• 43 Countries • 350-plus operating locations •131,000 Employees Alcoa is Global: News’04 Alcoa Wheel and Forged Products completed con- struction and production ramp-up at its Monterrey, Mexico, plant to meet cus- tomer demand. Employees there turned in outstanding quality and delivery per- formances, and have not  had a single lost workday  during construction and  since production began. The Alumar smelter in  São Luís, Brazil, is helping to construct the first local high school in the rural area. The Mário Martins Meireles High School Center, which will serve 1,200 students, is a part- nership between Alumar and  the Maranhão government. Alumar is providing the  facilities and operational equipment, and the govern- ment will be responsible  for ongoing activities. 16 Building Futures  Expanding in Mexico Gains for Aerospace Market Alcoa Mill Products used  ABS to avoid a potential process bottleneck at its  Davenport (IA) Works and achieve increased revenues, while reducing costs. The effort centered on improving the operational availability  of the ultrasonic inspection  (USI) station, which inspects Davenport’s aerospace  components in accordance with U.S. FAA requirements. The USI team posted a 26% improvement, surpassing  its goal.