Advancing electrification with our partners
At ABB, we believe in the power of partnership. Regional channel partner events over the past year, including the most recent LATAM meeting, have underscored this belief and have been a valuable way to collaborate, share expertise and best practices, and engage on important topics for business owners and their customers.
As a region facing tremendous growth, Latin America is investing for the future to meet growing demand for clean energy, expanded communications and technology systems and update critical infrastructure. The electricity sector in Latin America is one of the cleanest in the world and has abundant renewable resources for the future. At the same time, some areas across the region are challenged by talent shortages, complex infrastructure needs, and the ability to scale solutions and accelerate program implementation.
From Argentina and Brazil to Mexico and Uruguay, LATAM participants engaged on a broad range of topics influencing today’s business environment and looking forward to opportunities ahead.
Stuart Thompson, President of the ABB Service Division, welcomed attendees and opened the Latin America event, highlighting regional growth and opportunities across utilities, data centers, renewable energy and within buildings. He spoke to the audience about ABB’s mission to bring safe, smart and sustainable electrification to customers and our continued focus on driving innovation and technology leadership, embedding sustainability in all activities. In delivering on these objectives, he emphasized ABB’s strong value set of courage, care, curiosity and collaboration, with integrity at the core.
Ralph Donati, Executive Vice President, U.S. and Latin America Region Leader for the ABB Installation Products Division, highlighted the company’s focus on technology, innovation and sustainability. He reinforced how important channel partners are to the value chain and that collaboration can drive solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges.
Highlights from the event include:
- Keynote speaker, Liliana Rojas-Suarez, an economist and director of the Latin America Initiative, gave an overview of significant developments and potential opportunities in the region.
- ABB Electrification division presidents shared their business and technology outlook for the Latin America market in 2024 during an interactive panel session. The leaders also outlined considerations for scaling technology, bridging the talent gap and integrating solutions to accelerate digital transformation in the region.
- Channel partners discussed the need for digitalization for distributors, customer engagement, strategic business planning and how generational change is impacting the workforce. Liliana Torres, Global Head of Marketing, ABB Service Division moderated the discussion with these business owners, as they illustrated their experiences and learnings and shared practical ideas and considerations for evolving organizations.
- Dori Abel, Head of Communications for ABB Installation Products, moderated a Tech Talk on Solutions for the Future with ABB experts, addressing strategies and trends for sustainability and digitalization. Panelists also shared their perspectives on electrifying critical infrastructure.
- Customers discussed their experience with ABB and highlighted the importance of digitalization, automation and developing sustainable infrastructure and services. Vicente Magana, M&S Mexico Leader, ABB Smart Buildings/Smart Power, talked with partners about solutions for the future, including enabling clean mobility, success stories and technologies for future-proof building, and following ABB’s Mission to Zero model to be a sustainable building.
- A panel, led by Eric Deschenes, Global Marketing & Sales Manager ABB Service Division, addressed the high-growth area of data centers and discussed the opportunities and electrification challenges in this vital segment. This is especially important given the region’s increased smartphone penetration and growth of technological industries.
- Alex Richert, Operations Leader for U.S. and Latin America, ABB Installation Products Division, provided insights on evolving sustainability requirements and factors driving innovation across a broad range of applications. He explained how ABB is helping customers identify energy savings potential and integrate diverse technologies and practices, from sourcing and manufacturing to distribution and installation. A key aspect of advancing sustainability is ABB’s circularity framework, which sets eight levers or KPIs across a product or solution’s life cycle. An important lever is sourcing, where ABB is pioneering new formulations and replacing traditional materials with recycled or biobased sustainable alternatives. Other levers include manufacturing, efficiency and end of life, where divisions are reusing waste, reducing energy use and reassigning materials to re-enter the use cycle. Through this approach, circularity optimizes finite resources and addresses risk by cutting waste, increasing recyclability and reusability, and making products more durable. ABB is committed to the goal that 80% of revenues be covered by the ABB circularity framework by 2030. He shared ABB sustainability resources and explained the use and value of independent Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), as well as ABB’s EcoSolutions™ labeling initiative, making it easy to link to a product’s circularity credentials, checklists and all relevant documentation through an on-package QR code.
- Stuart Thompson and Luis Torreblanca-Estrada, ABB Electrification Country Digital Leader for Mexico, discussed advancements in Artificial Intelligence and its role in industrial applications. Stuart also described ABB Ability™, which utilizes existing data from building systems combined with behavioral patterns to make micro-adjustments to systems with no human interactions. Luis presented an AI use case.
- Closing out the event, Vincent Hurel, Global Head of Distribution Channel, ABB Electrification, along with other ABB leaders, showcased examples of partner collaboration, recognizing essential solutions and projects implemented in Latin America. He stressed how collaboration is a core focus for ABB at every level. Integrating voice of the customer input and feedback informs our actions, guides our development of new solutions and enables us to deliver a more seamless customer experience.
Future-ready strategies for today and tomorrow
Digital technologies are making communications, data, transportation and energy systems around the world more connected, efficient, reliable and sustainable. In Latin America, modernization of systems and integrating advanced technologies will help ensure a more stable infrastructure, facilitate the integration of distributed energy resources and support the ability to deliver electricity when and where it is needed to improve efficiency.
Bringing together nearly 300 partners and ABB team members to spark ideas and prepare for the Latin America region's future was empowering. The gathering supports ABB’s objective to share expertise and equip partners with what they need to be successful and deliver in the market Through collaboration, ABB and our channel partners are playing a critical role in transforming distributed energy resources, supporting grid resiliency and infrastructure, and electrifying the world in safe, smart and sustainable ways.
