Alcoa Mt. Holly finalist for plant award from IndustryWeek magazine

The Alcoa Mt. Holly facility has been selected as one of 20 finalists in IndustryWeek’s 2010 Best Plants competition. The award is the magazine’s annual recognition of manufacturing excellence and dedication to continuous improvement.

The 2010 finalist group includes representatives from every North American country. Alcoa Mount Holly is the only South Carolina operation on the list.

Finalists will now face a second round of evaluation. After further review and plant visits, 10 winners will be selected and featured in IndustryWeek’s January 2011 issue. They also will be honored at a conference in April.

IndustryWeek established the Best Plants award in 1990 to recognize manufacturing facilities that worked to increase competitiveness, enhance customer satisfaction and create better work environments. The award also seeks to encourage other manufacturing managers and work teams to emulate the honorees by adopting world-class practices, technologies and improvement strategies.

The Mt. Holly plant, a jointly-owned facility operated by Alcoa, opened in1979. The facility employs nearly 600 people and contributes more than $250 million directly to the local economy through payroll, taxes and the purchase of goods and services.