Case Study: Rio Tinto Alcan achieves automated SPC alerts and improved anode quality with Northwest Analytics' Quality Analytics Server

Building Better Anodes with NWA Quality Analytics Server

Rio Tinto Alcan’s Lynemouth Smelter faced a challenge in reliably monitoring its carbon anode forming process: operators had to stop and manually check SPC charts every few minutes, making it hard to manage by exception. To solve this, Rio Tinto Alcan partnered with Northwest Analytics and deployed the NWA Quality Analytics Server integrated with their PLCs, InTouch SCADA and Oracle database.

Northwest Analytics’ NWA Quality Analytics Server automatically collects and analyzes data from six mixers, monitoring composition, temperature and green anode density, and provides dashboards, SPC charts, alerts/alarms, exception reports and assignable cause/corrective actions. The system has run without error since mid‑2008, eliminated manual SPC checking by automatically alerting operators to violations, and let staff focus on production while improving process control and decision making.

Rio Tinto Alcan

Frazer Nicholson

Rio Tinto Alcan