic application paths and verifying corrosion resistance, it was possible to completely eliminate the need for manual spreading of the material. The benefits include greater production stability, improved final quality and time savings in the production of each vehicle.

Best KVP is a survey that highlights the best measures developed in KVP workshops. These are specific changes that improve quality, productivity, ergonomics and workplace safety and have a direct impact on daily operations. The abbreviation KVP comes from the German Kontinuierlicher Verbesserungsprozess, which translates to "continuous improvement process."

Jiří Hubínek 

MEB Battery System Assembly
PKT/3 – Component Production Technology

We plan to expand technical solutions similar to those in the winning project to other lines as well. As my colleague Bartůněk mentioned, thanks to this measure, there is no risk that an employee might overlook something. It therefore has great potential for us to implement it at other workstations, lines or projects.

Marek Chmelár  

Visualisation Systems

PFO-L/4 – Paint Shop Finish, HRK

In addition to reducing wax levels and preventing its ingress into the engine compartment, a secondary positive effect is notably improved tightening results for certain bolted joints during assembly. This idea served as inspiration for optimisation efforts both in the D13 preservation hall for the MBI plant and in the Kvasiny paint shop.

Michal Macura 

Painting Technology – Decor, Cavity Preservation
PFS-K/31 – TS Paint Shop MB

When attempting to regulate wax levels, cooperation was necessary with colleagues from the MBII and Kvasiny assembly lines, who remove the tape covering the engine compartment. Without their cooperation, the idea could not have been implemented. That is why I have a message for others: don't give up, and cooperate as much as possible across departments. Even a complex problem can ultimately have a simple solution.