Dubai Aluminum: Operation on Decision Making. Company Analysis Case Study

Introduction and Company Description: Mission, Vision and Staff

Being a full-fledged company, which has entered the world market efficiently, DUBAL has a mission and vision of its own. Focusing, understandably enough, on providing the end user with the services and products of the best quality possible, the company’s vision does not differ much from a gazillion of other statements uttered by the rest of the UAE companies.

While DUBAL’s vision is rather predictable and focuses on future growth, the company’s mission deserves being mentioned as a very progressive one – not because of the goals that the company defines as compulsory, but because of the pace that it sets. As the recent report says, DUBAL aims at “to be the best aluminium company in production, markets, people and results” by 2020” (Growing stronger together, 2009, p. 3).

The given statement shows that the company is able to change its mission based on the requirements of the target audience. Consequently, the company hires only professional and properly trained staff.

Description of Operations: The Key Stages of Company’s Performance

Like any other company, DUBAL splits its performance into several key stages, which allows for controlling the production process better and, thus, helps deliver the goods of the finest quality.

As the company describes the production process, it consists of three basic stages, i.e., bauxite refining, alumina smelting and obtaining aluminum; in the course of the process, 4 tons of bauxite are transformed into 1 ton of aluminum. Therefore, the production process can be depicted in the following way:

Diagram 1. DUBAL Key Production Process Operations

It should be mentioned, though, that the performance process is not restricted to the process of aluminum smelting, though the latter definitely plays the pivoting role in the company’s efficacy.

On a larger scale, DUBAL’s performance can be viewed as a process that starts with searching for the companies providing the raw material to the promotion campaign, which is supposed to attract even more customers and, therefore, allow the company for conquering the foreign market, apart from the one within the UAE boundaries.

Therefore, the operations that take place within DUBAL can be depicted in the following manner:

Diagram 2. DUBAL Key Operations

As the chart above shows, the key inputs listed in the raw materials column also represent the stages of raw material processing. Thus, alumina, which is the actual raw material, is transformed in the Bayer process into alumina fluoride, with Calcined petroleum coke and liquid coal tar pitch being used as catalysts.

Supply Chain and the Associated Decisions: Logistics at Its Best

Perhaps, one of the strongest links in the overall strong chain of the DUBAL Company’s solutions, the supply chain management revolves around the idea of responsibility and the maintenance of environmentally friendly policy. The latter takes the form of choosing the transportation method that is considered the most environmentally safe one.

It is remarkable that the DUBAL Company was awarded for the efficient supply management system adopted by the company. As Media Desk announced in 2012, the company won three key awards in supply chain management. More to the point, the company was described as an innovator, whose example is worth being taken as a pattern for the rest of the UAE companies to adopt:

Delighted at the accolade, Masood Taleb Al Ali (Vice President: Supply) says DUBAL that entered three categories in the CIPS Middle East 2012 Awards, namely 1) Procurement Team of the Year; 2) Most Improved Purchasing Operation; and 3) Best Contribution to the Reputation of the Procurement Profession. (DUBAL takes top honors in 2012 CIPS Middle East awards, 2012).

It could be argued, though, that the current supply chain management in general and the company’s logistic in particular could be improved a notch once the company’s outbound logistics strategy is reconsidered.

At present, the company clearly puts the emphasis on the speed of the transportation, which often comes at a price for the quality of the supplied goods. Therefore, it will be more reasonable for the company to focus on the transportation issues in the future. To demonstrate the company’s supply chain management, the following diagram should be used:

Diagram 3. DUBAL Supply Management Structure

Operational Decisions: Facing Difficult Dilemmas

Being one of the UAE leading companies, DUBALhas to face a number of operational decisions on which its status of the state’s highest grossing organization depends. One of these operational decisions concerns the suppliers. Indeed, the choice between the availability, price and quality is not easy.

It goes without saying that, to provide the services of the finest quality, a company must use the services of the best suppliers and the best transportation companies. However, to upgrade their services, a company sometimes has to resort to mediocre services regarding the supplies for other aspects of its performance.

For instance, DUBAL has recently faced a problem concerning the efficacy of the desalination procedure, which triggered the purchase of more up-to-date equipment and the need to reconsider the company’s pricing policies (Facing the future in partnership, 2008).

Productivity: When Performance Rates Speak for Themselves

Like any other company of the similar scale, the DUBAL Company has its own method of measuring its productivity. Apart from defining its efficacy by calculating the number of goods produced and sold on a daily basis, DUBAL also manages to measure its productivity in accordance with two major parameters.

The first one concerns the customers’ satisfaction and can be measured in the number of positive reviews that grateful customers send to the company. It should be noted, though, that the given productivity factor is rather unpredictable and, therefore, should not be trusted completely. To start with, there is the personal factor, i.e., the fact that every customer has his/her own idea of what a high-quality product is.

Furthermore, as the opinion poll held among the employees of the DUBAL Company has shown, customers rarely leave notes of gratitude even when they are satisfied with the product; quite on the contrary, people prefer to voice their opinion when the services do not meet the company’s quality standards.

As for the second parameter, in accordance with which the company’s performance is evaluated, the compliance with the company’s development plan should be named (Professional working environment, n. d.).

Conclusion: There Is Yet Much to Strive for

It seems that at present, the company is doing relatively well. True, DUBAL has been facing several issues recently, which has led to several major complexities; however, the latter have been efficiently dealt with. After all, it is not the absence of problems, but the ability to solve them that defines a company’s success.

With that in mind, one must admit that the Dubai Aluminum Company remains one of the most promising companies in the UAE and is clearly going to grow in order to expand into the world market.

It is desirable, though, that DUBAL managers should pay more attention to the company’s logistics strategy, especially when it comes to designing the transportation routes for the raw material and the final product.

Once choosing the fastest, the safest and least time-consuming method of transportation, the organization will be able to improve other aspects of its operation, including the production process and information management.

Reference List

DUBAL takes top honors in 2012 CIPS Middle East awards (2012). Web.

Facing the future in partnership (2008). Web.

Growing stronger together (2009). Web.

Professional working environment (n. d.). Web.