An eight-member Alba team receives the Yellow Belt certification in Six Sigma.
Six Sigma has been introduced as part of Alba Smart Way, and is part of a series of initiatives undertaken by Alba since 2009 to bring about improved competitiveness and greater operational efficiency to sustain regional and global challenges in the decades to come.
Alba aims to generate annual savings of US$ 250 million by 2012
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba)'s concerted efforts in strengthening quality improvement initiatives across the organisation received a major impetus as an eight-member team from Alba became the proud recipients of the Yellow Belt certification in the Six Sigma Programme on Thursday, January 20, 2011.
The certification was part of a series of initiatives that Alba has undertaken since 2009 to bring about improved competitiveness, increased operational efficiency and greater savings. The goal of these initiatives has been to prepare Alba to be better able to face future challenges of profitable growth, and to continue to remain a global force in the aluminium industry.
In 2009, Alba outlined well defined top-down objectives to generate annual savings of US$ 250 million by 2012. Additionally, the management structure was right-sized to streamline decision making process across the organisation.
The Alba SmartWay was launched in 2010 as a bottom-up approach to ensure necessary actions like the setting up of numerous working groups and the adoption of Lean Manufacturing Best Practices were put in place to achieve improvements. During the year, this approach proved very successful as Alba was able to train 61 change agents and 4 change leaders through 26 working groups.
The efforts of the Alba SmartWay working groups enabled Alba to achieve the savings targeted for 2010, and in the future, it is expected to remain a cornerstone of the company's continuous improvement dynamics in achieving the US$ 250 million savings.
2011 marks the next step in Alba's continuous improvement initiative as the company begins the implementation of Six Sigma. This industrial best practise tool has been designed to minimise or eliminate the variables in the manufacturing and business processes, improving output and quality by identifying and removing the causes of variables, process defects, and speed up initiatives that strengthen efficient operations.
In his recent keynote address at the Bahrain Management Society seminar, Alba Chief Executive, Laurent Schmitt highlighted the salient features of the Alba SmartWay approach, and emphasised that the company would be utilising all appropriate improvement tools to enhance its standing in the aluminium industry.
Commenting during the Yellow Belt certification award ceremony for the eight-member team who were given an overall insight into the techniques of Six Sigma, its metrics and basic improvement methodologies as well as an introduction into process management, he added:
"Six-Sigma has been recognised worldwide as a valuable tool to boost quality output, eliminate variability and achieve significant and measurable returns. Its implementation in Alba will be supported by a core team of internal experts who will be trained in 2011. Our decision to incorporate Six-Sigma tool was aimed at equipping the organisation to remain operationally efficient and achieve its goal of being recognised as globally competitive while continuing the continuous improvement initiative begun in 2009.
"I would like to thank the eight-member team for their hard work and dedication that enabled them to receive the Yellow Belt certification, and most importantly, in laying a strong foundation for the implementation of this tool across the organisation. There are various levels in the Six Sigma Training - from the introductory yellow and green belt to the more advanced black and master black belt certifications that members of the Alba team have to achieve in the coming months and years"
The successful implementation of Six-Sigma is expected to boost the continuous improvement methodologies already in place at Alba, and will involve progressive training for managers, the operational excellence and middle management team to identify and eliminate variability. Alba has outlined a 15-month detailed plan for the total implementation of Six-Sigma methodology across the company.
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Alba has been consistently ranked as one of the largest aluminium smelters in the world, and is known for its technological strength, global competitiveness and innovative policies. Alba produces more than 860,000 metric tonnes per annum of aluminium which meet or exceed the industry standard for purity, with products including standard and T-ingots, extrusion billets, rolling slab, propertzi ingots, and molten aluminium. It has also maintained a strong track record of operational safety and environmental compliance.
For further details, please contact Public Relations Officer, Ashish B. Gorde
Tel: (973) 17 833998 (direct)
(973) 39 029237 (mobile)
Fax: (973) 17 833822
E-mail: ashish.gorde@alba.com.bh
© Press Release 2011
