Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has begun an arrangement with Atyaf eSolutions Co. W.L.L. to begin implementing virtual reality technology in several areas of its training courses.
Alba executives met with Atyaf officers earlier this month to sign the agreement. The first area in which VR will be implemented in the potline emergencies training course. Alba says the VR training will assist its employees with a safe and realistic scenario for learning about potlines.
The VR training will enhance learning about certain procedures that must be used both in the course of regular operating and in emergencies. Emergencies such as tap out, open circuit, prolonged power outage, failure of alumina supply, and failure of compressed air supply will be among the situations simulated in VR.
“Virtual Reality is a medium — a means by which our employees can learn in a safe and immersive environment without the risk of injury — and this is when seeing evolves to believing,” said Alba’s CEO Ali Al Baqali in a press release.
“Alba is well-known as one of the leading technology-driven enterprises in Bahrain that has embraced the latest digital technologies as part of its Industry 4.0 Transformational Journey. We are pleased to partner with Atyaf eSolutions who are widely experienced in AR and VR technology implementation in the Region and accelerate our objectives when it comes to sustainability.”
Alba is one of the largest industrial companies in the Middle East and is the world’s biggest aluminium smelter outside the People’s Republic of China. Originally incorporated in 1968, the company is based in Bahrain and 84% of its total workforce are Bahraini nationals. It began operations in 1971 with a 120,000 metric ton annual capacity. Modernization bumped the output up to 450,000 metric tons in 1992. In the spring of 2005, Alba opened Line 5, raising output by 860,000 metric tons per year. In 2022 Alba’s smelter produced 1,600,111 metric tons of primary aluminium.