Novelis successfully recovered and restarted its plant in Sierre, Switzerland, which had been severely impacted by a devastating flood at the end of June. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of both the extended Novelis team and external specialists, the major assets are expected to resume full production by the end of October.
“In addition to the priority of restarting our system quickly and safely, mitigating the impact on our customers and suppliers during this extraordinary situation has been at the forefront of our business,” said Emilio Braghi, executive vice president Novelis and president Novelis Europe. “I am incredibly proud of the speed and flexibility our company has shown, and the resilience and determination of our workforce to overcome adversity and get our assets back up and running in record time.”
The Sierre plant features a fully integrated system, covering the entire aluminum sheet production process from casting to finishing. In addition to hot and cold rolling mills, the plant operates a state-of-the-art continuous annealing line and has laser cutting capability. The plant also hosts a Research & Innovation Center, which specializes in development of new automotive sheet alloys, surface treatment, and joining technologies.
On June 30, 2024, the plant was impacted by exceptional flooding in the city of Sierre caused by unprecedented heavy rainfall. There were no injuries, as all employees were safely evacuated. However, water entered the plant premises and plant operations were halted due to extensive damage to the facility, including its casting, rolling and finishing mills.
Following the flood, the plant faced significant challenges that impacted the company’s ability to serve its customers (such as Jaguar Land Rover) from the Sierre plant. Being a global company with operations at 33 locations worldwide, Novelis leveraged its wider European and global network to mitigate the impact on customers caused by the flood. In addition to immediately starting cleaning and restoring the Sierre plant, Novelis activated company-wide processes and flexibility tools such as rerouting of material and overtime.
“Our team’s commitment and hard work, combined with the support from about 150 external specialists, have enabled us to swiftly recover our plant,” said Serge Gaudin, plant manager, Novelis Sierre. “Considering the extent of the disruption caused by the floods, this is truly an extraordinary achievement by our teams.”