Alcoa 1996 Annual Report Download - page 22

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Kaal Australia Expands.
Alcoa and Kobe Steel of Japan
acquired Alcoa of Australia’s
Pt. Henry rolling mill for A$100
million (US$83 million), adding
it to their Kaal Australia Pty.
joint venture. This 50/50 ven-
ture was formed in late 1995
when Alcoa and Kobe bought
Comalco Ltd.’s rolling mill at
Yennora in
New South
Wales. The
two mills
supply high
quality alu-
minum can
stock to Australian and Asian
canmakers and general sheet
and foil products to Australian
markets. Their combined
cold-rolling capacity exceeds
200,000 mt a year, the largest in
the South Asia-Pacific region.
Down with Waste and
Pollution. Alcoa Technical
Center (ATC) earned
Pennsylvania’s Environmental
Excellence Award for its com-
mitment to environmental
compliance and for programs
that saved more than $7.1 mil-
lion since 1991 by reducing
waste and preventing pollution.
In 1991 ATC Alcoans estab-
lished a yearly goal of 10%
waste reduction. They’ve
surpassed that target with
reductions of 66% in solid
waste and 91% in hazardous
waste shipped off-site.
Composite Structures Sold.
Alcoa sold its Composite
Structures unit in Monrovia,
Calif., to an investment group
formed by Quarterdeck Equity
Partners Inc. of Los Angeles
and interests of the Pritzker
family in Chicago. Composite
Structures has annual revenues
of about $40 million from the
sale of composite materials and
structures for aerospace appli-
cations. The sale coincides with
a general consolidation of aero-
space composite suppliers
throughout the industry.
Yale Teams Up with Alcoa.
Alcoa and Yale University School
of Medicine will work together
on issues of occupational and
environmental health. In this
innovative arrangement, the
school’s Occupational and
Environmental Medical
Program, directed by Mark R.
Cullen, M.D., will work with
Alcoa’s medical and occupation-
al health staff to provide ser-
vices that heretofore have been
delivered by internal personnel.
Dr. Cullen is professor of medi-
cine and epidemiology. His team
will develop and evaluate med-
ical protocols and work with
Alcoa staff on companywide
health programs.
A Fast-Growing Product Line.
AFL’s most profitable product for
the year was ADSS fiber-optic
cable for the electric utility,
telecommunications, and cable
television industries. ADSS
stands for All-Dielectric-Self-
Supporting. All-dielectric (no
metal) construction allows
installation and maintenance
on energized electrical circuits
(hot wires) of transmission lines.
And the cable’s small diameter
and light weight minimize ice
and wind load on transmission
towers, poles, and hardware.
Based on its success in manu-
facturing and marketing ADSS
cable, AFL plans to expand
capacity in 1997.
New Patent for a Lead-Free
Alloy. Alcoa received a patent
for UltrAlloy X6020, the first
lead-free aluminum alloy with
“A” rated machinability — the
industry’s highest rating.
UltrAlloy X6020 is the first
free-machining aluminum
alloy developed without using
lead additions to enhance
machining characteristics and
surface finish.
Knowing the Business.
Knowledge is power, and work-
ers who understand the busi-
ness basis of what they do tend
to be more focused and effec-
tive. That’s the impetus behind
new business education pro-
grams at several Alcoa business
units. In a joint effort by Rigid
Packaging and Primary Metals,
managers conduct six sessions,
exploring the structure of the
business, customers and com-
petition, profits and their mea-
surement, and the role of the
individual in building success.
In the Packaging Equipment
business unit, a new course
centers on the “why” of busi-
ness and the story told by
financial reports. ■■■
The Long View
A Perspective on Risk
“If we had no liquid capital markets that enable savers to
diversify their risks, if investors were limited to owning just
one stock (as they were in the early days of capitalism), the
great innovative enterprises that define our age — companies
like Microsoft, Merck, DuPont, Alcoa, Boeing, and McDonald’s
— might never have come into being. The capacity to manage
risk, and with it the appetite to take risk and make forward-
looking choices, are key elements of the energy that drives
the economic system forward.”
Peter L. Bernstein in the introduction to his new book,
Against The Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk