This change in leadership of the Australian operations signals a new growth phase. Australia offers exciting business challenges and opportunities for expansion in areas such as industrial digitalisation, renewable energy and transportation.
"The Fourth Industrial Revolution is driving seismic changes in industry, where we see global connectivity and machine learning will drive ever greater industrial efficiency and optimisation," said Tauno Heinola, Managing Director for ABB in Australia.
"ABB is at the heart of these industry developments, having been at the forefront of the digital revolution in industry for 40 years, developing and enhancing systems, sensors and software for the Internet of Things, Services and People.
"In Australia, providing intelligent solutions for energy transformation is a significant opportunity. The security of the energy supply comes from the smart technologies or control systems that are the 'brains' of our electricity networks, enabling seamless transitioning between energy sources - whether it is conventional or renewable.
"ABB is a pioneer of such technologies, and underpinned by its digital offering through ABB AbilityTM, can support Australia's drive for energy security and the integration of renewables into the power grid."
ABB also recently announced a far-reaching strategic partnership with Microsoft to develop next-generation digital solutions on an integrated cloud platform.
"We will have the insights and technology to create new and enhance existing end-to-end digital solutions that build on the intelligent cloud and close the loop with connected devices, and importantly, plan, build and operate unique digital offerings for customers which will deliver real operational differentiation for clients and stakeholders.
"I'm excited about the future and working closely with our customers to develop solutions that allow them to optimise the return on their power and automation investment through new technologies," added Tauno.
Mr Heinola has been a leader within ABB for more than 30 years, having founded ABB's Beijing Drive Systems in 1994, before being given responsibility for ABB's largest profit center in the drives business in 1998 based in Finland. He returned to China to lead the drives organisation in 2003, and in 2011 was appointed Managing Director of ABB Finland. Mr Heinola has a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Helsinki University of Technology.
