Alcoa Core Competencies

Alcoa

Alcoa produces and sells bauxite, alumina and aluminium. Alcoa was formed by Charles Martin Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US in 1888 and is now run by Roy Harvey. Alcoa has ongoing operations in many countries around the world. In Western Australia it Alcoa operates two mine sites, Huntly and Willowdale and three alumina refineries, Wagerup, Kwinana and Pinjarra. Together the Alcoa owned Western Australian refines produce 14.2 percent of the worlds alumina. This report is on the Wagerup refinery which is the most modern and was built in 1984. Wagerup produces 2.7 million tonnes of alumina per year of the world total of 66 million tonnes which is 4.2 percent.

Land Resources

The Darling Range is rich in high quality bauxite which is the raw material used for the production of alumina. Alcoa uses a two kilo-litres of water per

Wagerup refinery requires a diverse range of skills and educational backgrounds to keep the refinery running efficiently and profitably.

The production workforce consists of production operators who work 12 hour shifts around the clock to keep the equipment running efficiently. The operators are backed up by a hierarchy of management. These workers require no special education however training and experience on the job are highly valued.

The maintenance workforce comprises fitters, boiler makers, electricians and trades assistances. These people need to have ungone training in the form of apprenticeships to achieve the required qualifications. However trades assistants need no special education.

These two core operational groups are supported by a diverse range of specialists and highly skilled support groups. The technical department is composed of chemical engineers, chemists and process control engineer. This department primarily supports the production groups and university degrees in chemical engineering, chemistry and electrical