Many of ABB products operate in a world with increased globalisation of processes and services that rely on the ability of people and goods to be moved. This ranges from goods being sent half way around the globe on a large ship to workers on their daily commute using buses, trains or electric cars.
For shipping companies, digital solutions are increasingly being used as a cost-effective way of improving efficiency while complying with environmental regulations. Tools such as on-board energy consumption visibility software and crew decision support systems are used to ensure that vessel crews make safe, efficient decisions while operating their vessels. As big data is embraced into daily operations, ship owners and operators are exploring how it can be used to monitor and support operations from onshore, centralised operation centres.
ABB is at the forefront of these developments in remote services for the marine industry, deploying advanced analytical solutions not just at equipment level, but also at system and fleet level. ABB has over 700 vessels currently connected to the ABB Ability™ Collaborative Operation Centres, with 200 under continuous monitoring.
The ABB Ability Marine Remote Diagnostic System offers preventive and continuous on-board monitoring of electrical systems with a 3 level service offering (troubleshoot, proactive and predictive). While ABB's Remote Diagnostics & Fleet Intelligence allows ship-owners to reduce on-call visits of service engineers up to 70 percent and maintenance costs up to 50 percent, all while increasing the safety and reliability through extended and predictive monitoring.
A number of ABB Ability offerings to drive sustainable transport will be showcased in Melbourne this year on 15 March at ABB Customer World 2018 - Australia. This free, premier event brings together local and global professionals from across industries to see the latest industrial technology and digital solutions.
Visitors to ACW will be able to explore how ABB Ability and service concept can add value to a broad range of industries. Being a true Internet of Things application, ABB Ability Collaborative Operations delivers performance management, remote monitoring and predictive analysis technologies to ensure safety and security, and improve operational efficiency and productivity across industries including the cement, chemicals, manufacturing, marine, metals, mining, oil & gas, ports, pulp & paper, power generation and water industries.
On the right track for rail
ABB is an integral player in building a sustainable mobility landscape with solutions to power all stages of sustainable mobility - railways, metro rail and flexible charging infrastructure for electric buses and cars.
Energy efficiency and energy storage are key sustainability drivers for rail transportation. ABB will showcase innovative technologies at ACW that will reduce our customers' energy costs while improving network stability and reliability.
Industry leading solutions to be highlighted include new compact converters and traction transformers that are lighter and more energy-efficient than their predecessors, and our new ENVILINE system, which recovers energy from a train as it brakes. Similar to the way that regenerative braking works in electric vehicles and hybrid cars, the ENVILINE can not only recoup power, but can store this electricity and feed it back to the train or to the grid - a groundbreaking development for energy storage in the rail industry.
Asset managers and performance engineers in today's rail industry are under pressure from all directions. At ACW, we will outline advanced software solutions to help the rail sector move from periodic and reactive maintenance to a predictive model that will increase asset availability and reduce service costs. This includes smart technology such as ABB Ability Asset Health CenterTM to help our trains will run on time and keep ticket costs low.
Should more power be required, then we have the innovative and intelligent solutions to achieve that end. ABB has recently installed a Static Frequency Converter application to upgrade a feeder station at the Wulkuraka rail depot in Brisbane, Australia, to ensure sufficient traction power supply and support Queensland Rail's expansion plans for its southeast region.
