8th TPV Day of Innovation: The Art of Innovation

25.3.2021

TPV AUTOMOTIVE d.o.o. is at the very top of innovation activity in Slovenia according to an analysis carried out by Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia. Reasons lie in the company’s active and systematic approach to fostering innovation in all spheres. A good example is TPV’s annual Day of Innovation that took place for the 8th time in a row.

The underlying thread of the event was the Art of Innovation. At first glance, art does not have much in common with the automotive industry. »Our core is science,« explained dr. Ivan Erenda, Director of TPV AUTOMOTIVE, in his opening speech, »however, science and art have strong ties, innovation being one of them. When art joins science, innovation is born.«

Artistic creativity was sparking throughout the event thanks to Rajko Požar, a passionate artist who has been a part of TPV for the past 20 years. His focus on art has been more prominent in recent years, attending exhibitions around the world – all the way from the Philippines, Prague, Hong Kong to Moscow. He was awarded the prestigious Art Expo award in 2019. During the event, we had the chance to closely follow his artistic process as he was broadcasting live from his studio. He used innovative techniques and tools he came up with by himself.

Since the covid-19 pandemic hit hard last year, TPV AUTOMOTIVE has proved that even crisis situations have not hampered innovation with:

  • 7 breakthrough innovations,
  • 1 innovative proposal submitted each working hour,
  • 5 research projects launched (electrification and complex research solutions), 8 innovation awards received (gold by Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia),
  • 44 awarded innovators.

Krunoslav Šimrak, Director of the Development and Sales Division, outlined innovation progress and trends, stressing that e-mobility is on the rise in the EU. He pointed out that post-covid changes of production systems and supplier chains are shifting from GLOBAL-ization to GLOCAL-ization, namely transitioning to local production and local suppliers. Consequently, integration of local innovation is gaining in importance.

Odkar so v Skupini TPV leta 2007 pričeli sistemsko beležiti podane inovativne predloge, so jih njihovi sodelavci podali že več kot 19.000. Skupno so prejeli 75 nagrad za inovativnost. Vpeljali so popolnoma digitaliziran proces pridobivanja oz. oddajanja inovativnih predlogov, ki je omogočen tako prek intranet portala kot tudi prek pametnih telefonov. Leta 2019 so proces inoviranja še okrepili z ustanovitvijo inovativnega centra in zagonom platforme za odprto inoviranje TPV Innovation Station. S tem so naredili še korak naprej na področju odprtega inoviranja in sodelovanja z zunanjimi partnerji. Uspešno so vzpostavili partnerstva z lokalnimi inkubatorji in razvojnimi centri.

The Innovation Committee traditionally selected the most valuable proposals submitted by an individual and a team in 2020. The most valuable proposal submitted by an individual was awarded to Boštjan Dobovšek for Battery tray cast and the most valuable proposal submitted by a group was awarded to Edvin Jankovič, Boštjan Piletič and Marko Malnarič for Welding robot systems for actual welding gap position tracking.

»The first condition for innovation and generating new ideas is one’s knowledge. That is why we take education seriously,« stressed mag. Marko Gorjup, Director of TPV GROUP, before conferring the Martin Sever Award for the best thesis or dissertation. The winning thesis was Aljaž Rebselj‘s diploma thesis Residential house heating with combination of solar panels and a pellet stove. The committee explained the thesis is a beneficial contribution to competencies for investment projects and efficient energy consumption.

Recognitions were granted to employees who finished education last year: Mojca Kumelj, Matej Mikolič, Aljaž Rebselj, Anže Hribar, Milibor Bjelošević, Deja Škrabec, Boštjan Piletič and Veljko Goleš.

The event was aired on TPV AUTOMOTIVE’s website and social media. In case you missed it, it is still available at:

https://www.tpv-automotive.si/si/medijsko-sredisce/dan-inovativnosti-2021/