ABB Germany is carrying out its biggest ABB Ability™ Energy and Asset Manager project through SPIE OSMO GmbH, a major plant construction company and electrical panel builder. OSMO is updating the technology of a major food and beverage processing facility, which will become the first in Germany to connect its energy management system to the cloud through an onsite ABB Ability™ Energy and Asset Manager solution from ABB.
The old switchgear in the facility, installed 25 years ago, had not been regularly maintained; but working closely with OSMO and its customer, ABB was able to deliver exactly the right system to transform the plant’s low-voltage infrastructure into an advanced, digital network of switchboards.
OSMO is in the process of installing 14 switchboards, with more than 150 cloud-connected ABB Ability™ Energy and Asset Manager devices to manage energy in the plant and enable predictive maintenance. With the ABB Ability™ Energy and Asset Manager cloud connection, maintenance will be carried out only when and where it will be needed instead of on a predetermined schedule, reducing unnecessary inspection and maintenance trips and allowing components to last longer. These features can reduce operational and maintenance costs by up to 30 percent as well as reducing downtime.
The energy management function of ABB Ability™ Energy and Asset Manager optimizes energy usage, identifies failure points and improves processes. When connected to the ABB AbilityTM cloud platform, the system permits engineers to monitor and manage the condition and performance of switchgears anytime and from any place on their laptops, tablets or smartphone to determine exactly when maintenance is needed.
Especially in difficult conditions when in-person access to equipment may be limited, remote monitoring can be crucial for offsite maintenance crews. Furthermore, using remote technology saves travel time and reduces unplanned downtime by speeding the diagnosis of issues and quickly implementing solutions.
Marcel Luttmann, plant designer / technician at SPIE OSMO GmbH said: "Through simple programming, the customer has a very versatile system, from building control technology, to the monitoring of the power flow. They receive an alarm when faults occur and can plan intelligent maintenance to avoid new faults. Especially in switchgear construction, this saves a lot of wiring effort and is also very easy to parameterize. It is easy to connect the devices and the whole system to the Ability™ cloud to harness this added value. We plan to continue using this system in the future, especially now that maintenance and support of the system is in our hands.”
Prior to the ABB Ability™ Energy and Asset Manager installation work, ABB Product Marketing Specialist Nico Torfels trained OSMO on the system. During 2021, training will take place at the plant with the manufacturer’s personnel, OSMO and ABB so that employees will be able to use ABB Ability™ Energy and Asset Manager intuitively.
“By furnishing new, digital low-voltage distribution systems, ABB was able to provide OSMO’s customer with a simple and very flexible solution for energy and asset management,” said Torfels. “The factory had hardly carried out any preventive maintenance before, but now alarms notify staff via email and SMS of any issues, preventing long production downtimes.”
The ABB Ability™ cloud platform delivers a safer, smarter, more sustainable electrical infrastructure by providing data-driven insights that reduce costs, increase comfort and drive efficiency.
