Employees focused on customer satisfaction

Abu Dhabi, 25 November, 2012: In conjunction with the United Nation's World Quality Day, the UAE's industrial flagship company Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) hosted a week of events in November, aimed at promoting the importance of quality and business excellence. Through a series of initiatives, known as 'Quality Week', employees were informed of the need to develop customer relations as the smelter expands into one of the largest in the world.

Commenting on the importance of 'Quality Week', Saeed Fadhel Al Mazrooei, President and CEO of EMAL, said:  "EMAL is a success story built on the solid foundations of our core values. We have pursued quality and excellence from the start, and as we grow our international customer base, we need to continually improve to ensure that we always meet our customers' needs. Quality Week at EMAL provided an ideal opportunity to focus on issues such as quality management, customer satisfaction, innovation and responsibility which are fundamental for success in a global economy."

'World Quality Day' was introduced by the UN in 1990 to raise global awareness about the role played by quality in building countries growth and prosperity. EMAL's 'Quality Week' was hosted by EMAL's Quality Department. The program included 'quality awareness stations' placed in buildings around the 6km sq. site at Al Taweelah where employees could access the latest information on quality management and participated in a game to improve customer focus, quality awareness and win prizes. Quality Quiz Event was organized where teams from different departments participated to answer questions about ISO 9001 quality management system, quality tools for problem solving, statistical process control and continual improvement.

EMAL is a state-of-the-art aluminium smelter complex supplying the world with high quality metal. The advanced smelter in Al Taweelah currently uses DX Reduction Cell Technology to produce 750,000 tonnes of aluminium annually. This will increase to 1.3 metric million tonnes by the end of 2014 upon completion of Phase II and the installation of the new generation DX+ Reduction Cell Technology to an additional 444 reduction cells, making it one of the largest single site smelters in the world. Early works on the estimated US$4.5 billion Phase II expansion began in early 2011, making EMAL one of the largest industrial projects in the UAE outside oil and gas and one of the key projects leading to the diversification of the UAE's economy.

EMAL currently supplies over 150 customers around the globe with high quality ISO9001 certified aluminium which is available as sow, standard ingots, sheet ingots, foundry ingots and extrusion billets. Sow and standard ingots are traded on the London Metal Exchange. An advanced infrastructure at the Al Taweelah site provides customers with reliable and sustainable production and distribution. The site currently includes a 2,000 MW power plant, which will increase to approximately 3,000MW by 2014, a carbon plant and a flexible cast house with the capacity to produce a wide variety of world-class products. A purpose-built wharf at Khalifa Port shortens the supply chain of raw materials direct from sea to smelter.

EMAL uses sustainable technologies to reduce emissions in line with Environment Agency Abu Dhabi requirements to minimise its carbon footprint. EMAL has created 2,000 jobs with Emiratization at the core of its employment strategy, which will rise to approximately 3,000 upon completion of Phase II. The company has also introduced scholarship programs to provide technical training for local graduates with guaranteed job opportunities. EMAL's community engagement includes open days for the local community and support for social, sports and cultural organisations.

For further Information, please contact:
Rosine Feghali- Emirates Aluminium
Tel: 02 509 2290
Email: rosine@emal.ae

Nick Langmead, Impact Porter Novelli
Tel: 050 884 7964
Email: n.langmead@ipn.ae

© Press Release 2012