Description

Rio Tinto Alcan’s strategy for the aluminum rod caster at Alma Works Smelter in Quebec, Canada, was to mobilize a fully integrated continuous improvement organization. This paper summarizes its major achievements in the last decade on the Properzi casting and rolling technology regarding safety, quality, process control and monitoring, productivity, production cost, and product diversification. The key factors underlying the sustainable performance of the continuous improvement organization are also analyzed and discussed. Finally, it briefly outlines the forthcoming challenges that will be tackled in the next few years.