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Dev Ahuja, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, has been named to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) board of directors. Dev will join the NAM board to advance a manufacturing policy agenda that promotes growth and prosperity for all Americans. (more…)

The new 2018 Jeep® Wrangler now features lightweight, high-strength Novelis aluminum for closures. This includes parts of the doors, fenders, swing gate and windshield surround. By reducing weight and boosting fuel economy, aluminum helps make it the most capable and fuel efficient Wrangler ever produced by FCA US LLC. The all-new model is 200 pounds lighter than the previous steel version, and gas mileage is expected to rise by three miles per gallon, according to the automaker.

By incorporating aluminum into this design, FCA US joins a number of automakers that are turning to aluminum for the benefits they see in vehicle performance, agility and safety. Thanks in part to lightweight aluminum from Novelis, Jeep enthusiasts will also find it easier to remove the doors, which will be 14 pounds lighter compared to previous models.

According to Trucks.com, Scott Tallon, director of the Jeep brand, said, “It couldn’t have been done without the use of aluminum.”Offering a safe, sustainable and cost-effective way to lightweight vehicles, automotive aluminum applications result in better performance and agility, increased fuel economy and reduced carbon emissions. Demand for automotive aluminum is expected to rise according to the 2017 Ducker Worldwide survey that projects aluminum content in North American passenger vehicles, particularly light trucks and SUVs, will increase 42 percent from its 2015 level by the year 2028.

Novelis is a partner of choice to automakers throughout their development journey to collaborate with OEMs on how to adopt aluminum and offer solutions that achieve their lightweighting goals. Today, more than 200 different vehicle models feature Novelis aluminum.

When Recycling Scores, The Community Wins

Among the many holidays and observances we recognize and celebrate, few have the economic, social and environmental impact of today – November 15, America Recycles Day.

While this observance does not include the typical festivities and decorations of other holidays, it does provide an opportunity for us to come together as business leaders and concerned citizens to create a healthier and more prosperous world.

America Recycles Day is about inspiring environmental stewardship and realizing the positive economic impact of recycling. At face value, recycling contributes to a cleaner environment for the world in which we live, work and play. But the simple act of recycling does more than just transform discarded items into new products. It creates jobs and economic value. According to a study published earlier this year by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries’ (ISRI), the scrap recycling industry contributed more than $1 billion to the U.S. economy in 2016 and provided 150,000+ jobs nationwide, nearly 6,000 of which were right here in Atlanta. Generating new job growth and investing money back into our economy is vital to supporting our communities. And it begins with us – the local organizations, businesses and citizens – who have a responsibility to make our communities healthier and more economically vibrant.

Last year, we saw firsthand the connection between recycling and building strong communities when Novelis, the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, brought The Arthur M. Blank Foundation, the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta Habitat for Humanity together to launch the “Recycle for Good” partnership. This collaborative program, which now includes Mercedes-Benz Stadium (MBS), focuses on collecting aluminum bottles and cans consumed at Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United games, as well as all other stadium events. Those bottles and cans are then recycled with the proceeds being donated to buy the necessary materials to build a house for a working family through Habitat for Humanity.

In other words, what would have been three million discarded soda and beer cans stuck in a Georgia landfill, is now a brand new home for a mother and her two daughters in the historic Westside neighborhood, just steps away from the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The stadium has been lauded in its inaugural season for its world-class technology and fan experience, but the untold story behind its environmentally friendly infrastructure and state-of-the art design is equally impactful. MBS, which expects to be the first NFL and MLS stadium to be LEED Platinum certified was built to reduce energy use by 29 percent, thanks in part to 4,000 solar panels that fuel the stadium’s many systems. The building also reduces water use by 47% through efforts such as storm water management infrastructure, which includes a 1.1-million-gallon storm vault and a 680,000-gallon cistern.

While launching an initiative like “Recycle for Good” isn’t easy, all it really required was the commitment and will of businesses and people to make a difference. And although on the surface an aluminum company and a world-class sports venue don’t seem to have much in common, a focus on the value of recycling and fostering more sustainable communities continues to unite our organizations.

This America Recycles Day, we encourage businesses to develop, lead and collaborate on environmentally responsible initiatives that improve the health and economic vitality of our communities. If you’re not sure where to start, look for opportunities in your daily routine to recycle – at home, work or school – that can help conserve our valuable resources.

Steve Pohl is SVP Business Performance & Execution, Novelis Inc. and Board Member, Georgia Conservancy

Scott Jenkins is General Manager of Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Board Chair, Green Sports Alliance

The United States has people without jobs, but it also has jobs without people – over six million of them. Why can’t those jobs be filled? Because job candidates lack the required skills. We call this situation the skills gap. With millions of Americans unemployed – and millions of open jobs – the business community is taking the initiative to close this skills gap.

 

Joanne McInnerney, VP Human Resources Novelis North America speaks at a symposium hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce entitled, America Working Forward: Modernizing Work and Learn Pathways.

At a recent symposium hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce entitled, America Working Forward: Modernizing Work and Learn Pathways, Joanne McInnerney, Novelis North America’s Vice President of Human Resources, participated in a panel discussion with other business leaders where she shared Novelis’ employer-led solutions to closing the skills gap—solutions that are benefiting workers, Novelis, and the communities where we live and operate.

“At Novelis, to meet the growing demands of our business, we need our talent to stay and new talent to join us,” said McInnerney. “In our business, you can’t rely on having a pipeline of skilled labor; we have to help build our unique skills and do everything we can to grow and expand people interested in gaining those skills.”

Through various efforts, including Novelis’ Engineering Development Program, apprenticeships and multiple retraining initiatives underway at our facilities around the world, Novelis is investing in its current workforce to ensure that employees have the skills required and training necessary to evolve with the ever-changing demands of our business and our customers.

“In addition to investing in our current workforce, we are also investing in the next generation of engineers and manufacturing professionals through our commitment to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives. By exposing young people to manufacturing at an early age and building an awareness of the sector, we are inspiring more interest in the field with the end goal of creating a future pipeline of skilled talent for Novelis and the country.”

To watch the panel discussion in its entirety, click here.

By Dev Ahuja, Senior Vice President and CFO, Novelis Inc.

We are living in a world marked by ever-accelerating pace of change and disruption driven by rapid innovation enabled by technology and communications. The Fortune 500 list of most valuable companies and Forbes most valuable brands is now dominated by names which were either insignificant or did not even exist one to two decades earlier. Knowledge companies are unseating those who had dominated the space for many decades. All the top names in the list have disrupted entire industries and forever redefined the rules of doing business.

On the political and economic side in the last two decades, global events of seismic proportions have come together to reshape the world we are living in. From the Cold war and the creation of a single Euro currency, to 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis, the world is a decidedly different place and will continue to change as global events impact more and more people.

Continuous innovation, change and learning agility are differentiating the companies, countries and people who are leading versus those who are lagging.  Not being at the forefront of change and innovation, both at an organizational and an individual level, is a sure shot recipe for losing relevance in the emerging world order.

How we got here

First, let’s take a moment to set the stage. As technology and communications have revolutionized business and trade, what other changes have driven the seismic shift in the global order?

The decades between 1990 and 2010 were marked by dramatic and far-reaching changes. From the creation of a single North American trade zone under NAFTA to the launch of the Euro currency, the theme of interconnectedness has run through much of this period. The emergence of the Internet as an unprecedented information resource and communications tool for mass public and commercial audiences only served to underscore and hasten moves to erase old physical and technological boundaries.

The new global level of interconnectedness became apparent in the shockwaves from the 2008 U.S. financial crisis. Its origins were in a very domestic issue, U.S. housing prices. But the impact on commercial lending, credit, financial markets and Main Street businesses quickly led to recessionary trends across the globe.

Value shifts from brick and mortar to knowledge and innovation

Retail has also been a showcase for the power of connectivity. New digital enterprises recognized the Internet’s inherent power of scale and were able to jump ahead of traditional brick and mortar retailers in the price, variety and speed of their offerings. We have seen the resulting decline in relevance for once-iconic brands like Sears and Macy’s. Even some winners of the 1990s – the “category killer” big-box stores – have ultimately fallen victim to the success of e-commerce. Think of Borders or Radio Shack.

The technology revolution is clear when you look at the Fortune 500. In 1980, the Top 10 companies were almost all in oil and gas or manufacturing. By 2016, the Top 10 was a much more diverse group that included Apple and AT&T. From another perspective, the American Enterprise Institute compared the composition of the entire Fortune 500 in 1995 and 2016 and found only 38 percent of companies on both lists. In other words, 62% of companies fell out of the Fortune 500 in that period, a turnover rate of 14 companies per year on average.

Changing world, changing populations

But it’s not just businesses that have changed. The makeup of countries has changed in this period as native-born populations in the West have aged while immigration ramped up.

We now have populations that are more diverse in most major developed economies.  For example, in the United States, the Caucasian population dropped from 80 percent in 1990 to just over 60 percent in the 2010 census, with people of Hispanic and Asian origin making up most of the newcomers. That trend is only expected to continue and already the majority of children under age 5 in the U.S. are non-white.

Another factor is that lower GDP growth around the world complicates business shifts and demographic evolution further. Investments and decision-making are easier in an environment of growth and prosperity, but fraught with complexity and compromise in the face of weak growth. The pressure to make the right strategic decisions and investments is heightened when growth is the exception, and not the norm.

What globalization means for skills development

The war for talent is intense. Organizations at the leading edge of innovation and change are those who also have leading edge talent. Top talent is gravitating to change and innovation agile organizations where narrowly defined specialized skills, long experience or raw intelligence are no longer enough. In today’s world, leadership and success are more associated with soft skills such as change management, learning agility, collaboration and innovation.

Winning in a globalized world

Talent therefore is a critical element businesses need to maintain and grow their competitive edge in the era of globalization. To properly leverage talent, businesses must also develop other attributes to stay ahead in a globalized marketplace.

The first is embracing disruption and committing to innovation. The fate of many brick-and-mortar brands shows that protecting traditional models is no longer possible. Look at the impact Uber and Lyft have on taxi companies and car manufacturers. Constantly preparing for disruption and seeking to drive it through innovation will determine the companies that thrive and those that barely survive.

Capital allocation is more critical than ever. Resources are limited and risk management is critical to ensure that risks are addressed and investments are clearly targeted, while allowing enough space for failure. Experimenting and learning needs to become part of an organization’s DNA.   Rewarding failures is as important as rewarding success in order to build a leading edge business.

Globalization through the lens of Novelis

As a company that operates in 10 countries on four continents, Novelis embraces the forces of globalization with the backing of the Aditya Birla Group (ABG), India’s largest multi-national conglomerate spanning 36 countries and 120,000 employees. Because of that support, Novelis has the strategic flexibility to tap into ABG’s upstream assets and capabilities, immense financial strength and diversity of employees allowing us embrace safety, innovation and collaboration to shape a more sustainable future every day, in all of our operations.

We are also leveraging our global capabilities and intellectual diversity. Our business is rooted in innovation as the world’s leading producer of automotive aluminum sheet for the fast-growing sector of fuel efficient, hybrid and electric vehicles. We see ourselves as a partner-of-choice playing an integral role with leading-edge technology companies like NIO and others.

We achieve this innovation, in part, through close collaboration with our customers. As we better understand the disruptions and forces they face, we partner to create the solutions that lead to commercial success as well as a more sustainable environment. For example, in efforts to reduce costs while increasing sustainability, we created a closed-loop recycling program with key customers, Ford Motor Company and Jaguar Land Rover, in which scrap metal is collected and reused in the production of automobiles.

As we commit ourselves to innovation and sustainability, we never lose sight of safety. Safety is the foundation of all we do, as our employees are our most important asset. From the CEO down, everyone’s job is safety-focused. Investment in trainings, assessments and communications all help ensure that we are able to realize our business objectives in a safe manner.

The path ahead

Globalization is not going away.  In fact, if we have learned anything from the 21st century, it is that we should expect even more rapid and volatile changes. Populations will continue to grow more diverse and interwoven across old national boundaries, connecting cultures and countries. Technology will continue to break down silos and heighten expectations of communications. Businesses will continue to be called upon to address commercial and social needs and opportunities. Knowledge will continue to drive market capitalization.

The factors that created globalization – digitization, rapid pace of change, lower GDP growth and changing demographics – are only growing in impact. Which is why Novelis is embracing a new paradigm to succeed in a globalized world. We have renewed our purpose to shape a sustainable future by leading in the fields of lightweighting, recycling and innovative partnerships. That combined with our social purpose and investments in our people have resulted in sustained financial performance and position us for continued growth and prosperity. And while challenges vary across industry, other companies that create a paradigm to best fits their needs will also be able to successfully compete in a globalized world.

As a hockey player, I understand the importance of a dedicated team. When everyone works together, there are no limits to what we can do. That’s why I’m proud to partner with Novelis and Discovery Education to spread the word about a new educational program that teaches students the importance of recycling and empowers them make a difference.

I am happy to announce that this month our program will expand: Today, just in time for Earth Day, we have released a new education module!

Available free of charge, this module is an addition to our online platform, “Life of a Can – A Never Ending Story,” which offers interactive classroom activities and at-home family resources to help inspire students to be environmental stewards. The new module will help students explore how Novelis processes the never-ending lifecycle of an aluminum can, by letting them ‘walk through’ Cantown. Students can answer questions to earn ‘Green Points,’ click on the user-friendly interface, and learn the real-world implications of recycling.

Sustainability is a top priority for the NHL and I believe creating a greener planet through education will not only impact our sport, but our future generations. With help from our children and our communities, we can work to recycle $1.5 billion worth of aluminum that is sent to landfills each year in North America alone. By encouraging the development of students’ critical-thinking skills, I believe these modules can inspire real change.

Thanks to partners like Novelis and Discovery Education, the next generation of environmental stewards will be more knowledgeable, prepared and ready to act than ever before. And now, students around the world can receive ongoing recycling and STEM education at the touch of a button. I am hopeful for what comes next. Together, we can be champions for the planet, and inspire the next generation to become lifelong recyclers.

Today, we announced our first major commitment in the electric vehicle market through a supplier agreement with NIO, a next-generation car company.

Through a long-term partnership, NIO will leverage the unique properties of our high strength, lightweight aluminum alloys to design a lighter, better performing, & more fuel-efficient vehicle. Over the next five years, NIO will launch electric SUV models using Novelis’ automotive aluminum solutions.

Leveraging our global reach, NIO will draw supply from our Changzhou plant—China’s first facility dedicated to heat-treated automotive sheet. Enabling a local supply source will be key to expediting NIO’s production schedule at a time when automakers face mounting pressure in China to increase electric vehicle production. As aluminum becomes increasingly integrated into autonomous and electric vehicle designs, our partnership with NIO will showcase the state-of-the-art benefits of automotive aluminum.

NIO and Novelis are pushing the limits of what is possible with electric vehicles from both a performance and design standpoint. This innovative partnership demonstrates that Novelis is more than just a material supplier, we are collaborators and problem solvers working closely with design teams to help ensure vehicles are built to maximize the unique attributes of aluminum and meet the mobility demands of the future.

Novelis’ expertise and experience working with world-class automakers make it the best choice for NIO and the right choice for the electric vehicle market.