ABB reorganizes business structure

By Staff -- Plant Engineering, 10/1/2005

ABB has announced a reorganization of its core business units in what the company says is a move to improve business operations.

The current two core divisions, Power Technologies and Automation Technologies, will be eliminated, and their respective business areas will become the new divisions as of January 1, 2006: Power Products (formerly the Power Technology Products business area), Power Systems (formerly the Power Technology Systems business area), Automation Products (as at present), Process Automation (as at present), and Robotics (formerly the Manufacturing Automation business area).

A new function at the group level, Global Markets and Technology, will help to drive execution of the strategy across national and regional borders.

"ABB today is in a strong position and we can look forward to sustainable and profitable growth," said Fred Kindle, ABB's president and CEO. "This is an evolution of our strategy, not a revolution. We remain focused on our core power and automation businesses. The strategy involves a balanced approach to value creation by widening our focus beyond growth to higher margins, greater return on capital, and cash generation."

The Power Products, Power Systems and Automation Products divisions will be headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. The Process Automation division will be based in Norwalk, CT and the Robotics division will be based in Shanghai, China.