Alejandra's Blog

Description of a job in process and manufacturing

Laurent Guillaumont studied Chemical Engineering with an additional forming in management. After 4 months of privileged contact with Laurent I can say that the work of a manager in a production process presents a good balance between an application of the technical knowledge and management capacities required to guide a good team. This is connected to two main components of a production site: the people and the installations.

Laurent has worked for 5 years at Gardanne and his work and career have known an evolution. His job has many technical approaches but management is also very important. An engineer must have the sufficient knowledge to win the respect of his team, while having an open mind and be able to listen to everything the operators and technicians can teach him. At the beginning of a career, the best way to learn is to listen to the others, which could be more experienced.



Since Gardanne belongs to the Alcan group, Laurent has to apply many specific tools of piloting and management. The continiuous evaluation of the company was already present at Gardanne, but now it has to be systematically done in all the sites of Alcan all around the world. Indeed, there is a world tendency of integration of know how to make and Alcan is by put the groups leaders. Today, an engineer must have a more diversified radius of action. Every week, Laurent works on projects of security and safety, continue  improvement,  environment, planning, and  management by objectives.   

The main objective of this program was that to know Alcan and a job according to my interests and be able to pass it on to all the other students or people who could be interested. I believe that this objective was done.



An advice for the other students:

When we arrive for the first time in a big industrial plant as Gardanne, we can think that the environment of working of the engineers  is a little bit sad. It is a first understandable vision because of the industrial environment rather rough.

However, when we begin has to know more and more the place one discover full of things that initially we had not seen: the pleasure to meet people and to make a good teamwork, as well as the passion to resolving all the problems that appear. You don't find anymore theoretical  questions or exercises , it is the real world which waits for us!!!! Lets go!!!!!


Personal assessment of the experience:

When I passed the interview to participate in the program " We All Can ", I didn’t imagine that it was going to be a so great experience. Today,  I have a very good image of what can be the work of an engineer working in manufacturing. 


Answered questions:

The " We All Can " program allowed me to answer many questions about my future. I hope my testimony and that of all the participants could also answer to yours.


How can be a normal working day of an engineer?
A good balance between technical knowledge and human relationships. 

What capacities do I need to succeed?
Be open minded, discipline, perseverance, tolerance,  know how to teach

In what kind of company should I work?
In a company who cares about the progress of the company as well as your personal progress. In a place where you feel happy and you feel you are doing a good job.

Is the work of engineer convenient for me?
Yes.  Nevertheless, I don't want to work 8 hours a day in front of my computer or in a laboratory. I also want to have a permanent contact with people.

Could I be happy with this type of work?
Difficult one! To be happy it is necessary to begin by loving the company, people and the subject of the work…

Did I choose the correct studies?
I don’t know if there is a perfect choice, but yes. For those who still don’t know what to study, the “We All Can” site could give you a good presentation of many jobs (engineering, research, finance, human resources...)


At the personal level it was really great  to be able to know Alcan, my coach Laurent, all the participating students and all the We All Can team. I particularly enjoyed our first meeting in Paris. I also liked very much reading the blogs of the other students whom I recommend you to read. There are professions for all the tastes and it is a great way to learn about the jobs and persons who wrote the blogs.

We where students with completely different interests, languages, countries and very varied cultures.

Thanks to:

My Coach Laurent, Sandrine and Angélique (Alcan’s Human Resources) for all their support and follow-up, Marc Duvernet for his essential question WHAT IS YOUR BRAND??????

What are you waiting? Enjoy reading this blog and found what is a brand!!!!

Team spirit and the pleasure of interacting with each other

About Team spirit and the pleasure of interacting with each other

"What I like most in my work it is the contact I have with people "  Laurent Guillaumont (my coach!)

   

   This is the answer that I had when I asked him for what he liked most in his work. It was the morning of my Alcan Day, just before arriving at the factory of Gardanne where he works. I have to admit that I liked a lot this answer because it showed a very human side of the engineering, a side I hope I’ll find in my work.

This blog has a lot of information and technical aspects and descriptive facts of Alcan. However, now it is the moment to speak about what I consider as the most mattering in a company: the persons. Indeed it is the most valuable resource  of a company, Human resources. We can always buy more successful machines, but have a good team work and  a good atmosphere it's a much more complex duty.

Laurent Guillaumont’ s job title is « Production Manager of the white side Bayer Area. But what does it exactly means? What is it necessary to have for manage people and the structures so as to be able to progress?

Laurent as engineer has all the capacities and knowledge necessary  for his post, but working in team can improve his results. 

Even if he has an important role in his work: the management, the coordination between the differents areas of manufacturing, the maintenance and finally the teamwork are also very important.

This is what he said to me about this main and important subjects:

Management :

He manages several teams. His team in the day more the team of the post he is responsable of -white side area of the Bayer Process- . This management has to do with : forming, training, answering the questions of his team, reassuring them in case of problems, proposing them perspectives of evolution....

Coordination :

Planning the stops of the installations according to the constraints of the various production areas of the process , but also the organization of the work which it is necessary to adapt in order to improve the communication between the various actors and the efficiency of every protagonist.

Travail en équipe :

As a good amanger, he works almost every day with technicians and operators of his side. Laurent has numerous team works as a manager or as a member of a team. At present he is the main manager of a project of continuous improvement (named "green belt"). He also participates in the project named " black belt " and in numerous working groups on main  subjects. Finally, he is working in a team project with his co-workers for the implementation of an action plan for the directives.

Innovation

Why Innovate?

The innovation and the best technologies on the market are essential in the success of the industry in a very competitive international market.

Aluminum is not only Alcan’s blood, it is also the most common metal on earth: it represents 8% of the earth's crust. The problem is that it can never be  found naturally in its pure form.  Thus you can imagine that all the people in Alcan who work in manufacturing –as my coach Laurent-, as well as in research, must be very creatives!!!!  The chemistry lovers can read more details in this blog on the post “ Process to obtain Alumina” but I’ll give you a short summary.  Aluminum as metal is produced by separating aluminum from oxygen in alumina.  Laurent’s job at Gardanne is to do all the things that are necessary to produce the best quality of alumina that can be obtained from bauxite -which is an ore or rock composed of hydrous aluminum oxides and aluminum hydroxides-. Between four and five tonnes of bauxite are required to produce about two tonnes of alumina, which yield one tonne of aluminum.

If you want to know everything about the Bauxite extraction from mines I highly recommend you to read Aline’s blog on the main Plog Portal !!!

Innovation in Alcan:

Alcan Research Laboratories

Alcan has a lot of research laboratoratories that collaborates on projects with leading universities, scientits and engineers.

There is one specially linked with Laurent’job with alumina : the research laboratorie of Bauxite and Alumina located at his site of Gardanne. There are also the laboratories of Saguenay (Canada) and Brisbane (Australia).

Laboratories for Pimary Metal:

Saguenay (Canada), Voreppe (France), Chambery (France) and Saint Jean de Maurienne (France)

Laboratories for Aluminium Fabrication (rolled and engineered):

Neuhausen (Switzerland), Kingston (Canada) and Voreppe (France)

Laboratories for Packaging:

Neenah (USA), Neuhausen (Switzerland), Sainte Menehould (France)

Visiting Alcan’s  site I saw how important is the innovation in this group: “As one of the top-ranked industrial companies in the world, we are known as a leader in our chosen businesses because of the commitment of our employees to innovate and look for new ways of doing things. We place a high value on skills, knowledge, teamwork and leadership, and we encourage our employees to grow with us and to share best practices with colleagues around the globe." That is why part of its 11th Annual Technology and Innovation Awards Program, the editors of the leading manufacturing management magazine, Industryweek, have selected Alcan's Aluminum Vehicle Technology as one of the Technologies of the Year for 2003.

Who innovates in Alcan?

Everybody! From the research laboratories to the final step of the process chain there is a lot of innovation!!! In addition to innovations from laboratories, there is also many great ideas coming from the technical departements in the various plants as well as from Applied Engineering Centers located close to key markets and operating divisions.

Innovation in “We All Can” Program:

Let us take as example the "We All Can" program. By estimating the performance of this program we can see that even in the department of human resources there is a lot of innovation. From a very original idea of using "blogs" they have started a big source of innovation that can be found in published in blogs. It has been an innovative way to present the company to all the young students!!! 

The key to succeed :

Everybody knows that it is very important to have a good scientific support to INNOVATE,

but having a permanent innovation and an improvement in ALL the levels of a company can make the difference between a normal company and a leader one!!!

Don't you believe it?

The innovation for a manager in production

The innovation in the work of Laurent is essentially in the way of treating and handling problems because those are often the same and if they return it is that it is necessary to treat them otherwise. The solution can pass by original technical solutions but in fact this it is rather rare. However, at the beginning of his work at Alcan he had to reduce costs and obtain a good quality of alumina

Once the production has an acceptable level, the innovation is rather found in the way of raising the problem, in particular for the implication of the persons. Which, who, the organization, and motivation of the persons are essential questions.

International

About the International:

Do you like the adventure? To travel? To be in touch with other countries and cultures? To speak many different languages? Thus you are going to love Alcan because it is a group with a huge international presence!!!! You want to know more about this? Just read this post which is very interesting and full of information!

Many International contacts and opportunities can be found in every Alcan Job. It is easier to find it in some jobs than in others, and you might be wondering to what extend does my coach’s job in Manufacturing entail international aspects.

Even if at simple view it’s no so evident, my coach Laurent is in permanent contact with the international culture. The languages, the visitors of the other factories, the visits in the other sites abroad and the information that they receive from all around the world are just some aspects of the international. My coach Laurent is also in touch with foreign technical interlocutors who make regular visits and audits.

Alcan's Corporate Culture:

The corporate culture is also an element to be taken into account if you are working in Alcan. Until some years ago, the site of Gardanne belonged to the french group Pechiney. Now it belongs to the Canadian group Alcan which bought it. Gardanne have known many changes since this union and the culture of the international is more and more present since Alcan is set in many countries of the world. At the level of the language, there is a more marked presence of English, while respecting the french language and traditions. There is a corporate culture of the company which becomes more and more important. I believe that the objective of Alcan it is to manage to have a world culture in the whole of its sites.

Professional Future:

In a multinational like Alcan, whatever is the country you work in, you confront in a way with the international. At the level of the professional future for employees: many Alcan’s alumina factories are on the other continents! There are thus possibilities of working on the international.

If somebody wants to stay in its domain, the possibilities are more limited because he has to go to sites having a similar work. Something great is that if an Alcan’s employee wants to begin a new career or change his type of job, he has the possibility of doing it in Alcan, and having a priority with regard to the external candidatures. There are many opportunities for professional and personal growth.

Australia!!!

Finally, we should not forget that my coach Laurent and Alcan belong to the world of the alumina which is very important in Australia. By speaking with him about his intentions to move in the international he said that at the moment he was very happy at Gardanne, but that if he wanted, there were also possibilities of going in Australia. There is even one of his work's friends who is now working in Australia.

The Gove bauxite mine and alumina refinery is 100% owned by Alcan and located in Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula in the Northern Territory of Australia.

ALCAN AROUND THE WORLD With several strategic investements in 2003 and 2004, Alcan has strengthened its global presence and has substantially reinforced its leadership position. Presence in the Americas: Aregentina, Bermuda, Brazil, CANADA, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Puerto Rico, United States, Venezuela. Presence in Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweeden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom. Presence in Africa:Algeria, Cameroun, Congo, Egypt, Ghanda, Guinea, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa. Present in Asia: India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malasya, United Arab Emirates, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand. Present in Australia and New Zeland.

Clients and Suppliers

About Clients and Suppliers!!!

In the business chain, you can easily identify a company’s clients and suppliers, but it is not so easy if you try to find the clients and suppliers of its employees. Each of them also has clients and suppliers … and this they are not the sellers and buyers! I was a little surprised of discovering it and I would like to share all the information I got with you. Every job at Alcan has specific clients and suppliers. I'am going to present you those of my coach, the kind of relationship he keeps with them, as well as the major purposes of these relationships.

If we disregard the technique, this question is interesting and the answer is not easy. To know more obaut it a good base of reflection could be seeing what does my coach need to exchange to make its work and  the tools he uses. By coming down and fortifying in the hierarchy of Gardanne site, we can see that his clients and suppliers are all connected....  

As you can see in the post of Alumina Process, there is a transformation of Bauxite in a withe powder named alumina. This alumina is used as a raw material to produce Aluminium. The quality of the final products depends of both the quality of Bauxite and Alumina.

Clients:

In the work of my coach there is technically a well identified client who is the part of the site responsable of the process of calcination.  Laurent'section has to supply them with:

• A sufficient and regular tonnage of alumina according to its needs . This needs are between the both qualities of product that the whide side Bayer Area can provide.
• A quality product , in particular content in soda and silica as well as the size.

Suppliers:

Laurent's supplier is "the attack section" which has to supply him an "aluminate" with sufficiency, in a continuous way and with specifications on the CaO and the iron quantities. It also very important to assure a good temperature in the process, so he has to work with the responsables of it.

Meeting Place of Clients and Suppliers:

The meeting place with their clients and suppliers is in particular the " meeting of production " where we they try to adjust the streams and properties of the productes according to the constraints of some and the others.

Gardanne: Alumina Process

THE ALUMINA PROCESS

Chemical Processs to obtain Alumina:

The Alcan site I visited is at Gardanne, an alumina refinery supplying Alcan's Primary Metal group  and External costumers with Alumina.

In order to present you the clients and suppliers of my coach, let me tell you a little about

the chemical process to obtain alumina. You don't need to be a chemical expert to understand it because I try to do it simple and clear!

Gardanne is the alumina refinery supplying Alcan's Primary Metal group and external costumers with alumina. They also produce speciality alumina .

Bauxite is a red powder that can be found in the earth. It contains a lot of "free" alumina si it is the raw material used to extract alumina.  Once it is exploited from the mine, it is washed, ground and dissolved in caustic soda (sodium hidroxide NaOH) at high pressure and tempertaure. This part of the process is very important and is is known as the attack.

The resulting liquor contains a solution of sodium aluminate and undissolved bauxite residues.  containing iron, silocon and titanium. These residues sink gradually to the bottom of the tank and are removed. They are known coloquially as red mud.

The factory is divided in two main parts. First, the "red side" where they get the alumina from the red Bauxite and obtain a solution of sodium aluminate. Then the particles of alumina are precipitated and calcinated and the result is a withe powder of Alumina.

The clear sodium aluminate solution is pumped into huge tanks called precipitator. Fine particles of alumina are added to seed the precipation of pure alumina particles as liquor cools. The particles sink to the bottom of the tank, are removed, and are then passed through a rotary or fluidises calciner at 1100 C to drive off chemically combined water. The result is a white powder pure alumina, The caustic soda is returnes to the star of the process and used again.

About Alcan and "We All Can" program

About Alcan:

Alcan is a multinational, market-driven company and a global leader in aluminum and specialty packaging.. With world-class operations in primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum as well as flexible and specialty packaging, Alcan is well positioned to meet and exceed its customers' needs for innovative solutions and service. Alcan employs approximately 48,000 people and has operating facilities in 38 countries. 

Alcan is :

• A strongly competitive producer of primary metal through its unique combination of power generation capabilities, raw materials management and smelting operation;
• A global force in aluminum fabrication, with competitive rolling operations, leadership in can stock and a wide array of value-added engineered products
• An innovative solutions provider through the development of strategic customer partnerships such as in the automotive and mass transportation sector;
• One of the world's leading suppliers of packaging materials for the fast moving food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics and specialty industries.

About "We All Can Program":

We All Can is an European student program intended to increase the fame of Alcan by highlighting his representatives on the ground. Students leave to the discovery of Alcan by investigating the variety of the Alcan's professions. Every student is associated during 2 months to a manager of Alcan, his "coach", who introduces him to the practice of the profession. As you could read in the portrait of My Coach, mine was Laurent Guillaumont. His kind of job is in the area of Process and Manufacturing because he is a Production Manager in the Alcan's production site of Gardanne.

This program is very important to Alcan and there is a lovely team called "The We All Can Team" that has followed and encouraged us since the beginning of the program on march 13 2005. When you read the blogs you would surely find many comments of the  "WAC Team". This team carefully chose a group of students who would have a coach whose job was interesting for him to discover, in fact the success of the program depends on the quality of the students participating in it.

Each student discover a job he is interested in, or a job he wants to know.  There are many styles of coaches and jobs in this program and every student shows of his experience on a called interactive Internet site " blog " that all the Internet users can visit, as you are doing it now :)

There are 4 countries concerned by this experience: France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy and 33 students of 12 different nationalities distributed on 20 sites.

Besides all this unforgettable experience that does not have price and the privilege of being able to take part in the program, the best blogger wins a wonderful trip to Canada.

And so I was able to skip to Gardanne respectively into the skin of a Person in charge Production white side embodied by Laurent Guillaumont with whom I will stay in regular contact till the end of May.

That is why I invite you to discover my testimony who presents the site of Gardanne and participate in the experience by bringing your opinions, votes and comments.

About me

Hello everybody!!!

This is "An about me", so first of all let me show you a few pictures of my self!

 

OK... you might be thinking this is not me, but let me tell you it's not so far away. I like live full of colors, specially blue.

Let me try again with my picture :

 

OK, you've got me again!

This is an "orquidea", the national flower of my country. I come from one of the most beautiful countries in the world: Colombia. You might be thinking about all the bad things we usually hear but let me show you another side of the story........

My name is Alejandra Mejia and I'm 23 years old.  I studied in a french school at Bogota since I was four. When I finished school I decided to study Chemical Engineering. I think chemistry is very interesting, passionating and it also has a lot of colors (I told you I love colors!!!!!). So, I studied four years of Chemical Engineering in the University of Los Andes of Bogota, the capital of Colombia.

BUT.... IF you remember the picture of the butterfly, you won't be surprised If I tell you that I love moving all around the world.... That is why seven months ago I decided to move up to France, Saint Etienne in order to course a double degree. Actually I'm studying Process Engineering in L'école des Mines de Saint Etienne and Chemical Engineering in the University of los Andes Universidad de Los Andes.

It has been a huge change, and not only because of the country, the weather and the culture. When I was studding chemical engineering my main courses were chemical process, equipement design and mass and heat tranfers . I also used to spent a big part of my journey in the laboratory and I really liked it. I even thought I could work in research.  In the School of  "Mines de Saint Etienne"  the curriculum is based on a broad range of subjects that include fundamental siences, engineering techniques, management and economics. It has been a very intersting process because I had to develop many new abilities and I have learned a lot of maths! This moment I'm living has an infinite number of advantages. I've been able to discover another culture, to ask me many questions about my studies and of course meet very special people and share all my experience with them.   

At the beginning it was very difficult for me to leave my family, friends and my beautiful country, but being here is so rewarding and fulfilling that and I know I made the right decision. I have learned that when you move to another place you can't think in all the things you left behind. You must look forward and think about all the new great experiences you'll have. We are young and we have a whole live ahead us!!!! If you ever have the opportunity to travel and live in another country do not hesitate, just do it. All your friends, family and people you love will always be there. Since I arrived here I've been able to know different cultures and I really feel that I have grown as a person.  I've also met a lot of new friends. Now I'am planing to do an intership and I hope I'll will learn many useful leasons for my future. But I'll tell you about my professionnal plans later!!!!!

Why "We All Can"????  Because we All can!!!!

After almost 5 years of studding, sometimes I feel that the things we learn at college, even if they are very interesting,  are not so real.... Don't you feel sometimes the same? That's why I joined the "We All Can" program, because I think it is wonderful to have the opportunity to discover a job and have a real-life observation and participation. I want to know a Chemical job and see if it really is the one for me. I Also feel that in Alcan, they really care about people, I felt it since the first contact with the program and even more after the briefing in Paris.  I want my job to be like that, I want to have a job that I love and where I am happy... that is important for me.

What do I love?

• My family
• My country

My family:

My familiy is very important for me and I miss them a lot.  Even if I'am here in France I try to speak with them as often as possible.  If you think, at the end, your familiy will always be there.

  My parents live in Bogota. Their names are Victor and Laura. Mi father is an Executive Engineer and worked for the swedish company AGA for more than 38 years. My mother is a scientist completly in love with chemistry. She studied Pure Chemistry in the university of Stockholm. It is funny because my grand mother also studied Chemical Engineering like me. A lot of chemistry in the family, don't you think? I have two sisters. Andrea, who studied Literature and lives in Colombia. She is married and is the mother of the most wonderful girl : Amalia.  My other sister, Camila  is living in Lyon and studding Molecular Biology at l'ecole normale superieure de Lyon. She is great, always takes care of me and I am very happy to live so close to her .

My friends:

This picture was taken a few days before my departure.  I was very excited.  In  this picture you can see my best friends who studied Chemical Engineering with me.  I'm sure they will enjoy reading about my coach's job! We met four years ago and it is great because we used to study together and there is a very nice friendship between us.

What else makes me happy?

• Chocolate .... easy one.       
• Literature
• Dogs
• Travelling
• The Movies

I love to read, I need to read. My sister Andrea taught me how wonderful live is with a good book besides you.

Finally...

A few more pictures of Colombia!!!! 

See you very soon and thanks for coming. Come back later, I assure It will be better every day!!!!!

amejia@messel.emse.fr

ALEJANDRA MEJIA

About my coach

ABOUT MY COACH !!!!!

Hello everybody!!!!! I'm the lucky one whose coach's was:

Laurent Guillaumont 

Groupe: Bauxite and Alumina

Job: Production manager in charge of the withe side Bayer Area.

His job, studies and career:

Laurent works at Gardanne, the alumina refinery supplying Alcan's Primary Metal group and external costumers with alumina. They also produce speciality alumina.

Laurent studied Engineering with emphasis on chemistry at Paris. Then he decided to do a year of management and business studies in order to improve his skills.

Once he finished his studies, he had his first real job experience at Senegal while he was doing his year of civil service. This was a great experience because his was able to know another country with a completely different culture but a the same time with many tipically French traits because of the still previous presence of France. It was like looking one side of the french culture in a mirror. As a foreign student I am sure this must have been an enrichissant experience, but the most important thing is that he found the job he was meant to do, his brand!!!! When he arrived to Senegal he was expecting to work in something else but hey told him there also was a possibility to work in manufacturing. He accepted and discovered that in fact, he liked this kind of job and he was very good doing it.

He came back to France and he began to work with the group Pechiney, today Alcan since October 2000.

Gardanne is next to Aix en Provence, a worldwide known and beautiful city, so you can imagine he is very happy living there. When I asked him about his mobility and what did he think about moving and work in some other Alcan's site, he told me that he was open to the possibility but in fact he is very happy working at Gardanne because he likes the people he works with, he has a great work team, and he knows very well the process of the site.

Laurent as an Engineer....

The main process to obtain alumina is quite the same all around the world, but each alumina refinery has his own way of doing it, depending on the technology, raw materials and size of it. 

During this five years, Laurent's job has evolved and changed with Gardanne's and Alcan requirements. When he arrived to Gardanne the process had many technical problems and part of his mission was to satisfy the quality requirements, optimize the process and have high productivity. In order to accomplish his target he had to learn all about the manufacturing process and handle with many technical problems. That is how he managed to master the process, and of course using all his knowledge of chemistry and engineering!!!

Laurent as a manager....

Once the good production requirements were satisfied, he had to set up many strategies in order to reduce the high operating costs. Since the combination of Alcan and Pechiney, Gardanne is going through a changing phase and adopting all the procedures, engagement and values of Alcan. As member of the team, Laurent had to do more and more management to accomplish the Alcan's objectives. As a manager he spends a lot of time planning training and development to develop the sensibility the people, and make them understand  the importance of Alcan's global corporate programs as Environment, Health and Safety.

The factory is divided in two main parts. First, the "red side" where they get the alumina from the red Bauxite and obtain a solution of sodium aluminate. Then the particles of alumina are precipitated and calcinated and the result is a withe powder of Alumina. Laurent is now the Production Manager of the withe side Bayer Area . He also had worked in the red side, so I insist: he knows the process from the beginning to the end !!!!

Laurent as a person:

The first time we speak on the phone he was very happy of participating in the "We All Can" program. He was very pleased to present me his job and site.

He told me the thing he most likes about his job is the contact with people. He said it's no good to be always thinking or working with machines, it's also very important to talk with your teamwork and develop a strong relations with them. It was very interesting to see him working. He was very kind and respectful with all the other employees. As a Production Manager he is in charge of many persons. When he is working with them he listen to their ideas, is open to any suggestions, but he also is very direct and sincere if he disagree with their position or thinks there is a better way of doing something.

A sports lover!!!!!

Laurent is really keen on practicing all kind of sports: he loves

• Jogging
• SKI
• Swimming
• Playing Tennis
• Football

He runs 3 o 4 times a week. I wish I could do that!!! The site of Gardanne includes a swimming pool and near to it there are some lovely mountains and they usually go there to have a nice walk or just do some sport.

In this picture he is with some of his team workers. They run for hours carrying this giant and heavy dinosaur !!!! At the end they were very happy and proud but also exhausted. Run all day with a big dinosaur???? Who could think about that????

To my coach:

THANKS, THANKS,  THANKS!!!!!!

I really appreciate your coaching, it has been a great experience. I can't promise you I will remember all the Bayer Technical details, but I won't forget your personal lessons and advices.

My Alcan Day

My Alcan Day!!!!!

My Alcan Day was the 10Th an 11Th of march. As I'm interested in manufacturing and Chemical Engineering, I visited Gardanne, a site related with the group of Bauxite an Alumina. This group represents a global network of bauxite mines and Alumina refineries supplying Alcan's Primary Metal group. The also supply external customers with smelter-grade alumina in addition to producing specialty aluminas for third parties.

The night before my Alcan Day, I was very excited!!! I had packed all my stuffs one week before and checked at least three thousand times if I had my camera, the batteries for it, my coach's Alcan T-shirt (this was my present for him), my train tickets.... I wanted everything to be perfect!!!

I was so glad to go there! But, nothing could be entirely perfect and unfortunately, because of the french train strike, I wasn't able to take my train. When I arrived to Aix en Provence it was a little late to do the site's visit but I joined my coach and went for dinner in order to better know each other. It was great because he explained me all about Alcan, his career, the evolution of his job and how he feels working at Gardanne. I also had the opportunity to talk about my studies, my family and my country, Colombia. Besides, dinner was delicious and we really had a very good time!

During the days before my travel, Laurent (my coach) send me all the information related with the site of Gardanne and the process used to obtain Alumina from the Bauxite. At the end of the dinner he explained me everything about the process and I realized how well he knows the site of Gardanne and all the chemical and technical aspects of the process.

After the dinner I went to my hotel to rest easy and get prepared for the great day: My Alcan Day!!!!

In this blog you could also find additional details about:

• The "weallcan" program and the Alcan Day
• The site ant its relations with the others Alcan's groups
• The process to obtaine alumina and why do we want alumina...???
• The workers and employees
• The Alcan values I was able to discover (particulary intersting!)
• The difference between the number of women working in Research and Manufacturing.....
• AND OF COURSE!!!!! EVERYTHING ABOUT MY COACH'S JOB!!!!!!!