ABB Customer World 2018 (ACW 2018) today raised its curtain in Xiamen with the theme “Let’s write the digital future. Together”. The opening forum, five industry forums, 112 technical seminars and 6,800 square meters of exhibitions showcased all aspects of ABB's cutting-edge technological achievements, with special focus on grid digitalization, smart factories, industrial digitalization, sustainable transportation as well as China’s Belt and Road Initiative. More than 6,000 ABB customers, experts and partners discussed industrial digital transformation at the event, where ABB introduced 20 new ABB AbilityTM products and solutions and the latest cloud platform to the China market.
As the transformation of China’s economy accelerates, digital technology has become the core driving force of economic growth. More and more Chinese companies are actively embracing digital solutions, speeding up their transformation and upgrading to strengthen their competitive advantage. Since ABB AbilityTM was introduced to the Chinese market in 2017, ABB has delivered industry-leading digital solutions for local customers of many industries, including oil and gas, petrochemicals, automobiles, machinery, steel and transportation, helping users integrate and analyze their data safely and efficiently to provide deep insights that enhance performance and productivity.
“ABB is proud to partner with customers throughout China to write the digital future. With our deep roots in China, we have long played a significant role in the country’s infrastructure development and have always promoted and invested in technological innovation,” said Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO of ABB Group. “Today, with our leading ABB AbilityTM digital solutions and services, we are helping utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure customers capitalize on the value of big data to strengthen productivity, groundbreaking innovation and core competitiveness. Since the launch of ABB AbilityTM in China last year, we have doubled the size of our digital business, which is today extremely well-matched with the priority industries of China’s 13th five-year plan and Made in China 2025.”
Over the past year, ABB has supported many Chinese customers in their digital transformation. For example, ABB will expand the application of its ABB AbilityTM Ellipse® Asset Performance Management solution for the Inner Mongolia power grid, providing accurate assessment and analysis of transformers and high-voltage circuit breakers, and ensuring reliable operation and lower operational maintenance costs; ABB AbilityTM Smart Sensor and cloud application solutions in the production base of Baowu Group in Shanghai turns traditional electrical machinery into an intelligent and inters instrument that provides worry-free routing inspections, enhanced efficiency and energy savings, as well as predictive equipment maintenance; ABB AbilityTM Marine Remote Diagnostic System (RDS) supported Xue Long II, China’s first independently constructed polar research vessel with real-time digital monitoring and assessment of cabin equipment, enabling remote management and preventive maintenance of critical assets.
ABB showcases about 70 new products and ABB AbilityTM solutions at ABB Customer World this year including:
- ABB Ability™ TXpert™ Dry, the world's first dry-type (oil free) digital transformer. The transformer uses smart sensors to collect data and combine them into powerful analytics, enabling key functionality such as Power Quality Monitoring, Self-Supervision and Lifecycle Assessment. It is also designed to work without oil, where the core and the coil are cooled by air and non-flammable solid insulation material. Also on show is ABB Ability™ Power Transformer, the world’s first digitally enabled power transformer that supports remote monitoring and data analytics of vital parameters in real time.
- ABB B&R’s ACOPOStrak, the intelligent, flexible transport system that is setting a new standard for smart-factory motion control, and B&R's Orange Box, an advanced analytics solution that mines previously unreadable data from digitally isolated machinery.
- ABB Ability™ Connected Atomizer is the world’s first connected, sensor-equipped paint atomizer using real-time, smart diagnostics to optimize paint quality during application. This turnkey solution increases transfer efficiency by 10%, and reduces color change-related wastage by 75% and air consumption by 20%. It increases paint shop uptime by monitoring the atomizer’s critical components, doubling the interval between manual cleaning.
- ABB's latest 7 kW series AC electric vehicle chargers, 180 kW DC fast chargers, and 350 kW CCS2 high-power chargers. DC charging piles linked to the ABB AbilityTM Connected Services can remotely diagnose more than 90 percent of problems and solve over 60 percent of issues online, without hindering the site. This solution greatly improves operating efficiency of the charger, ensuring a worry-free charging experience.
As China accelerates open cooperation with the world, Chinese and foreign companies are discovering unprecedented new development opportunities. With a global footprint in more than 100 countries, industry-leading offerings, innovations and extensive experience in overseas project management, ABB is fully supporting China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and has closely cooperated with more than 400 Chinese companies in over 70 countries and regions. In 2017 alone, ABB provided consulting, design, engineering, manufacturing and services for 280 projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative, helping to reduce project costs, engineering risks and achieve win-win cooperation in the global marketplace.
“We are confident of China's successful economic development, and will continue the investment momentum in this promising market,” said Dr. Chunyuan Gu, President of Region Asia, Middle East and Africa, ABB. “We will further enhance our local innovation capabilities and maintain our long-term development strategy - ‘In China, for China and the World.’ ABB will continue striving to be a partner of choice for Chinese customers, leveraging ABB’s leading digital technologies to support our customers significantly improve energy efficiency and production quality and also collaborate with them in developing in the overseas markets.”
In 2018, ABB continued to invest in and optimize its businesses in China. ABB recently announced a $150 million investment to build the world's largest and most advanced robotic super-factory in Kangqiao, Shanghai, to expand productivity, increase efficiency and consolidate its market-leading position and better satisfy surging customer demand. Prior to this, the ABB Robotics Application Center in Chongqing officially opened in May to meet a rapidly growing market for industrial robots in western China. In addition, the company has just opened ABB Xiamen Hub, its largest and advanced manufacturing base with an investment of $300 million. The new hub integrates ABB’s eight local companies, significantly enhancing ABB’s productivity and competitiveness.
Meanwhile, ABB corporate social responsibility continues to actively support Chinese-focused charity, education and environmental protection programs. During the ACW event, for the fourteenth consecutive year, ABB donated one million yuan to the ABB-New Great Wall Fund for university students, which funds impoverished students majoring in electrical engineering, automation and other relevant majors in Chinese universities. Accumulated donations have reached about 16 million yuan, and help more than 4,300 college students from 46 universities and nearly 1,000 technical school students.
ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader in power grids, electrification products, industrial automation and robotics and motion, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization with two clear value propositions: bringing electricity from any power plant to any plug and automating industries from natural resources to finished products. As title partner in ABB Formula E, the fully electric international FIA motorsport class, ABB is pushing the boundaries of e-mobility to contribute to a sustainable future. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 147,000 employees. ABB has a full range of business activities in China, including R&D, manufacturing, sales and services, with 18,000 employees located in 142 cities, 40 local companies, and online and offline channels across over 300 cities.https://new.abb.com/cn
