Invention Exchange for KGHM employees - the company is looking improvements suggested by its staff

New technical solutions, technology improvements, and modernization projects - the next edition of the Invention Exchange, a unique program for the company’s employees, is beginning at KGHM. Invention ideas can be submitted all year round, but submissions from the Exchange may receive additional rewards. The best inventions from previous editions have already been applied in KGHM divisions.

KGHM is awaiting applications for technical or technical and organizational designs in the area of technology, but also in the area of the working environment, particularly the improvement of occupational safety and health.

- The company’s employees are extremely resourceful and very committed to their work. So I am counting on an excellent turnout and submissions during the Invention Exchange. It is really worthwhile to share knowledge and at the same time improve your workplace,” says Mirosław Kidoń, KGHM’s Deputy CEO for Foreign Assets and acting Deputy CEO for Development.

Participation in the Invention Exchange is extremely simple. All you need to do is download the design submission sheet available on the intranet, fill it out, and hand it over to the person in charge at the company’s division or headquarters.

KGHM employees have so far participated in previous editions of the Invention Exchange in great numbers. Some of the designs are already in operation at mines and smelters, as well as other divisions of the copper industry leader.

One such example is the project “Starting Nail Straightening and Cutting Device.” This idea of a KGHM employee is used at the Cedynia Copper Smelter. The installation, driven by muscle power, unwinds coils of wire, straightens the wire, and cuts it with the help of cutters mounted there. The solution is very useful in daily work and improves safety and OSH conditions by minimizing the need for manual labor (thus eliminating the risks associated with the use of hand tools).

Another such example is an assembler for installing segmented liners (commonly known as “modary”) in the raceways of pulleys of mining machinery. The design was submitted at the Polkowice-Sieroszowice Mining Facility. With the device, putting on segmented liners has become much less time- and labor-intensive. The use of a hydraulic cylinder that automatically expands when inserted into the pulley raceway increases the efficiency of the replacement. Until now, liner components have been replaced manually by at least several people and using a forced body position. It is worth noting that this solution has been submitted for protection with the Polish Patent Office as it meets the legal requirements for protection as a utility model.

The Invention Exchange has been organized at KGHM continuously since 2019. As part of the Exchange, inventors submit an average of nearly 80 invention designs.