“Alba’s commitment to global competitiveness is yielding positive results as the company’s state-of-the-art Pot Line 5 achieved a solid turnaround in metal purity, increased productivity and operational efficiency during Q1 2011,” the Company in a statement said.
A celebration was held at the Alba plant to mark this milestone which was attended by Chief Executive Laurent Schmitt, Chief Supply Chain Officer and Acting Chief Operating Officer, Isa Al Ansari, Chief Financial Officer, Tim Murray, Line 5 Manager, Abdul Raoof Mohammed and other senior officials.
The management and employees of Line 5 were commended for their accomplishment despite the challenges related to the political unrest in the first quarter 2011.
“Metal purity reached way below 700 part per million (ppm), the recognised world standard, and as a result the company achieved higher revenue through sale of higher purity metal. Productivity figures exceeded the planned targets for the first quarter by 986 tonnes as total production reached almost 107,238 metric tonnes. Another important achievement was that the current efficiency reached 95.9 per cent, which was much more than the world standard of 94 per cent. Safety also remained a key focus during the entire process to reflect Alba’s commitment towards creating a safe working environment as well as to emphasise the integral role safety plays in boosting productivity and efficiency,” it added.
“The success achieved by the Line 5 employees provides a solid evidence of how effective teamwork contributes in overcoming adverse challenges. Q1 2011 was not the easiest periods for most companies in Bahrain, including Alba. And yet it was during this period that the management and staff of Line 5 turned the prevailing challenges into opportunities,” Laurent Schmitt CEO Alba said, while commenting on the Line 5 accomplishments.
“The Line 5 team’s accomplishments are in line with Alba’s continuous improvement processes that have been put in place to strengthen the company’s operational efficiency and enhance its global competitiveness. When it commenced operations in 2005, Line 5 set new world records for the fastest and safest start-up of a reduction line – 77 days without a single loss time injury (LTI). Utilising advanced AP technology, it is also one of the world’s longest reduction lines,” he added.
Alba has also maintained a strong track record of operational safety and environmental compliance.