Wise Alloys is a leading producer of aluminum can stock located in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. In 2007, they partnered with ABB to outsource maintenance of their mills and facilities. This case study outlines Wise Alloys' operations and reasons for partnering with ABB. It also provides details on improvements ABB has made, such as enhancing safety, training, and planning to increase productivity and reduce downtime at Wise Alloys.

1. ABB Automation & Power World - May 18-20, 2010
CRS-103-1
Maintenance Partnerships:
M i t P t hi
Wise Alloys Case Study
© ABB Inc.
June 5, 2010 | Slide 1

2. •About Wise
•What We Produce
Wh t W P d
•Our Mills / Processes
•Why We Chose ABB?
Wh W Ch
•Our Alliance, Wise / ABB
•Continuous I
C ti Improvementst

4. • Based in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
• 100 acres under one roof
• Wise Alloys is the third-leading
producer in the U.S. and world of
aluminum can stock for the beverage
and food industries.
• It is an environmentally friendly
company that relies heavily on
recycled aluminum in the production
of its can stock.
• Plant founded in 1941 by Reynolds
Metals
• Purchased by Wise in April, 1999

5. • Founded in 1941, the
facility featured a 36,000-
f ilit f t d 36 000
ton hot mill to produce
sheet aluminum.
• Aluminum produced at the
plant was used for military
aircraft during World War
II.
• According to a 1946 article
in Fortune magazine, W ld
i F t i World
War II was won with air
power and aluminum.

6. • Wise Alloys, Muscle Shoals, Alabama
• One of the largest single employers in
the Muscle Shoals area with
approximately 760 hourly and 210
pp y y
salaried employees.
• There are four primary facilities
p y
comprising the Muscle Shoals operations:
the Alloys Plant, Alabama Reclamation,
Sheffield Plant, and LTMC – Listerhill
Total Maintenance Center
• Production Employees - USW
p y

7. Aluminum can stock
g
for food and beverage
containers
Rigid Container
Trailer roof

8. Commercial
Food
Product
3%
2%
Beverage
95%

9. Reclaims UBC, class scrap and other common alloy
scrap into molten aluminum
Equipment: 1500 HP Shredder
Two Delacquering Kilns
Six 200K lb. Reverberatory Furnaces
20,000 lb.
20 000 lb Molten Transport Crucibles
Two 150K Tilting Holding Furnaces
One 4-Ingot DC Casting Unit
Scrap to Prime Ratio:
i i 85% / 15%
% %
Transfers molten aluminum to Alloys Casting
operation or internal DC Casting operation
Capacity: 660 mm lbs per year - molten
150 mm lbs per year – cast
% to Capacity: 85% Molten Capacity
l
80% DC Casting Capacity

10. Electromagnetic (EMC) Casting Technology to produce
non-scalp ingot.
Non-Scalp Rate
90% N S l R t
Equipment:
Melting Furnaces Five 220K Lb. Round Top
Holding Furnaces Six 200K Lb. Tilting
Five 6-Ingot Casting Pits
State of the Art Metal
Filtration Systems
Ingot Sizes: Thickness – 26”
Widths – multiple sizes from 55”
to 69”
Length – up to 240”
Weights vary up to 40,000
40 000
lbs/ingot
Scrap / Prime Ratio: 75% / 25% (includes
Prime Based Ingot Casting)
Capacity: 1,200 mm lbs per year ingot
% to Capacity: 83% Casting Capacity

12. Ingot Scalping to remove surface
impurities and to produce smooth finish.
10% EMC ingot scalped before
hot rolling.
90% DC Casting ingot scalped
% l d
before hot rolling.
Scalping Capacity of 100 ingot per
day.
Ingot Homogenizing
Two - 40 ingot/load Pusher
Furnaces
Six - 10 ingot/load Soaking Pits
Total Combined Capacity of 200
ingot per day (5.5 million lbs.)

13. Ability to hot roll multiple alloys including can body &
end stock, food container, building p
g products and multiple
p
common alloy products.
Equipment: 170” Reversing Breakdown Mill
130” Intermediate Breakdown Mill
120” 4-Stands Finishing Mill
Automatic Gauge Control
State of the Art Automatic Sheet
Inspection System
Coil Sizes: Gauges – multiple gauges from
.100” up to .390”
Widths – multiple sizes up to 116”
wide
Diameters – up to 90”
Weights vary up to 30,000 lbs
Capacity: 1,100 mm lbs per y
p y p year
% to Capacity: 83% Capacity

14. The primary production mill for finish
rolling D&I.
A 4 hi h 3-stand mill, i
4-high, 3 d ill installed i
ll d in
1941 as original hot mill, converted to a
cold mill~ 1960.
Specifications:
• Production rate: up to 3,100
FPM
• Coil weight: up to 37,000 LBS.
g
• Coil width (cold): 32.0” to
73.5”
• Output gauge: 0.007” to
0.070”

16. The primary production mill for finish rolling
D&I can stock, as well as most tab stock and some
end stock.
stock
A 4-high, 5-stand mill, installed in 1968 with
major upgrades in 1983, 1996 and again in 2006.
Capable of fi i h rolling end stock in one pass
C bl f finish lli d t ki
(improved recovery and quality).
Every modern mill control except for continuous
operation capability. World class gauge and
shape control
control.
Specifications:
• Production rate: up to 4,400 FPM
• Coil weight: up to 38,000 LBS.
38 000 LBS
• Coil width (cold): 30.0” to 64.75”
• Output gauge: 0.006” to 0.042”

17. Considered the fastest coil coating line in
the world – 1200 FPM
The following takes place on the HSCCL:
• Leveled
• Cleaned
• Treated
• Coated
• Thermally Cured
• Waxed
• Trimmed to width
Continuous operation (non-stop except
for changeovers)
280 plus rolls contact the metal
3 accumulator towers
2 payoffs, 2 entry end reels

20. 80.00% 70
70.00% 60
60.00%
50
009
% Increase Above 20
50.00%
40
40.00%
30
30.00%
20
20.00%
10.00% 10
0.00%
0 00% -
2009 Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10

21. Partnership
January 2007
Wise
Wi made decision to i
d d i i t improve our maintenance
i t
June – July 2007
Presentations made by five maintenance providers
August 2007
g
Decision was made to go with ABB
November 2007
ABB assumes all maintenance at Wise Alloys
ABB hires all new work force – hourly – (No craftsmen from Wise)
Wise salaried supervisors – Maintenance – Join ABB

22. •ABB is a technical / engineering based company
•Providing long term technical solutions
•Technical expertise and discipline from many worldwide locations
•Focused importance of reliability efforts / engineering as well as effective
p
planning and scheduling
g g
•Successful conversion of “in-house” maintenance to third party / ABB
•Providing lower maintenance costs
•Increase productivity / decrease downtime
•Favorable long term labor situation
•Chance to retain a large majority of Wise maintenance employees
•Provide most effective warehouse management, PdM, etc.
•Proven success record from other companies
P df h i
•Most overall effective maintenance long term

23. Successful Transition
• Interview and Hire Effectively
• Organizational Structure
• Warehouse Management
• Provided Positive Labor Situation
• Productivity / Wrench Time / Utilization Rate

24. Improvements Needed
I t N d d
• Delays (Reliability)
• Effective Supervision
• Training
• Overall Communication with Process Owners
has improved
• Engineering Support

25. • ABB completed 2009 with no recordable injuries
ending year with a TIR of 0.
• ABB h worked 800 workdays without a l
has k d 800+ kd ih lost time
i
injury.
• ABB team members have completed over 4700 Safety
p y
Observation Tours in last 16 months.
• ABB compiled a site specific comprehensive Full
Service Site Safety Manual for Wise Alloys Site.
• ABB improved OHS 18001 audit score 48% in 2009.
• ABB implemented first phase of NFPA 70E plan
during 2009.
d i 2009
• ABB instituted a contractor safety process to ensure
the safety of all our contractors working on site.
y g

26. • training.
ABB conducted planner certification training
• ABB has redefined work order priority codes in the CMMS to
improve work order prioritization and backlog management.
• ABB has established a work code in CMMS for reliability work
orders. This allows us to code and track reliability work
orders.
• ABB plans all outages using Microsoft project
project.
• ABB leads outage critiques after outages to capture lessons
learned.
• ABB centralized planner’s offices to optimize effectiveness,
t li d l ’ ffi t ti i ff ti
uniformity and efficiency of planning team.
• ABB established natural team meetings with both ABB and
Wise t
Wi team members for each area to enhance effectiveness of
b f h t h ff ti f
planning schedules.

27. • y p
ABB conducts monthly 5S Kaizen events in a specific
area of the mill.
• ABB has returned 3500 parts to storeroom during these
events at a value of over $900K
t t l f $900K.
• ABB will involve 100% of their team members in these
events during 2010.
g
• ABB’s 5S events have greatly impacted the
effectiveness and appearance of their work and storage
areas i a positive way.
in iti
• ABB’s 5S efforts have improved the safety conditions
for their work and storage areas.