Founded in 1951 in Japan, Aiwa has always been synonymous with innovation, quality, and performance. Its products became icons across generations, especially in audio: Walkman, Discman, and Micro Systems are milestones in its global success story.
Carrying this DNA, Aiwa Brazil continues to develop new generations of products with modernity and innovation. Driven by the strategic vision of its leadership, the company decided to transform its culture of innovation and continuous improvement at one of its most recent factories in Manaus, Brazil.
By adopting AEVO Innovate to digitalize its idea management program, the results quickly exceeded expectations. In less than a year, more than 2,500 ideas were submitted, over 700 were implemented, and five measured ideas alone generated a financial return of R$ 298,000, covering the program’s annual cost in 2024. By 2025, the company is already projecting a potential ROI of over R$ 2 million.
This article explores the Aiwa Case in detail and shows how aligning corporate strategy with innovation delivers significant gains.
In this article:
- Inside the MK Group and Aiwa
- Challenges of Innovation at Scale
- The Solution: AEVO Innovate
- Key Benefits of AEVO Innovate
- Results of the Aiwa Case
- Production Line Optimization: A Practical Example
- Conclusion
Listen to this blogpost’s summary:
Inside the MK Group and Aiwa
In 2020, the MK Group, owner of the Mondial brand since 2000, acquired Sony’s electronics factory in Brazil and licensed the Aiwa brand, which had belonged to Sony for decades.
With distinct strategies for each brand, MK Group maintained its core values of excellence, agility, and high performance. Investments in infrastructure, technology, and communication, combined with consistent factory growth, allowed the group to expand across South America, while Aiwa focused on meeting customer needs with smart, high-tech products at accessible costs.
In April 2024, Aiwa began its innovation journey at the Manaus factory, three years after absorbing the operations of another company. At that time, innovation initiatives were limited to a physical suggestion box, where employees submitted handwritten ideas. The system lacked structure: no approval flow, no feedback loop, and no defined metrics.
When new leadership took over, the company transformed this rudimentary process into a strategic pillar with the launch of its official innovation program: Mentes Kriativas.
Challenges of Innovating at Scale
Despite its potential, the old suggestion box revealed serious limitations:
- Lack of process control: Ideas stagnated or got lost, with no defined funnel from submission to implementation.
- No metrics: Participation rates, approval percentages, or ROI could not be tracked.
- Evaluation bottlenecks: Few evaluators had to handle an increasing volume of ideas, delaying feedback.
- Low engagement in production areas: Without access to computers and lacking an innovation culture, frontline employees contributed little.
Recognizing that innovation was a competitive lever and a cultural driver, Aiwa conducted a benchmark with BIC, another company in the same region with a mature innovation program managed through AEVO Innovate. The visit confirmed that Aiwa could address all its bottlenecks by adopting the platform.
Read more:
- Ideas Program: What It Is, How to Implement It, and Achieve Results
- Ideas Validation: How to Do It and 4 Essential Tools
- Idea Management: Scaling Innovation with Real Impact
The Solution: AEVO Innovate
The decision to implement AEVO Innovate was part of a clear management strategy to digitalize processes and adopt best practices in innovation management.
The rollout followed a structured plan:
- Training for managers and evaluators, focusing on the approval workflow.
- Workshops for employees, where participants submitted pilot ideas and received feedback in a simulated environment.
- Full adoption by 100% of the company, including login, navigation, and idea submission tutorials. The platform’s interface, similar to a corporate social network, simplified usage.
To maximize engagement, Aiwa also:
- Created support materials and added the program to new employee onboarding.
- Developed a multi-channel communication strategy with web, mobile app, WhatsApp submissions, and even factory floor kiosks.
- Established a recognition system to reinforce participation.
As Caio Holanda, Project Analyst and program leader, explains:
“I often say the platform is one of the pillars of our program: it simplifies submission, evaluation, and tracking of ideas. Without AEVO Innovate, we wouldn’t have achieved today’s scale or results.”
Key Benefits of AEVO Innovate
The implementation brought immediate advantages:
- Simplified input: Employees submit ideas in just a few clicks — via desktop, mobile, or factory kiosks.
- Real-time transparency: Proposers track if ideas are “approved,” “rejected,” or “implemented,” with clear justifications.
- Structured workflows: Multiple evaluation stages ensure quality without relying on spreadsheets or emails.
- Feedback channels: Employees suggest improvements for the program itself within the platform.
Beyond features, the increase in engagement was a turning point. Aiwa adopted best practices to boost participation:
- Active leadership involvement, reinforcing the program’s importance.
- Department-specific adaptation, tailoring goals to each area’s reality.
- Diverse access channels, especially for production teams.
- Ambassador program, where key employees became local champions.
- Robust reward system, with quarterly and annual prizes, including vouchers, trips, and recognition events.
- Continuous internal communication, with short videos, posters, and digital boards to keep innovation visible daily.
As Caio highlights:
“The platform democratized the program: anyone can send suggestions and follow them in real time. This transparency makes all the difference to keep the team motivated.”
Results of the Aiwa Case
After just over a year of Mentes Kriativas, powered by AEVO Innovate, the results are impressive:
- 2,200+ ideas implemented (702 in 2024, and more than 1,500 by mid-2025).
- 8,000+ ideas submitted (2,567 in 2024; 5,625 in 2025, showing strong growth).
- R$ 298,000 in financial returns in 2024 (with only five measured ideas).
- Over R$ 2 million in potential returns mapped for 2025.
- 800 employees trained in 2024, plus 1,400 retrained in 2025.
- Participation from nearly 100% of indirect areas in 2024.
- 65% active participation from production teams in the first half of 2025 (up from 28% in 2024).
The gains go beyond numbers. Employees submitted ideas that improved quality, enhanced the customer experience, and accelerated processes using RPA and AI, reducing tasks that once took days to just minutes.
Production Line Optimization: A Practical Example
One implemented idea suggested a simple change: shortening the pallet used on the TV assembly line.
This low-cost adjustment enabled the production of 28,000 additional TVs per year, without overtime, new hires, or machine investments.
Through AEVO Innovate, the entire lifecycle of this idea (submission, approval, implementation, and ROI measurement) was documented, reinforcing the program’s purpose: turning ideas into measurable improvements.
As Caio sums up:
“In our daily factory life, AEVO Innovate has become almost like an innovation social network. People log in every day to see updates, and the interface makes it intuitive and customizable. That’s why participation feels genuine.”
To bring this story to life, we’ve prepared a short video summarizing the Aiwa Brazil case:
Conclusion
The Aiwa Case demonstrates that when innovation is embedded into strategy and supported by engaged employees and leadership, results follow: in culture, efficiency, and financial returns.
As Caio concludes:
“This journey showed us how innovation empowers our people and drives transformation. Our next step is to consolidate this culture so innovation becomes second nature in our factory.”
For Aiwa, innovation is no longer just a process; it is a habit that ensures long-term competitiveness.
