Alcoa Sticks With a System of Success

Even with a solid foundation for excellence and the ability to satisfy customers, the company faces the same market pressures other flexible packaging converters are battling, Welch said. But Alcoa has a system in place to help negate the affect of rising costs and changing markets.

"As with all packaging converters, recent increases in raw material costs continue to be an issue, particularly when customers continually seek cost reductions," she said. "However, through the Alcoa Business System (ABS), an integrated set of systems and tools that provide the means to eliminate waste, reduce inventories, cut costs, and accelerate response times, we have been able to reduce the impact of rising costs.