NORANDA ALUMINUM: MARSTON PLANT OUTPUTS 220,000 METRIC TONS EACH YEAR

MARSTON -- Managers at Noranda Aluminum Inc. understand the importance of the bottom line, and they want to make sure their employees do, too.

For the past few years, managers have worked to educate some 1,135 employees on the overall complexities of the plant, which produces primary aluminum products that are distributed throughout the nation. Other companies use Noranda products to make such products as cable wires, automobile parts and aluminum foil.

Noranda opened in 1971, five miles south of New Madrid. The company is considered a regional supplier of primary aluminum products because the majority of its products are shipped by truck throughout the Midwest.

The company is Missouri's largest user of electricity, much of which is supplied by the plant's neighbor, Associated Electric.

"We're producing about 220,000 metric tons annually, with about 75 percent of that sold within one day's drive of here," said president Steve Heddel. "We're not big by corporate standards, but we're big by regional standards."

Noranda's diverse employee base touches some 40 communities in a 13-county area. The majority of employees live in or near Sikeston, but about 60 travel from the Cape Girardeau area daily, and others drive in from Northeast Arkansas, Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky and Tennessee.

The diversity of employees is good because it shows Noranda is making an economic impact on the region, said Steve McPheters, superintendent for communication, training and development. However, it also means employees are less familiar with each other and may limit their knowledge of the company to the department they work in daily.

Managers want to increase that knowledge so employees understand how one part affects the entire company.

"We're looking at buy-in and commitment," McPheters said. "If everyone understands the goals, they're more likely to buy into it and work towards them."

A number of programs have been started in recent years to help employees better understand the company's goals and objectives.

In 1996, an emphasis was made on the need to improve communication within the company. Managers and employees were told Noranda's goals would be to meet the needs of shareholders, customers, employees and the community. Those goals include improving an already strong commitment to the environment, said Heddel.

"Aluminum reducing is a very clean industry," he said. "This focus forces us to remember that we can't do anything at the expense of others, and that includes the environment."

With its new goals in mind, the company has joined several national initiatives, including the QS9000 registration, a quality assurance program initiated by major automakers, and the Six Sigma Program, which assigns employees called "black belts" to work full time towards reducing product variability and waste.

"We're making a tremendous effort to improve our communication and develop what we see as great growth potential," Heddel said. "All of it targets getting the most out of the process."

And Heddel said he's starting to see results. Noranda has shown growth in sales and competitiveness in the past two years, and Heddel expects that growth to continue. At the same time, "serious accidents" -- those which result in reassignment or loss of job -- have been reduced nearly 50 percent since 1998.

"We didn't have a bad safety record to begin with, but that's nearly 50 percent in two years," Heddel said. "I think this shows we've made a strong commitment and we're starting to see results."