constellium nuef-brisach

of industrialexcellence

text by Tristan Gaston-Breton

translationSuzanne Brant

S.E.T.S (Summer English Translation Services)

NH50-PART01-EN_Mise en page 1 04/09/2017 23:45 Page1

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FOREWORD

1967-2017: half a century after its creation, the Neuf-Brisach plant is continuing todevelop in a manner that would make its founders proud. Its design was based onthree watchwords: Europe, excellence, and automotive. European ambition was adetermining factor in the decision to build the plant in Europes heartland in thetown of Neuf-Brisach, in the Alsace region of eastern France. The goal oftechnological excellence was to meet the demands generated by the post-wareconomic boom: mass production, innovation and quality. It is important toremember that global consumption of aluminium grew by 8% per year between1950 and 1975, and that production rocketed from 1.5 to 14 million tonnes! InFrance, one company dominated the sector: Pechiney. It was both the oldest inthe world and one of the most innovative. In that same year, 1967, it inauguratedtwo facilities that still underpin Constelliums value today: the Neuf-Brisach plantand the research center in Voreppe, which has now become C-TEC. As for theautomotive sector, one of the emblematic markets of the rapidly changing societyof the 1960s, not until some forty years later did it adopt aluminium as a materialfor body in white and closures at such a large scale. It was packaging, anotherflourishing sector at that time, that drove development of the plant, and is still itsmain market.


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Today, Neuf-Brisach is capable of delivering 450,000 tonnes of rolled products toexacting customers, particularly in two markets where competition is fierce: foodand beverage cans and the automotive sector. Its latest major investment in 2016boosted its capacity by 100,000 tonnes of automotive body sheet in a sector thatis now booming.

The road has not always been smooth, however, and the Neuf-Brisach plant owesthe success it enjoys today to the perseverance, imagination and rigor of all themen and women who have contributed to its history. And, first and foremost, to itsability to constantly reinvent itself. Anticipating the transformations taking place insociety as a whole, the plant has installed recycling facilities that have significantlyimproved its economic performance while meeting the requirements ofsustainability.

This small book tells of these battles, relates the key events that have punctuatedthe history of the plant and pays tribute to the men and women who have sharedthis extraordinary industrial adventure. For me, it is an opportunity to expressheartfelt thanks on behalf of Constellium to all the men and women who havecontributed to its success both in the past and today, starting with the employeesof Neuf-Brisach, whether they work in the production shops, in maintenance, inthe engineering or in the administration and sales departments. My gratitude alsogoes to the customers who have placed their trust in us and continue to do so, aswell as to all the plants partners.

Jean-Marc GermainChief Executive Officer

Constellium Group


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A SHARED ANNIVERSARY

As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Neuf-Brisach, a flourishing site with afine future ahead of it, it is impossible not to think about all the men and womenwho came before us and contributed to its history. Its founders identified theneeds to come and designed an industrial facility that was destined to last. A smallgroup of pioneers from the engineering department at the plant in Issoire arrivedin 1965 to oversee construction and hire the first locals (as far back as 1961!) toorganize and start up production in 1967. They paved the way, and all ouremployees, at all levels and in all the professions represented at the site, havestrived tirelessly to ensure its success ever since.

Through this book I invite you to discover this fine plant, which adapts constantlyto meet the exacting requirements of its customers. Read about its facilities, mainproduction stages and markets, as well as the key dates that have punctuated itshistory and built its culture. Find out what lies behind the sites longevity: acommitment to excellence, adaptability, tenacity and an ability to call itself intoquestion, qualities that serve it well both during the good times and when facingchallenges.

We are proud of our history and happy to share it with you.

Ludovic PiquierConstellium Neuf-Brisach Site Director


A CONSTANTLY

EVOLVING FACILITY

Constellium / Grard Ufras


Aerial view of the plant in 1967 - Constellium, coll. Neuf-Brisach Rights reserved


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A large plant geared towards international markets 780,000 m2, of which 200,000 under cover, nearly 1500 employees and aproduction capacity boosted to 450,000 tonnes per year since the new finishingline for the automotive market was commissioned in 2016: welcome to the Neuf-Brisach aluminium plant, one of the largest production facilities in Constellium.

Founded in 1967, the plant stands on the banks of the river Rhine on the outskirtsof the town of Neuf-Brisach in Alsace (eastern France). With most of its employeesliving locally it is perfectly integrated into its environment in Europes industrialheartland, where it operates in direct contact with the worlds biggest consumersof aluminium, including automakers and automotive suppliers, beverage and foodcans manufacturers and the building industry. The plants international purposewas confirmed right from the start, and the choice of location has been amplyjustified ever since. Today, 75% of the products manufactured at Neuf-Brisach areexported to Europe, Asia, North and South America and Africa.

The history of Neuf-Brisach is one ofcontinuous improvement, modernization and expansion with a view to increasing itsproduction capabilities. The plant isconstantly growing.Olivier Lach, Engineering Department Director


Aerial view of the plant in 2017 Constellium


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Once upon a time: an industrial vision...The story of the site begins with an industrial vision that dates back to the late1950s but that would not to come to complete fruition until several decades later,due to the vagaries of the markets.

Neuf-Brisach was originally designed on an assumption of strong future growth indemand for automotive body sheet, but development was slower than expectedand it had to wait until the 2000s to gain a solid foothold in this market. Not untilthen was the production target set by the plants founding fathers back in 1967finally achieved: 400,000 tonnes of rolled products per year.

In the intervening years and to provide work for its state-of-the-art facilities, thesite had to reinvent itself very quickly and establish a firm position on anothermarket, which would grow on a scale that nobody had imagined: canstock.Demonstrating remarkable adaptability and responsiveness, Neuf-Brisachachieved this goal in the early 1980s.

The organization of production and the outlets for the plants products reflect thiseventful history. Built in 1967 for large, continuous production runs, it remainedfaithful to that initial choice. Its main original feature is that it incorporates allstages in the manufacture of aluminium coils and sheets: recycling, casting, hotand cold rolling, automotive finishing and coating.

The Neuf-Brisach plant has always taken changein its stride. It is capable of calling itself intoquestion. Its entire history proves it.Laurette Zaeh-Petit, Communication Manager Packaging and Automotive Rolled Products


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Thanks to these facilities, which have been constantly modernized through anumber of major investments in the course of its history, Neuf-Brisach nowmanufactures 2000 different high value-added products in a variety of alloys, mostof which are destined for its two major historic markets: the beverage can marketand the automotive industry.

A plant and its marketsBeverage and Food can market

With annual production of between 220,000 and 260,000 tonnes, canstock hasexpanded constantly since the 1980s and is still the leading market for Neuf-Brisach. We produce aluminium beverage canstock, (bodystock, endstock andtabstock) and foodstock, explains Herv Vichery, head of canstock technicalcustomer services.

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Production at the Neuf-Brisach plant (in thousands of tonnes), 1980-2016500

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A key feature of the plant is that it is completelyintegrated. Its one of just a few in Europe that go from recycling to coating.Catherine Athnes, Director MarketingPackaging and Automotive Rolled Products

With steel likely to cease being used to manufacture beverage cans in the comingyears, the volumes produced at the site are set to increase even further.

Aluminium has a lot of advantages over steel. Its natural shine makes it morepleasant and more attractive. And its much more corrosion-resistant. A steel canneeds much more protective coating than an aluminium can, Herv Vichery says.

Beverage cans Yourg (left) Ilya Akinshin (right)


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Food cans - for food preservation - are still mainly made of steel, with the exceptionof high-end products and small containers such as those used for pet food. Theseare markets on which Constellium has gained a strong position.

Neuf-Brisach has a major asset when it comes to meeting the needs of canmanufacturers. The plants key strength is that it is capable of producingaluminium of a constant quality in very large quantities. Beverage canmanufacturers need to produce rapidly and continually. So the metal they usemust be homogeneous and completely free of even the tiniest variation. Very fewsuppliers can do that, Herv Vichery stresses. Innovation therefore plays a keyrole in this process, to find the best possible matches between metal and tools.But it also comes into play in the development of special alloys, such as the onedeveloped for aluminium bottles and aerosols marketed under the Aeral brand.

Automotive sectorThe automotive sector is currently the plants second biggest market. Followingthe inauguration of a second automotive finishing line in 2016, the automotivebody sheet market accounts for an annual volume of 150,000 tonnes.

The very rapid pace of growth in the automotive market is the salient feature of thepast ten years, and 2007-2008 is the period when the plant became activelyinvolved in this market. It has indeed always worked for the automotive sector,supplying automakers and automotive Tier 1 with parts to make body in white andclosures components as well as heat-exchangers, as far back as 1967. But a whole

Twenty years ago half of Europes beverage cans were made of aluminium. Now theproportion is more than 90%.Herv Vichery, Head of Canstock Technical Customer ServicesPackaging and Automotive Rolled Products


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new chapter began in the second half of the 2000s: high-end German automakersswitched to aluminium on a large scale, adopting it mainly for vehicle closures andbody in white.

Their decision was prompted by the need to comply with increasingly strictstandards aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of vehicles i.e., their weight.These standards led to a lot of new interest in aluminium, which is much lighterthan steel and can also be recycled over and over again without any loss ofproperties, explains Herv Ribes, head of automotive technical customerservices at Neuf-Brisach, who arrived at the plant in 2007. If we wanted tooperate on that market, we had to invest heavily. And thats what we did, startingin 2008. Neuf-Brisachs industrial director Philippe Solignac stresses: That year

Inauguration of automotive finishing line FT3 in 2016 Constellium


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marked a milestone. We completely refurbished the finishing line that had beeninstalled in 1966 and installed a chemical conversion process, enabling us to goup-market in line with the German carmakers needs. The sites location justacross the river Rhine is a further advantage, simplifying and speeding updeliveries to their factories.

Just under a decade later, the automotive market has exceeded all expectations.We are on the verge of a major transformation: the sector is making ever greateruse of aluminium, opening up enormous prospects for development. TheEuropean market is likely to grow three-fold and the American market ten-fold,explains Ludovic Piquier, who became Plant Director in 2014 having himself comefrom the automotive industry. Aluminium offers the best trade-off between priceand weight, Catherine Athnes continues. Most of the growth has been drivenby the closure components: doors, hood and trunk, which can be made ofaluminium without changing the vehicles structure. That made the transition toaluminium a lot easier.

The Neuf-Brisach plant now has a reputation as a center of excellence in theautomotive sector, largely thanks to the new finishing line commissioned in 2016.This line is a high-performance, integrated facility that complies with the evermore stringent standards coming into force in the automotive industry. It hasenabled us to triple our output of automotive body sheet, Ludovic Piquierstresses. But Neuf-Brisach is not merely a center of excellence for the carmakersto which it delivers its products; it has also acquired this status for the other unitsacross Constellium. Technicians and operators from Neuf-Brisach are sent onassignments all over the world to share their technical expertise during the start-up of new automotive facilities. In both human and technical terms, Neuf-Brisachis a true benchmark for the automotive sector, reckons Cline Steiner, a hotrolling supervisor who spent several months at the Constellium UACJ plant inBowling Green, USA.

Meeting the specific needs of manufacturersDrawing on this expertise, Neuf-Brisach has built a solid relationship of trust withits carmaker customers. And this has had a major consequence: We are no


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longer merely an aluminium supplier. We domuch more than that and now design customproducts to meet the carmakers needs,Philippe Solignac explains. Real brands havebeen created, such as the Surfalex

aluminium skin and Securalex for crashapplications.

The process is based on a team work. Amanufacturer sends us a request. If we donthave the product required in stock, we workwith C-TEC, Constelliums R&D facility inVoreppe, near Grenoble, to develop a newalloy. Neuf-Brisach, Voreppe and thecarmaker communicate constantly with eachother, Philippe Solignac explains. The on-site engineering department plays a key rolein this process: It is tasked with designingthe tools we will use to make the product thecustomer wants.

We are capable of producing specific alloys for allvehicle parts that are made of aluminium sheet.Thats a real special feature of Neuf-Brisach.Herv Ribes, Automotive Technical Customer Service DirectorPackaging and Automotive Rolled Products

The Neuf-Brisach engineering department Constellium

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Pride in a job well done

Round the clock and seven days per week, nearly 1500 employees contribute toproducing the coils and sheets to be delivered to beverage can manufacturers,carmakers and other customers. Neuf-Brisach is something of an exception whenit comes to employment. The plants workforce has grown constantly since 1967.It escaped the crises that shook the steel industry, for instance, Human ResourcesDirector Thierry Carr rightly stresses.

The high level of professionalism - another key feature - stems from the lengthytraining courses completed mainly on the shop floor. It takes at least two years totrain a casthouse, rolling mill or slitter operator. These professions are learneddirectly on the line or in the shop, and not in the classroom. So people take greatpride in their jobs. They really feel they have been entrusted with very specialskills. As a result, staff turnover is also very low.

With growing momentum in the automotive sector, the plant holds a winning hand.The men and women of Neuf-Brisach form the backbone of a real industrialculture based on in-depth knowledge of their products, Ludovic Piquier stresses.Because of the standards it has to meet, the automotive industry requires us tomake products of impeccable quality and deliver them on time. The plant is ideallyplaced to carry out this mission.

The folk on the lines are passionately committed.They take great pride in their jobs. The peoplehere want to share their expertise.Thierry Carr, Human Resources Director


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1, 2 & 3: Constellium / Grard Ufras - 4: IHA, coll. photographique de Pechiney Photo Rapho5, 6, 7 & 8: Constellium, coll. Neuf-Brisach Rights reserved


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20Did you know?n Two 10-tonne coils make 1.3 million beverage cans

n The 200 tonnes of aluminium sheets fitted to the Grande Arche atLa Dfense in Paris were rolled at the Neuf-Brisach plant

n The weight of the aluminium found in a car has risen from 50 kilosin 1990 to 158 kilos today

n More than 90% of the 250 billion drink cans consumed each yeararound the world are made entirely of aluminium

n More than 70% of the aluminium beverage cans sold on theEuropean market are recycled

n Aluminium is completely and infinitely recyclable

n 75% of the aluminium ever produced is still in use today

A Neuf-Brisach niche: specialized productsfor heat exchangers

Constellium is hard at work developing parts that are lighter and morecorrosion-resistant, and makes 20,000 tonnes of cladded products for heatexchangers each year at Neuf-Brisach. These are specialized productsoccupying a specific niche in which innovation plays a key role, Herv Ribesexplains. Some of them are cladded up to five times, a technical feat that isnot within everyones grasp...

Left and right pages: Constellium / Grard Ufras


TOUR OF THE PLANT

IN SIX STAGES


The six stages of the processOverview of the Neuf-Brisach plant

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1. Recycling2. Casthouse3. Hot rolling4. Cold rolling5. Automotive finishing6. Packaging finishing


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RECYCLING

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This is where it all begins! The shop is fitted with highly flexiblefurnaces capable of processing all types of aluminium scrap fromthe production cycle or from Constellium customers as well as end-of-life product waste. Each year they recycle the equivalent of3 billion used beverage cans. Since the recycling unit was installedin 1992 its output has risen constantly: from 20,000 tonnes in 1994to 150,000 tonnes today.

Used beverage cans awaiting recycling Constellium


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Aluminium casting from thefurnace in the recycling shop

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Overview of the recycling shopequipped with rotary furnaces Constellium4

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In recycling, theres no such thing as massproduction. There are no repetitive tasksbecause no two charges are ever the same.The human dimension is vital. A furnaceoperator also needs to have an eagle eye.Laurent Vidal, Recycling Unit Supervisor

Loading scrap into a rotary furnace Constellium

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The early days of recycling at Neuf-Brisach, in the 1990sConstellium, coll. Neuf-Brisach Rights reserved

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Aluminium casting: a technician steps in to monitor the chemical

composition of the metal Constellium

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THE CASTHOUSEThe site has five melting furnaces, which are fed withaluminium ingots and scrap and, sometimes, with alloyingelements (copper, magnesium, manganese, etc.) dependingon the alloy requested. The alloy obtained is transferred toholding furnaces and filtered before being cast as slabsweighing between 7 and 15 tonnes. In total the casthousesupplies the rolling mill with 400,000 tonnes of aluminiumslabs each year.

Overview of a melting furnace Constellium

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Top: the casthouse in the 1970s and 1980s IHA, coll. photographique de Pechiney Rights reserved

Bottom: the casthouse: aluminium alloy slab casting Constellium

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Improve our performance, optimize our operations,boost our capacity: the casthouse is constantlygrowing and thats what drives us. When I arrivedin 1994 we produced 250,000 tonnes of slabs ayear. Now its 400,000 tonnes! Laurent Jouet-Pastr, Casthouse Expert

Alloy slab stripping Constellium

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Alloy slab stripping Constellium

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HOT ROLLING

Two rolling mills - one reversible and one four-stand tandem -gradually reduce the 400 to 600 mm-thick aluminium slabs into2.5 to 7 mm-thick strips. The strips obtained are rolled into coilsand placed in storage to cool.

Overview of the reversible hot rolling mill Constellium / Grard Ufras

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In the hot rolling shop, operations arecontinuous and once you have started arun you cant stop it. This requires acollective discipline. Cline Steiner, Hot Rolling Supervisor

A slab entering the hot rolling mill Constellium

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The hot rolling mill in the early 1970sConstellium, coll. Neuf-Brisach Rights reserved

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A blank being prepared on the hot rolling mill

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Hot rolling mill control room in the 1970s Constellium, coll. Neuf-Brisach Photo Bizos - Rights reserved

Hot rolling mill control room today Constellium / Grard Ufras

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COLD ROLLINGThree cold rolling mills reduce the coils to their final thickness,which in some cases can be below 0.2 mm. The installation alsohas eleven annealing furnaces and a slitter for width adjustment.

Three-stand cold rolling mill L8 in the early 1970s IHA, coll. photographique de Pechiney Rights reserved

Overview of cold rolling Constellium

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Cold rolling is a bit like a marshaling yard.The rolling mill used depends on the finalpurpose of the product - automotive bodysheet, canstock, etc.Christian Mieh, Cold Rolling Shop Logistics Manager

Three-stand cold rolling mill L8 in 1967 IHA, coll. photographique de LAluminium Franais Rights reserved

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Constellium & top right Constellium / Grard Ufras


4 Cold rolling hall Constellium / Grard Ufras


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AUTOMOTIVE FINISHING

This used to be part of a workshop called finishing. In this shop thecoils are adapted to the customers standards, mainly by means ofa series of heat and chemical treatments. They are then cut to therequisite dimensions and conditioned, either left as coils or dividedinto sheets. The new automotive finishing line was installed in thisshop in 2016.

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Overview of automotivefinishing line FT3

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Finishing shop in the 1970s. Tension levelerConstellium, coll. Neuf-Brisach Rights reserved

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The new finishing line has a distinctivefeature: it is highly integrated. It embodiesthe purpose of Neuf-Brisach: being acenter of excellence for the automotiveindustry. It also enables us to offer newproducts and reach out to new customers.Markus Gehrig, Technical Manager, Automotive CustomersPackaging and Automotive Rolled Products

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Automotive finishing line FT3. Surface inspection Constellium


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Cut to length machine C20. Cutting sheets destined for the automotive market Constellium / Grard Ufras

Shear C20. Adjusting the tension leveler Constellium / Grard Ufras


PACKAGING FINISHING

Products less than 0.4 mm thick, destined for the food and beveragepackaging markets, undergo a special treatment comprising twooperations: degreasing, to ensure correct adhesion, and coatingitself, which consists in applying a protective food-contact ordecorative coating.

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Aluminium tension leveling, degreasingand preparation are highly specializedtasks. The folk in the coating shop are very proud of their work.Bruno Naegelin, Safety Coordinator and Former Coating Shop Foreman

Packaging Finishing shop during the 1970s - Constellium, coll. Neuf-Brisach Rights reserved

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Control cabin Constellium / Grard Ufras

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Top: Constellium / Grard Ufras - Bottom: ConstelliumRight page: IHA, coll. photographique de LAluminium Franais Rights reserved


THE PLANT IN 12 KEY DATES

1959 1961 1962 1967 1970 1976 1983 1989 1992 1996 2006 2016


The plant before the plant:

origins of the Neuf-Brisach site

(1959-1967)

Cegdur plant in Issoire. Coil storage areaIHA, coll. photographique de LAluminium Franais Rights reserved


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An essential plant...

Technically speaking, the history of the Neuf-Brisach plant does not begin in1967... In actual fact it dates back to 1959. In that year the managers of Cegdur,Frances leading aluminium processing company and a joint subsidiary ofPechiney and the Compagnie Gnrale dElectricit, decided to build a new rollingplant in France. The reason for this investment was the strong growth on themarket: between 1950 and 1958, annual aluminium consumption in France soaredfrom 70,000 to nearly 200,000 tonnes and everything indicated that the trend wasset to continue. Aerospace, building construction, packaging, automaking: themany applications of aluminium covered entire sectors of the economy. And thepotential outlets had broadened considerably since the signature of the Treaty ofRome in 1957, which gave rise to the European Economic Community andinstigated the process of abolishing customs duties between member states. Up tothen most of Cegdurs customers had been French, but from then on they wereEuropean. Demand was rocketing and new international markets were opening up,so there were at least two good reasons to build a new production plant...

But there was also a third reason: the Cegdur plant in Issoire, central France, hadreached saturation point. Having been commissioned in 1947, it was strugglingbadly to keep up with the increase in demand in the aerospace sector, its flagshipmarket. Conquering new markets seemed inconceivable. To make matters worse,the Issoire plant did not have the facilities to produce thin sheet less than 3 mmthick which was needed to satisfy new requirements. Yet Cegdurs managers

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The hot rolling mill at the Cegdur plant in Issoire, in 1956IHA, coll. photographique de LAluminium Franais Rights reserved


51believed they had spotted a particularly promising new outlet: automotive bodysheets. There was no doubt in their minds that this market was set to take off inthe very near future. That being the case and given the situation at Issoire, it wasvital to build a new rolling plant.

But not just any plant! In a world of mass production, the new one would have tobe equipped with state-of-the-art facilities capable of producing on a large scaleat high speeds. This ability to produce large volumes at highly competitive pricesand to operate leading-edge facilities would characterize Neuf-Brisach throughoutits history. It would provide the roadmap for the major investment programs of the1980s and 90s before underpinning the more recent developments, helping toshape one of the most efficient industrial sites in its sector...

Central building of the Cegdur plant in Issoire, in the early 1950s

IHA, coll. photographique de LAluminium Franais Rights reserved

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The increasing importance of aluminium in packaging during the 1960sBulletin Pechiney, no142, february 1967 - Coll. IHA



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And the winner is... Neuf-Brisach!

Once the managers of Cegdur had made their decision to build a new plant, theyspent several months debating the best location for it. Dunkirk on the north coastwas considered for a while, but eventually ruled out due to the climate, which wastoo damp to be suitable for the equipment. Another town considered wasNogures near Lacq, in the south-west, where Pechiney had just launched a newaluminium production plant, but the area was considered too remote. In the endthey opted for the Alsace plain near the river Rhine in the east - a logical choice,given the emergence of the new Europe. From the heart of the Common Market,the plant would easily be able to export its products to other countries. Not tomention the fact that Cegdur had not at that stage ruled out building the plant inpartnership with Belgian or German industrialists, which meant choosing a sitethat was not too far away. At first, the port area of Strasbourg ticked all the boxes.But it was eventually abandoned, since the land was available for rent and not forpurchase. That was a sizeable handicap for Cegdurs managers, who were intenton acquiring land freehold.

In the end they opted for another port area, that of Colmar-Neuf-Brisach. This wasa wise choice from a geographical standpoint first of all. Most of Europesindustrial facilities lie within a 500-kilometre radius around Neuf-Brisach, and allof Europes major ports lie within a 650-kilometre radius, was the explanationgiven at Cegdur, while also emphasizing another key asset of the area: itsproximity to the European markets and, further afield, potential for attaining bigexport business. Indeed, from its location on the banks of the Rhine, the plantwould have direct access to the main ports on the North Sea such as Rotterdam

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Top: the Colmar-Neuf-Brisach port area in 1967. The Rhenalu plant can be seen in the background Bottom: the area around the Neuf-Brisach plant


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55Did you say Neuf-Brisach?

The site chosen to build the plant lay mostly in the district of Biesheim, witha small part in that of Kunheim. Neuf-Brisach, four kilometers from Biesheim,is a well-known, attractive small town that was created by Louis XIV andfortified by Vauban when Alsace was annexed to the Kingdom of France. Italso happened to be the only place with a post office, hence the initial choiceof name - Usine de Neuf-Brisach - in 1960 (Rhenalu, Lusine Neuf-Brisach,IHA 1995).

and Antwerp, and be connected to the German, Swiss and Italian road and railwaynetworks. This would significantly reduce logistics costs and greatly simplifyshipping. Another - and by no means insignificant advantage was that the sitewould have access to all the energy needed to operate its large industrial facilities,since Neuf-Brisach lay just a few hundred meters away from Vogelgrun dam andhydropower plant, one of the eight such plants lying between Basel andStrasbourg. In fact, Cegdur could not have dreamt of a more perfect site.

In October 1961, nearly two years after the first layout studies and followingsignature of an agreement with the Colmar-Neuf-Brisach public port authority,Cegdur acquired 244 hectares of land straddling the districts of Biesheim andKunheim. But that was just the first stage, and much remained to be done beforethe new plant would become a reality.

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Signing the deed of sale of the land for theCegdur Neuf-Brisach

plant: Colmar, January 29th, 1965

IHA, coll. photographique dePechiney Rights reserved


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Rhenalus European ambitionsDuring the summer of 1962, while Cegdurs engineers were hard at workdesigning the future Neuf-Brisach site, the articles of association of a newcompany were filed with a notary in Paris. Its name was Rhenalu, a contraction forRhine Aluminium. Its purpose was to build and then operate the plant. Itsshareholders were French companies in the metallurgy sector, first and foremostamong them Cegdur, which held a majority stake (75%) in the capital. The Neuf-Brisach rolling mill would hence be French.

The company had affirmed since the outset that the Neuf-Brisach plant would bebuilt in association with European partners. To help fund it, of course, but also -andmost importantly - to underscore its position at the heart of the new Common

The Neuf-Brisach siteentrance in 1967 andin the 1980s

IHA, coll. photographique deLAluminium Franais Droits rservs - Constellium,coll. Neuf-Brisach - Rights reserved

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58Market and the international dimension of its market outlets. As early as the late1950s, contacts had been made with Belgian company Sidal, in which Pechineyheld a large stake. Pechiney was also its main supplier of metal. But thediscussions were soon halted when the French group acquired a Belgiancompetitor of Sidal, Les Laminoirs de lEscaut, which led to tensions among thesenior management.

Other negotiations had been instigated with Vereinigte Aluminium Werke (VAW),Germanys leading aluminium producer, founded in 1917. An agreement between thetwo seemed logical: were both not seeking to boost their production capacities? Buthere too the negotiations eventually foundered, because the Germans wanted tobuild the plant on their side of the border near Dsseldorf, Duisburg or Dortmund.

Plant constructionsite, undated [1965]IHA, coll. photographiquede LAluminium Franais Rights reserved

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59And that was difficult for the French to accept. The two parties had also been unableto reach agreement regarding leadership of the future plant.

By late 1962, the matter was finally settled: the Rhenalu plant in Neuf-Brisachwould have a European vocation but be built by the French, VAW having decidedto build its own plant with Canadian firm Alcan in Norf, in the Ruhr. Cegdur wouldshoulder the burden of the major European plant it was about to build on thebanks of the Rhine by itself. Neuf-Brisachs international ambitions were sketchedout in the late 1950s, but bringing them to fruition would turn out to be a gradualprocess which today makes Constellium one of the worlds leading manufacturersof semi-finished aluminium products.

Special issue of the Pechiney newsletterdedicated to the plant, October 1966 - Coll. IHA

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Birth and expansion of a plant (1967 to the present)

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A major plant is born...

1967

... On October 13th, 1967, with numerous guestsin attendance, the French industry ministerOlivier Guichard inaugurated the plant. It was oneof the largest and most modern sites in Europe,designed eventually to produce 35,000 tonnes ofaluminium per month. That event marked thestart of fierce competition with the plant in Norf,which still continues today.

The first facilities were already operating on thatOctober day. The works had begun in 1964 withthe acquisition of the land, and been completedin September 1966. The buildings were all joinedtogether, allowing continuous production, which

Rhenalu will be the biggest continuousaluminium rolling plant anywhere in Europe...This new unit will equip the French aluminiumprocessing sector to compete on a more equal footing with its larger rivals on the other side of the Atlantic... Olivier Guichard, 1967

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1967 : The process:

Handling coils prior to rolling

Preparing coils for rolling

Static coil annealingfurnace

Preparing coils for theannealing furnace

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The cold rolling mill.Coils exiting

Finishing lineFinishing. Tension leveling

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was a real novelty compared to the Issoire plant. In July 1966 the first equipmentwas installed: slitter CR51, a finishing tool used to cut the aluminium coil to thewidth required by the customer. But the real milestone was reached the followingSeptember, when cold rolling mill L8 was commissioned. The centerpiece of thenew plant, this three-stand big machine - a group of three synchronized rollingmills used to reduce the aluminium coils to their final thickness between 3.5 and0.4 mm was the largest in its category anywhere in the world at that time. It wassupplied with coils by the Issoire plant for the first three years, pendingconstruction of an on-site hot rolling line to transform alloy slabs into coils.

Cold rolling mill L8,the centerpiece ofthe plant, in 1967

IHA, coll. photographiquede Pechiney

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The slitter and the cold rolling mill were the vanguards in a whole range of newinstallations. Right from the outset, Cegdur intended Neuf-Brisach to becompletely integrated and comprise a casthouse, a hot rolling line, a cold rollinginstallation, and finishing and shipment shops. Most of these leading-edge, high-performance facilities came on-line in 1970 and would be used to produce sheetsand coils for building construction, blanks for packaging and aluminium foil butalso, and most importantly, automotive body sheets. For the managers of Cegdurand Rhenalu, there was no mistaking the signs: the Panhard Dyna, designed byengineer Jean-Albert Grgoire with an aluminium engine, cast frame, closures andbody in white, and produced between 1947 and 1954, was a resounding success.The Citron DS, with an aluminium hood, roof and trunk lid, was an even bigger hit.Both of these examples proved that there were significant opportunities in theautomotive sector. However, the promise of a car made entirely of aluminium wasnot borne out by the technological developments that followed, and the automotiveindustry did not become a major outlet for the site until the early 2000s. In theintervening years, the Neuf-Brisach plant had to turn to other markets.

Hotchkiss-Grgoirecar, 1951IHA, coll. IHA-Grgoire Photo Thierry Renaux

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In Voreppe, meanwhile...1967 did not just mark the start-up of the Neuf-Brisach plant. Inthe same year, Pechiney inaugurated a state-of-the-artaluminium research center in Voreppe, near Grenoble (SEFrance), in order to develop new alloys to satisfy its variousmarkets. The site was chosen on account of its proximity to thecitys academic, scientific and technical communities, but alsoto Pechineys plants and laboratories in the nearby Alpinevalleys. Renamed C-TEC (Constellium Technology Center) in2014, it is now the largest R&D center in Western Europedevoted to aluminium and its alloys.

Where did they come from?The Neuf-Brisach site started up in 1967 with a workforce of 270. The hardcore of the staff particularly the management came from the Cegdurplant in Issoire, in the Puy-de-Dme region of central France. Theseengineers, technicians, draughtsmen and foremen also played a key role indesigning and building Neuf-Brisach. As more shops opened the horizonswidened. While many of the recruits were local often Alsatian farmerssons who found working the land unappealing some laborers and foremencame from further afield, all over eastern France but also from the north.Most of them had solid experience, gained on electricity infrastructure

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Aluminium water tower at the CRV, the future C-TEC, in VoreppeIHA, coll. photographique de Pechiney Droits rservs

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projects in the region or in the metallurgy sector. People hence came from far andwide to work at Neuf-Brisach. And where did they live? Some newcomers foundlodgings in nearby towns, while others were allocated housing in the GeorgesLasch workers estate built by Rhenalu in Biesheim in 1968.

What struck me straight away was the sizeand output of the rolling mill. I had never seensuch a big, modern machine before. It was adiscovery for all of us, even the shop manager.Start-up of the cold rolling mill as seen by Camille Selig, who arrived at the site in 1966

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The cold rolling mill, 1967IHA, coll. photographique de LAluminium Franais Rights reserved


IHA, coll. photographique de Pechiney IHA, coll. photographique de Pechiney Rights reserved Rights reserved



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A new market: canstock...

1970During 1970, hot rolling mill L2 and the first duplex furnace in the casthouse - FD1 -were brought into service. The production line was now complete. Metal slabs fromthe casthouse, between 200 and 500 mm thick, were hot-rolled into 3 to 9 mm strips.On leaving the hot rolling mill these strips, known as blanks, were coiled beforebeing cold-rolled to a thickness between 0.3 and 0.2 mm. The metal then moved onto the finishing installations where the coils were cut up or slit before undergoing heator surface treatments and being packaged and shipped. At Neuf-Brisach, the futurewas looking brighter

Major changes were underway at the site, however. Even though they were barelyperceptible in 1970 they were all too real and would increase in significance as thedecade went on. They concerned the outlets for the plant which, it should be recalled,was originally designed in expectation of strong growth in the automotive body sheetmarket. Yet, three years after the facilities were brought into service, the fact had tobe faced: the aluminium car was not catching on among manufacturers. The reason

Roger Schaedelin, who arrived at the site in 1969, recalls the start-up of the hot rolling mill:

L2 was pretty intimidating, mainly because of the noise. It wasa huge gamble to start up a machine like that without properlyqualified staff who had merely done a short training course. In any case, the machine was one of a kind and nobody really knew how to operate it.

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for this was the development, as of the late 1960s,of steel grades with technical and economicperformance levels rivaling those of aluminium.While Neuf-Brisach continued supplying aluminiumto a handful of component manufacturers, thehuge auto body sheet market upon which theplant had been counting failed to materialize.Deprived of an outlet it had expected to bepromising, the Neuf-Brisach plant had to startlooking for new markets.

One of them in particular seemed to be offeringreal prospects: canstock. Almost non-existent in1960, it had been growing steadily for a few years.Beverage cans had been used in the United Statessince the late 1950s and were just starting toarrive in Europe, but the market for cans forpreserving foodstuffs was growing rapidly. Aturning point was reached in 1967 when Americanengineer Ermal Fraze invented an easy method foropening metal cans, prompting a surge in salesthat was further boosted by the advent of massretail. Since the metal used to make food or drinkcan lids was nearly always aluminium, this was anopportunity for the Neuf-Brisach plant to seize. In1968 it had had the foresight to install a coatingline, which is indispensable for treating food-contact aluminium. Responding to the hugegrowth in this market would become one of thesites key challenges in the years to come...

Final inspection on the cut-to-length line,undated [1970s]IHA, coll. photographique de Pechiney Rights reserved

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All change at Neuf-Brisach!

1976How could the business efficiency of Neuf-Brisachbe improved in order to harness the full potentialof the booming canstock market? To meet thischallenge, the decision was taken at the endof 1975 to give the Rhenalu unit morefreedom in responding to customers needs.The plant was transformed into adepartment within Cegdur and givencomplete independence in regard tomarketing and production matters. A salesdepartment was created at the site andimmediately set about developing specificmeasures to target the major manufacturersof food and beverage cans such as Cbal, aPechiney subsidiary, but also Metal Box(UK), Thomassen (Netherlands), Haustrup(Scandinavia), Schmallbach (Germany)and even the National Can Corporationin the USA. Major efforts were alsomade to improve the aluminium alloysused for can lids. At the same time, anew three-stand tandem hot rollingmill was brought into service. Little by

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little, the site seemed to be finding its way... The reorganization completed in 1976was followed on January 1st, 1978 by the restructuring of Cegdur into fiveindependent departments, a process in which Neuf-Brisach clearly set the tone.

1976 was a highly eventful year that also saw the sites first ever strike. The planthad expanded rapidly and the struggles of the early years had fueled a sense ofunease about the future against a backdrop of social tension across France. Astrike began in January and soon paralyzed all the shops. It lasted seven weeks,with the strikers demands focusing on working conditions and wages. Workresumed at the beginning of March, and there were soon grounds to be optimistic:with performance improving significantly, the plant was about to record its firstpositive results since 1967. And that gave all the teams a reason to feel satisfied!

Left: hot rolling mill, control console. Right: coil loading, undated [late 1970s] Constellium,coll. Neuf-Brisach - Photo Bizos - Rights reserved

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Canstock keeps its promises!

1983By the early 1980s, the plant was producing 125,000 tonnes of rolled aluminiumper year. The flagship products were standard sheets and coils for buildingconstruction - roofing, cladding, suspended ceilings and doors -, transportation,and ski manufacture. Another major outlet was the supply of blanks within thegroup or to external customers to be transformed into foil for household use,chocolate wrappings and cigarettes. A third outlet, food packaging, consisting ofbeverage cans, food cans and beverage closures, would become essential (thoughsince Neuf-Brisachs strategy has refocused on cans, coils and sheets for closuresare now made at Singen).

Fifteen years after its inauguration, the plant was about to undergo further change.This started with the nationalization of Rhenalus parent company, Pechiney UgineKuhlmann, which was instigated in 1982 by the Socialist government formed afterthe presidential elections in 1981. The State injected a large sum of money torestructure the group, which was experiencing serious difficulties, and secure itsfuture. Practically at the same time, a new internal reorganization process began.

The goal was to place Neuf-Brisach at the heart of a large soft rolledproducts department comprising all the rolling plants in the

Cegdur Pechiney group except for Issoire, which hadspecialized in aerospace alloys. But also, and most

importantly, to boost the production of coils for thebeverage and food can market, a market that wasliving up to all its promises. Since arriving inEurope in the early 1970s, beverage cans had

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Range of productsmade with aluminiumprocessed by Neuf-Brisach, Rhenaluadvertisement, undated [mid-1980s]Coll. IHA Rights reserved


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been expanding rapidly. The trends on the US market illustrate the pace of growth:1.7 billion beverage cans consumed in 1965, 50 billion in 1980, nearly 100 billiontoday... To keep in step with this seemingly unstoppable growth, the decision wastaken to invest heavily in Neuf-Brisach.

That was the challenge of the NH1 investment program launched in 1983 androlled out between then and 1987. We want to become a major supplier on theEuropean beverage and food can market and significantly increase the plantscapacity: thus was the message proclaimed at the time at Rhenalu. The facilitiesinstalled in the framework of this program were on a scale commensurate with thechallenge: a new duplex casting furnace (FD4) in the casthouse, a new pusher-

Cold rolling mill L12 control room, 1988IHA, coll. photographique de Pechiney Photo Bizos - Rights reserved

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Cold rolling mill L16, 1988IHA, coll. photographique de Pechiney Rights reserved 1983

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type reheating furnace (FP6) in the hot rolling shop, a new high speed cold rollingmill (L16) capable of delivering coils with a thickness guaranteed to within a fewmicrons, a new slitter and a coil storage silo, for the paltry sum of 810 millionfrancs! And the result matched up to expectations: between 1983 and 1987, theplants production capacity soared from 180,000 to 280,000 tonnes! Thanks to itsnew facilities, the site succeeded in breaking into the market of beveragecanstock while continuing to progress on its other key market: treated and coatedcoils for food cans. By the late 1980s, Neuf-Brisach had become Europes leadingproducer of these types of rolled products. Gone were the days when Rhenalu wasstruggling to find outlets in the automotive sector!


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Another leap forward...

1989We need to increase our rolling capacity from 280,000 to 360,000 tonnes! In1989, the 1300 employees of Neuf-Brisach rose to a new challenge: with NH1 barelycompleted, production was to be boosted by a further 30%. This ambitious objectiveentailed further heavy investment: over 700 million francs in total. Logically namedNH2, this major program was to be rolled out between then and 1993.

The reason for this new expansion was the transformation taking place in canstock,the sites principal market. An emerging trend in the beverage and food can marketwas to use thinner coils, thus generating substantial savings for beverage canmakers. The steel manufacturers were quick to respond to this demand and adopteda highly aggressive approach, developing steel foil coils that proved to be formidablecompetitors for aluminium products. But that was not all! The products delivered tocan manufacturers were not just required to be lighter; their quality had to beimpeccable. One defect per million cans was the exacting standard the firms in thesector were henceforth required to meet.

Increased competition, new technical challenges: these were the main reasons forforging ahead with the NH2 program. This time the sites intention was toconsolidate its position in the canstock segment and ensure reliable product quality.Once again, the investments were on a scale commensurate with the challenges: acasting furnace (FD5) with a melting capacity of 70 tonnes and a holding furnacewith a capacity of 45 tonnes were installed in the casthouse. The hot rolling shop

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was equipped with a new slab reheating furnace (FP7) and a fourth stand on thetandem mill, and a new coating line was installed for canstock.

Little more than 20 years after its inauguration and just six years after the launch ofNH1, the Neuf-Brisach site once again demonstrated its ability to adapt quickly to itsenvironment. The gamble paid off: by the time NH2 ended in 1993, the plant wascapable of producing 360,000 tonnes of rolled products per year and hadconsolidated its position as Europes leading canstock producer.

From the NH1 program to the NH3 program, 1983-1996. Presentation boards Constellium, coll. Neuf-Brisach

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Fitting the fourth stand on the tandem mill was a huge technical feat. We did itwithout stopping the rolling mill: rollingcontinued on three stands while the fourthwas being fitted. The fitting team didextremely well. Joseph Enderlen

Spot,the Pechiney group

magazine: 1991 article LesCracks de Neuf-Brisach(the experts at Neuf-Brisach) - Coll. IHA

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The period from 1983 to 1993 saw real change atNeuf-Brisach. Thanks to the investment programwe began expanding rapidly and set out toconquer the canstock market.Olivier Lach, Engineering Department Director

Beverage cans made by theAmerican Can Company(ANC). Pechiney acquired theANC in 1988, becoming theworlds leading packagingmanufacturer

IHA, coll. photographique dePechiney Rights reserved

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The early days of recycling

1992Of all the facilities installed in the framework of NH2, one was particularlysignificant. It was the remelting shop for recovering production scrap. This shop,equipped with rotary furnaces, was commissioned at the start of 1992, markingthe birth of recycling at the Neuf-Brisach site.

Recycling was still fairly unknown in the aluminium industry in 1992. In France, just10% of empty drink cans were recovered (Les Echos, November 6th, 1992,Pechiney-Rhenalu reste serein grce lemballage). Given the benefits of recycling- an energy saving of 95% in comparison with primary metal and the possibility ofinfinite recycling without any loss of properties - Pechiney-Rhenalu decided tomake this a strategic area of development in the coming years. As early as 1991,

A rotary furnace for therecycling shop arriving atNeuf-Brisach, September 1991IHA, coll. photographique de Pechiney Photo Albert Zekri

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the group joined forces with supermarket chain Carrefour to carry out a recoveryoperation that enabled 3 million cans to be recycled. This figure would be doubledin 1992. Back then the recycling shop at Neuf-Brisach was still modest in size.There was just one remelting unit, which was used mainly to process our ownscrap and slag, explains Laurent Vidal, who arrived at the recycling shop in 1995and is now recycling supervisor. But the stage had been set

The real turning point came in 2000-2001 with the commissioning of three newfurnaces. That was when we created a proper structured recycling process atNeuf-Brisach based on contracts with our customers to recover their aluminiumscrap, Laurent Vidal goes on. From being a supplier to beverage canmanufacturers, the recycling unit would also become their customer. At the sametime, new technologies were installed in order to reduce greenhouse gasemissions. An effort to boost clean recycling that would never be halted fromthat point on...

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Scrap destined for the recycling shop Constellium / Grard Ufras



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Cost reductions and first steps in the automotive sector

1996At Neuf-Brisach it was nicknamed NH3, as a nod to its predecessors, but theofficial name assigned to it by the Pechiney group was Challenge. This newproject was indeed a challenge: for the Neuf-Brisach plant, of course, but also forall of Pechineys production units. It was launched in 1996, with some ambitioustargets: reducing costs by 20% in order to make the group as profitable as itsmajor global competitors, on account of the crisis that had been affecting thealuminium sector since the early 1990s. For Pechiney, which had been privatizedin 1995, urgent measures were needed

At Neuf-Brisach, it was not the first time the organization had been adapted in linewith market fluctuations. The departmentation implemented in 1975 had improvedbusiness efficiency and prepared the teams to conquer the canstock markets. In1984, working patterns were reformed with the introduction of continuousproduction and 5x8 shifts in the shops. The aim was to make better use of theindustrial facilities, but the change had met with strong internal opposition.Challenge would be less of a revolution than a series of shop-floor improvementsintended to gear the plant more closely to its customers and meet their needsmore effectively.

Behind these seemingly trivial changes, a major transformation was in fact in storefor the site. By the mid-1990s, the canstock market in which Neuf-Brisach hadbecome the undisputed specialist was continuing to progress but at a lesssustained pace. The plant therefore had to find some new outlets. In a surprisingthrowback to the plants origins, the sector chosen was none other than the

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automotive industry! This market, for which the site had initially been designed butthat had not lived up to its promises, was on the point of making a strongcomeback. The plant had continued to do business with the carmakers, But thistime a real change in dimension was looming on the horizon. For the experts, therewas no doubt about it: the next battlefield between steel and aluminium would bethe automotive sector. As a sign of the times, that same year 1996 Rhenalusigned contracts with Renault and Peugeot to supply aluminium car hoods. A yearlater, the continuous annealing furnace FT1, one of the first facilities installed atthe Neuf-Brisach plant intended initially for the automotive sector, was refurbishedin order to produce automotive body sheet. Major investments were planned overa three-year period, particularly in the finishing shop. The decision was also takento emphasize aluminium recycling less costly than using primary metal toboost the volumes processed. Scrap would be bought on the market or recoveredfrom customers, and supplemented with end-of-life product waste. In 1997,canstock still represented 55% of activity at the plant. But Neuf-Brisach was on theverge of starting a new chapter in its history.

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Pechiney stand at the Paris MotorShow, October 2000 Constellium, coll. Neuf-Brisach



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The Challenge plan had a limited impact at Neuf-Brisach because a lot of effort had been put into improving performance during the NH2 investment program.Bruno Naegelin, Safety Coordinator and Former Coating Shop Foreman

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Rhenalu Stand Geneva international motor show Constellium, coll. Neuf-Brisach - Photo Trepper - Rights reserved


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An investment boom!

20062006 was certainly a booming year for Neuf-Brisach. A major investment plan wasannounced in May of that year to equip the plant with state-of-the-art beveragecan sheet slitting machinery as well as an additional packaging line and a newstorage and shipment hall. Further investments were announced six months later,in November, this time to modernize the continuous annealing, heat treatmentfurnace and to add a chemical conversion line very much needed for the Germanautomotive market. These facilities, which were scheduled to be commissioned in2008, would consolidate the sites position on the canstock and automotive markets.

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In both cases the announcements were made by Alcan, since Pechiney too hadundergone major changes in the early years of the 21st century. In 2000, the Frenchgroup attempted a merger with Canadian firm Alcan and Swiss group Algroup(formerly Alusuisse) with a view to creating a global aluminium giant. But theproposal was rejected by the European Commission due to the risk of creating amonopoly. The operation eventually ended with Alcan absorbing Algroup... and thentaking control of Pechiney three years later, in 2003. To comply with EU regulationsthe Canadian group had to sell the Norf plant in Germany. This was deemedpreferable to selling Neuf-Brisach, which had been considered at one stage...

The major maneuvers were not yet completely over. In 2007, Alcan was in turntaken over by Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto, which then groupedtogether its aluminium activities within a new business unit, Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA).It was RTA that in 2008 inaugurated the facilities planned back in 2006.

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May 2006 issue of the AGIR in-housemagazine devoted to the latest investmentsto modernize the Neuf-Brisach site Constellium, coll. Neuf-Brisach

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From Cegdur to Constellium: a few milestones

1943: Cegdur is created by a group of non-ferrous metal processingcompanies. It builds the rolling plant in Issoire (Puy-de-Dme) andcommissions it in 1947.

1962: Rhenalu is created by Cegdur to operate the future Neuf-Brisach plant.

1964: Cegdur is taken over by Pechiney.

1967: Trfimtaux is acquired by Pechiney, which thus becomes Europesleading aluminium processing company.

1971: Pechiney merges with Ugine Kuhlmann to form Pechiney UgineKuhlmann (PUK), Frances largest private group with more than 100,000 employees.

1982: PUK is nationalized, and renamed Pechiney in 1984.

1987: Cegdur becomes Pechiney Rhenalu.

1995: Pechiney is privatized.

2003: Pechiney is acquired by Canadian group Alcan.

2007: Alcan is acquired by Anglo-Australian group Rio Tinto.The Neuf-Brisachplant and the activities of the former Pechiney become an integral part of thisnew specialized Rio Tinto subsidiary: Alcan Engineered Products (Alcan EP).

2011: Rio Tinto sells 61% of Alcan EP to the Apollo Management investmentfund and to the French sovereign wealth fund (FSI), now BPI (BanquePublique dInvestissement). In the process, Alcan EP is renamed Constellium.

2013: Constellium shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

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One final change took place in 2011: that year, Alcan Engineered Products (EP),which grouped together Rio Tintos semi-finished aluminium product activities- including those of the former Pechiney and the Neuf-Brisach plant - was sold toAmerican investment fund Apollo in association with the French State. At thatpoint, Alcan EP was renamed Constellium. With nearly 10,000 employees and26 plants around the world making rolled or extruded products, the new groupemerged immediately as a global leader.

For the 1400 employees of Constellium Neuf-Brisach, that period was far fromrestful. Yet as the years went by the sites output increased significantly, reachinga record of 420,000 tonnes in 2011. While canstock sales continued to progress,the automotive market began to boom in the early 2000s. This is the reason whyFT1, commissioned in 1966, had been refurbished in 2008 and equipped with achemical conversion unit in order to serve the main German carmakers.Constellium then continued to invest at a steady pace.

Food cans Photo Dominique Sarraute



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Aluminium and the automotive sector: a sustainable alliance

2016

Constellium makes one of the biggest investments in its history; Constelliuminvests massively in France... in October 2016, the local and national Frenchpress gave extensive coverage to a special event. A few days earlier, the Neuf-Brisach plant had inaugurated a new automotive finishing line - its second inorder to meet the increasing demand for its aluminium auto body sheet products.240 meters in length, the new installation boosted production capacity by100,000 tonnes per year and represented an investment of 180 million euros. Ahuge sum that speaks volumes about the stakes involved

With this integrated facility, Constellium Neuf-Brisach made itself battle-ready toseize growth opportunities in the European and global automotive body sheetmarket and to meet the particularly exacting standards of carmakers. Theautomotive market started opening up to aluminium products in the late 1990s atthe instigation of German luxury saloon car manufacturers, and truly reachedcruising speed two decades later. Some experts, who have no hesitation inspeaking of a new Eldorado, believe demand for aluminium automotive body sheetin Europe could even rise to 700,000 tonnes by 2020, from just 230,000 tonnesin 2012. And this is no figment of their imagination: aluminium is more expensivethan steel, but the additional cost can easily be absorbed over the completeproduct life cycle, through both recycling and energy savings. Weighing much lessthan steel, which is used for most body in white components, white metal makesvehicles significantly lighter and thus more fuel-efficient, thereby improving their

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carbon footprint. It is hence an ideal material for the automotive industry, which isrequired to comply with ever-stricter pollution emission standards. Withcomparable mechanical properties, aluminium alloys are 40% lighter than steel.Whats more, aluminium can be recycled over and over again without losing thoseproperties, sums up Ludovic Piquier, director of the Neuf-Brisach plant, who hasan automotive background and arrived at the site in 2014 to oversee the ramp-up of this market. Aluminium is now used to manufacture the engine, theclosures, body in white, suspension, chassis and crash components and a widevariety of accessories including heat exchangers, and could well be used to makethe entire vehicle in the near future. Some automakers are already delivering100% aluminium models...

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Automotive components made with Constellium aluminium solutions. Constellium stand atthe ALUMINIUM 2016 trade show in Dsseldorf Constellium


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Nearly 50 years after its inauguration, the Neuf-Brisach site is thus on the point offulfilling its original purpose. Opened in 1967 to supply European carmakers withaluminium products, it now holds all the cards the people, the expertise, theindustrial facilities and the experience and has become a leading global supplierto the automotive industry. Somewhat hampered at the outset by the vagaries ofits markets, the plant built a successful position on the canstock market, whichremains its key outlet, rolling out a series of structural investments in order to doso. With automotive applications on one side and canstock on the other, theboom in coils is not set to end any time soon at Neuf-Brisach!

2016

Neuf-Brisach operates on two major markets:canstock, which represents the biggestvolumes, and the automotive sector. The latter has grown rapidly over the past fewyears. The new finishing line keeps in step with this expansion and provides the plant with a flexible production facility that is ideallyplaced to drive our growth in the automotivebody sheet market.Ludovic Piquier, Constellium Neuf-Brisach Site Director

1959 1961 1962 1967 1970 1976 1983 1989 1992 1996 2006



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Constellium / Grard Ufras



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Foreword, Jean-Marc Germain, Chief Executive Officer Constellium Group ..................................................................................................... 3

A shared anniversary, Ludovic Piquier, Constellium Neuf-Brisach Site Director... 5

A CONSTANTLY EVOLVING FACILITY............................................................. 7A large plant geared towards international markets ................................................. 9Once upon a time: an industrial vision... .................................................................. 11A plant and its markets ............................................................................................. 12Pride in a job well done ............................................................................................ 18

TOUR OF THE PLANT IN SIX STAGES ......................................................... 211. Recycling ............................................................................................................... 232. Casthouse ............................................................................................................. 273. Hot rolling .............................................................................................................. 314. Cold rolling ............................................................................................................. 355. Automotive finishing ............................................................................................. 396. Packaging finishing ............................................................................................... 43

THE PLANT IN 12 KEY DATES ....................................................................... 47The plant before the plant: origins of the Neuf-Brisach site (1959-1967)

1959. An essential plant ....................................................................................... 491961. And the winner is... Neuf-Brisach! .................................................................. 531962. Rhenalus European ambitions ...................................................................... 57

Birth and expansion of a plant (1967 to the present)

1967. A major plant is born... ................................................................................... 611970. A new market: canstock... ............................................................................. 691976. All change at Neuf-Brisach! ............................................................................ 711983. Canstock keeps its promises! ........................................................................ 731989. Another leap forward... .................................................................................. 771992. The early days of recycling ............................................................................. 811996. Cost reductions and first steps in the automotive sector ............................ 832006. An investment boom! ..................................................................................... 872016. Aluminium and the automotive sector: a sustainable alliance ..................... 91

Table of contents


ENTREPRISED

VOTRE HISTOIRE

Book produced by:

A partnership betweenREF.2C, design & ditions - Aix-en-Provence - [email protected], recherche & ingnierie - Paris - [email protected]

Printed in the European Union

Legal deposit: October 2017

Cover photo: Constellium / Grard Ufras for the front cover and IHA, photo library ofLAluminium Franais All rights reserved for the outside back cover

On behalf of

AcknowledgmentsWe would like to thank all the men and women - present and past employees - who helped forge thehistory of the plant and who contributed in some way to this book. We are particularly grateful to the formeremployees who have participated in the work of theInstitute for the History of Aluminium since 1986,helping to preserve the memory of the plant by sharing their personal accounts


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