THE APPLICATION OF A PLANNED CUSTOMER-SUPPLIER ALLIANCE AT ALCOA’S KWINANA REFINERY: IMPLICATIONS FOR PRODUCTIVITY, PROFITABILITY AND OH&S

Alcoa’s Kwinana Refinery, as part of its continuous improvement process, recently introduced new filter media guidance systems into their oxalate/hydrate buildings, where liquor is washed from aluminium hydrate on rotary vacuum belt filters prior to processing of the finished product.

A series of trials were conducted on site over a period of twelve months. Comparisons of baseline and subsequent measures reveal that significant improvements in the performance of the oxalate/hydrate filters were achieved. Belt change out times have, in some cases, more than halved, belt life has more than doubled and tracking of belts has improved significantly. Dryer and whiter cakes on the hydrate and dryer cakes of oxalate were also achieved as a result of improved vacuums. These and other improvements have been achieved progressively over a 12-month period through a planned customer/supplier alliance, initiated to address both process improvements and OH&S issues.

The ‘Trak’ guidance concept, described here has also been extended to address the OH&S issues associated with the caulking of filter media into pan (table), drum, and disc filters.

The current paper examines the implications of new filter media and guidance systems on plant efficiencies, cost structures and product quality for Alcoa and the Alumina Industry generally. Detailed information on the performance of filters is included, demonstrating the successful application of mutually beneficial customer-supplier alliances in this process.