Worldwide, the manufacturing industry is now aiming for competitive advantage and increased profits. To remain competitive, a manufacturing company needs to use tools that provide it with a distinctive competitive edge. This research first discusses the manufacturing process of aluminum, the world and the Indian aluminum industry, technological changes in the aluminum industry. In the second part we discuss a literature survey of various operation research models in the aluminum industry. The survey has been done through the published research works from 1967 till the present year. The purpose of this study is to survey models which are related to the aluminum industry either in methodology or in practice. The study lists the opportunities for OR/MS in the aluminum industry and the major challenging areas for research. It also motivates researchers to explore more such problems in operations research and management science related to aluminum manufacturing.