Purchase of Vehicles at Arvida Works: An Operator Plays a Big Role

With five years of service under his belt, Alexandre Vandal, Operator, is among the most seasoned employees at the West Smelter Center (WSC) at Arvida Works, a complex environment where endurance is required. Alexandre harnessed his own resolve by participating in the purchase of a new fleet of vehicles for WSC that will meet the facility’s current and future needs.

“We hadn’t been making any progress in our search until Alexandre did his own research and suggested a specific model,” explained François Angers, Supervisor, Work Coordination and Pot Start-Up. “Since then, Alexandre has been involved in all the road tests and has shared many good ideas for adapting the vehicle for the

potrooms and enhancing its safety. He spent a lot of time on this project.

The process of replacing old equipment at the end of its service life began last summer and was just completed with the acquisition of a new JCB dump truck, which will be used to add solid bath to WSC’s pots.

According to the team, the new equipment required just a few adjustments and works very well. “Alexandre participated in many steps of the process, and in a dozen or so meetings. He was always willing and available.”

Since he started his position, Alexandre has been someone you can count on. It’s not surprising that he became interested and involved in the purchase of the vehicle fleet.

This is equipment that we use every day, so I had a good idea of what sorts of features we needed,” said Alexandre. “The vehicles we had were outdated, and it’s always nice to have new equipment.”

Alexandre takes great satisfaction in drawing on his five years of experience to help his colleagues. The updating of the vehicle fleet has allowed him to add yet another skill to his arsenal, as he is setting up the training plan for the other operators. He also participated in the before and after checks. He is now teaching all the employees the basics of driving the new dump truck.

The success of this project also depended on the expertise of the members of the multidisciplinary team, including Francis Lapointe (HSE Advisor), Jean-Pierre Gendron (Prevention Representative), Gino Blouin (Mechanical Technician), Nancy

Plante (Project Manager), François Angers (Supervisor) and Carl Simard (Superintendent).