Claudio Facchin, Executive Committee member, Head of Power Grids Business, ABB Group, was invited to attend the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of Chongqing Mayor’s International Economic Advisory Council (CMIA) today, sharing his insights on how ABB‘s power and digital solutions could support Chongqing to build an international trade logistic hub. This is the fourteenth time that ABB presented at the annual meeting since it was established in 2006.
As a strategic area for Western China’s development and a key intersection between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Chongqing is uniquely positioned to drive regional prosperity by creating an international trade logistics hub. In his report titled “Building a world-class, electrified, intelligent and sustainable logistics hub in Chongqing”, Claudio Facchin gave detailed elaboration.
During the presentation, he pointed out, “Chongqing has great geographic advantages, integrated transportation system and solid industrial base, which will greatly help develop itself into an inland international logistics hub, an ‘inland port highland’ and an ‘inland open highland’. The wide deployment of digital techonologies will support Chongqing to realize its development goals and effectively help it respond to new challenges, such as the booming parcels’ market, labor shortages, greater demand for port automation, and increased environmental risks in port areas.”
During the meeting, Claudio provided case studies covering five topics: smart logistics, port automation, shore-to-ship solutions, digitalization of customs administrative processes and sustainable public transportation. These case studies represent international best practices and lessons learned from ABB’s own business operations.
In traditional logistics sector, the e-commerce revolution and its reliance on parcel delivery are imposing increasing pressure to the industry across the world. Furthermore, Chongqing’s workforce has decreased in size, given the shortage of qualified workers and the rising cost of labor. Driven by rapid technological development, robotics solutions are being deployed by the logistics industry, to enhance productivity and realize zero-defect processes. ABB’s smart order distribution system for fruits and vegetables incorporates de-palletizing robots and distribution robots, which can handle 1,800 order lines per hour, supplying around 500 shops in the Netherlands. Looking forward, robots will become faster, more accurate, more flexible and more cost-effective, thanks to progress in the development of sensor and deep-learning technologies.
Guoyuan Port, situated in Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area, is expected to become the first fully automated terminal on the upper reaches of the Yangtze. Terminals around the world are now re-gearing their yards to deliver the highly efficient operations required to properly serve today’s megaships. ABB has a strong track record when it comes to upgrade terminals for port automation. In 2015, Panama’s Manzanillo International Terminal (MIT) added six automatic cantilever stacking cranes to its existing RTG operation and largely increased productivity. The stacking cranes, which represent only 8 percent of their total fleet, performed 25 percent of all the moves in their entire operation. Today, many stacking cranes being equipped with ABB’s automation and remote supervision solution are operating in the main global terminals. Automated cantilever stacking cranes such as these are the preferred yard equipment for high-productivity terminals.
At the same time, high levels of air pollution are usually found in and around major ports because ships often use diesel generators to produce electricity while docked. This practice generates significant emissions and noise. while investing in green power solution will not only drive long-term benefits, especially in terms of enabling a more sustainable and reliable power supply, but also will reduce environmental impacts for local communities. The Dalian Container Port terminal chose ABB’s shore-to-ship power solution, which enables vessels to plug into onshore power supply and switch off engines, eliminating carbon emissions as well as noise and vibrations when at berth.
In addition, ABB provides a wide range of products and solutions in sustainable electric mobility, including charging technologies for electric cars, buses and trucks, as well as the electrification of ships, railways and cable cars. ABB’s TOSA e-bus solution is now successfully running in Geneva, Switzerland, taking only seconds to charge a bus with ABB’s flash-charging technology and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 1,000 tons per year.
Chongqing has been a key R&D and manufacturing base for ABB in China since 1998, when the first joint venture established here. Now the city is home to ABB Transformer Co., Ltd. and Chongqing ABB Jiangjin Turbo Systems Co., Ltd., in addition to a comprehensive ABB regional service hub and an engineering center, with a complete sales and service network.
In the future, ABB Transformer Co., Ltd. will relocate to Chongqing’s Liangjiang New Area according to an agreement signed with Chongqing Municipal Government in July 2019. As one of the largest global R&D and manufacturing bases for ABB, the Company has participated in many major projects in China, including the Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze River, Beijing Olympic Games, Shanghai Expo and Changji-Guquan, the world’s first ±1,100 kV UHVDC transmission link with a new world record on voltage level, transmission capacity and distance. Furthermore, the products of the factory have been exported to 19 overseas markets, such as Singapore, Laos, and Australia.
ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a technology leader that is driving the digital transformation of industries. With a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB has four customer-focused, globally leading businesses: Electrification, Industrial Automation, Motion, and Robotics & Discrete Automation, supported by the ABB Ability™ digital platform. ABB’s Power Grids business will be divested to Hitachi in 2020. 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 near 20,000 employees located in more than 130 cities, 44 local companies, and online and offline channels across around 700 cities. www.abb.com
