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Dubal trains new recruits of Maaden Aluminium Company
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
3 min read
State-owned Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) provided comprehensive operator training to 65 new recruits of Maaden Aluminium Company, a partnership between Saudi Arabia Mining Company and Alcoa Inc, one of the world's largest aluminium companies.
The recruits – all Saudis – were trained in batches at Dubal's Jebel Ali site between February and September 2012. With every recruit receiving more than 54 days' training over the period, the project involved a total of 3,555 training days, a Dubal statement said.
The trainees were exposed to a combination of classroom and on-the-job practical experience across the potline, carbon (green mill, baking kilns and rodding room) and casthouse areas of the smelter's operations. Some 125 different training modules were used, each based on Dubal's well-established procedures and practices but customised to Maaden Aluminium Company's specific needs where necessary, it added.
Dubal, whose annual capacity is more than 1 million tonnes, has over the past 33 years trained hundreds of its own employees to work in various operational areas of its smelter complex. The company has built state-of-the-art training facilities which, coupled with hands-on experience in the plant, give individuals comprehensive training for their day-to-day duties plus opportunities to advance in their careers. On-site facilities include a fully-fledged Plant Training Centre (PTC), staffed by 30 dedicated trainers. In total, 21 PTC trainers with multi-disciplinary expertise and mostly Emirati nationals were responsible for training Maaden Aluminium Company employees.
The PTC team ensured the trainees achieved the required level of proficiency and competence, established and maintained appropriate records and took care of the trainees' day-to-day issues while on duty," the statement said.
Dubal's Sultan Al Sabri, vice president for human resources and organisational effectiveness, said: "A comprehensive training programme was developed for each of the smelter areas concerned, as well as for each level required by Maaden – from utility operator to operator. Over 360 assessments were completed collaboratively by the PTC team and the training co-ordinator, the results confirming that the trainees could perform their assigned jobs without supervision – including operating the associated equipment safely."
"Dubal is intensely proud to have been chosen to fulfil Maaden Aluminium Company's training needs at this level; and extremely pleased at the success achieved, as attested by the competence of the trainees. Not only does it confirm the high standards established at Dubal, but it also bodes well for the future of the Middle East as a leading hub in the global aluminium industry."
The Maaden Aluminium Company is part of a wider complex. Work is currently in progress to build the largest integrated aluminium manufacturing project in Ras Al Khair, involving investments to the value of $10.8 billion. The objective of the project is to make use of Saudi Arabia's raw bauxite by extracting approximately 4 million tonnes per year of the ore and transferring it via the North-South railway to factories in Ras Al Khair, comprising an alumina refinery with a capacity of 1.8 million tonnes per year; a primary aluminium smelter (740,000 tonnes per year) and a rolling mill (380,000 tonnes per year).
The recruits – all Saudis – were trained in batches at Dubal's Jebel Ali site between February and September 2012. With every recruit receiving more than 54 days' training over the period, the project involved a total of 3,555 training days, a Dubal statement said.
The trainees were exposed to a combination of classroom and on-the-job practical experience across the potline, carbon (green mill, baking kilns and rodding room) and casthouse areas of the smelter's operations. Some 125 different training modules were used, each based on Dubal's well-established procedures and practices but customised to Maaden Aluminium Company's specific needs where necessary, it added.
Dubal, whose annual capacity is more than 1 million tonnes, has over the past 33 years trained hundreds of its own employees to work in various operational areas of its smelter complex. The company has built state-of-the-art training facilities which, coupled with hands-on experience in the plant, give individuals comprehensive training for their day-to-day duties plus opportunities to advance in their careers. On-site facilities include a fully-fledged Plant Training Centre (PTC), staffed by 30 dedicated trainers. In total, 21 PTC trainers with multi-disciplinary expertise and mostly Emirati nationals were responsible for training Maaden Aluminium Company employees.
The PTC team ensured the trainees achieved the required level of proficiency and competence, established and maintained appropriate records and took care of the trainees' day-to-day issues while on duty," the statement said.
Dubal's Sultan Al Sabri, vice president for human resources and organisational effectiveness, said: "A comprehensive training programme was developed for each of the smelter areas concerned, as well as for each level required by Maaden – from utility operator to operator. Over 360 assessments were completed collaboratively by the PTC team and the training co-ordinator, the results confirming that the trainees could perform their assigned jobs without supervision – including operating the associated equipment safely."
"Dubal is intensely proud to have been chosen to fulfil Maaden Aluminium Company's training needs at this level; and extremely pleased at the success achieved, as attested by the competence of the trainees. Not only does it confirm the high standards established at Dubal, but it also bodes well for the future of the Middle East as a leading hub in the global aluminium industry."
The Maaden Aluminium Company is part of a wider complex. Work is currently in progress to build the largest integrated aluminium manufacturing project in Ras Al Khair, involving investments to the value of $10.8 billion. The objective of the project is to make use of Saudi Arabia's raw bauxite by extracting approximately 4 million tonnes per year of the ore and transferring it via the North-South railway to factories in Ras Al Khair, comprising an alumina refinery with a capacity of 1.8 million tonnes per year; a primary aluminium smelter (740,000 tonnes per year) and a rolling mill (380,000 tonnes per year).
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