The opening of a new laboratory in Helsinki has strengthened ABB’s research and development commitment to the marine sector. ABB has invested significant funds into the new project, which is based in Helsinki, and will be the first lab which integrates all ABB’s offerings to the shipping industry in one place.
“We are constantly testing and developing new technologies,” says Mikko Lepistö, director of software and automation operations at ABB. He continues, “This laboratory is a wonderful step forward and enables a full range of innovation activities, now that all of our marine systems can be tested and developed under the same roof.”
The needs of ship owners is constantly evolving but the emphasis on cost efficiency and reliability whilst maintaining safety standards remains central.
“We develop our products and systems together with our customers, focusing on the user. The word of the day is simplification. Merging systems demands a more extensive understanding of the whole from us, where testing and the user play a central part. In other words, our task is to make the ship operator's work as easy as possible,” says Antti Matilainen, product development manager at ABB.
The laboratory is the first step towards creating a simulator which will utilise ABB Marine’s automation solutions. It will also replicate the ability of ship owners to leverage the internet of things.
”Digitalisation allows owners to monitor remotely entire fleets using cloud services. When data collected by automation systems is utilized most optimal way, we can save both costs and environment. Internet of things opens new possibilities for marine industry for the development of the service business”, Lepistö says.