Young students and senior employees were also rewarded. The event aimed to tell a story of growth in an environment of courage, trust and responsibility in which the Group recognizes the contributions of employees.
The ABB Frosinone factory, which supplies low-voltage circuit breakers for automation and building utility systems, opened its doors on September 14th to celebrate an unforgettable day with all its employees and their families.
The event saw the participation of around 3,000 guests and the presence of representatives of local institutions, and trade union organizations, bearing witness to the close links between the company and the local community.
Opened in 1969, the Frosinone factory represents a center of excellence in ABB Group for the design, development, and manufacture of low-voltage circuit breakers (molded case circuit breakers and air circuit breakers). The 150,000 square-meter facility with 800 employees is highly automated and produces around 2.5 million circuit breakers every year. Lean manufacturing has always been its specialty. Pieces are shipped from Frosinone, about 100 kilometers south of Rome, to over 100 countries in less than four days. Flexibility, lean production processes, capacity to efficiently and rapidly meet market demands, and process innovation are some of the most significant characteristics of this site.
"Frosinone site represents a story of success, resilience and great passion that combines a sense of ownership among our people and a strong innovative vocation," said Massimiliano Cifalitti, Hub Europe manager for ABB’s Smart Power, Electrification business. "This is an extraordinary moment, not the finish line. After 50 years of activity, the story continues along the path of sustainability, efficiency and safety, keeping our gaze focused on changes and new challenges without forgetting our roots."
The employees’ families, an important focal point of the day, were welcomed by a large group of employees who made themselves available for organizing the event. They were able to see first-hand the place where their relatives work, following guided tours of the production lines and quality control laboratories, along with a digital journey through the entire industrial area, from past to future.
There is a sense of corporate pride as ABB looks to the future by investing in young people while also considering the experience and contributions of those who have worked for many years in the company along the way. In this spirit, at the end of the day, the company wanted to reward the commitment and academic success of the students together with the company loyalty of the "senior" employees who have reached 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of contributions to ABB.
The plant’s journey toward Industry 4.0
The Frosinone site is a frontrunner in driving Industry 4.0, with the aim of promoting smart, digitalized and connected operations. In this sense, the company already has adopted some of the tools and technologies that in a few years will be common in production processes, such as big data analysis, collaborative robots, 3D printing and augmented reality, among others. Conceived as an incubator of innovation and a production system that evolves over time alongside emerging technologies and with research and innovation results, the Frosinone production site aims to become a model factory for Industry 4.0. Already a Lighthouse candidate under the National Industry 4.0 Plan–-which also has a goal of helping the growth of Italian business culture toward digitalization—the plant now intends to become an absolute reference for the ABB Group.
