Collaboration, growth mark Automation World

Guests enjoyed dinner while watching colorful and acrobatic circus-style performers at the opening reception of ABB’s 2007 Automation World in Orlando. The troupe wowed the large crowd with a vivid display of ornate costumes and graceful, athletic maneuvers that set the pace for a high energy week of collaboration.

By Jack Smith May 15, 2007

Guests enjoyed dinner while watching colorful and acrobatic circus-style performers at the opening reception of ABB’s 2007 Automation World in Orlando. The troupe wowed the large crowd with a vivid display of ornate costumes and graceful, athletic maneuvers that set the pace for a high energy week of collaboration.

With a record attendance of more than 2,400 customers, executives and partners from 38 different countries, Automation World, held March 19-22, lived up to its theme “Collaborate for Results.” ABB and its partners displayed products and services emphasizing collaboration in a 40,000 square foot exhibit hall.

The number of individual courses and hands-on workshops made choosing which one to attend difficult. This year, for the first time, ISA held one-day workshops, which included “Measurement & Control Fundamentals,” “Enterprise/Control Integration Using ISA-95,” “Ethernet & TCP/IP on the Plant Floor,” “Safety Instrumented Systems,” “Industrial Network Security” and Batch Control Using ISA 88.01.”

The event was seasoned with ABB’s excitement and celebration about its growth. ABB’s respectable first quarter 2007 growth was driven by continued strong market demand and operational improvements. Its first quarter net income rose 163% to $537 million from $204 million in the same period of 2006.

Fred Kindle, ABB president and CEO said all five divisions grew in every region. “Our operational improvements and global reach are paying off,” said “We are positioned to capture the strong worldwide demand for technologies to deliver reliable power, increase productivity and save energy,” he said.

Continued demand for improved power infrastructure across all regions — with particularly strong demand for transformers and substations — led the growth in Power Products and Power systems. The Automation Products division grew — especially motors and drives — in response to robust industrial markets, particularly in the metals and marine sectors. Low voltage drives contribute to this growth because of the small form factor and fractional horsepower offerings. DC drives are still alive and are seeing resurgent growth in the pulp and paper sector, a renewed sweet spot for ABB and its integrators.

General industry demands such as welding, stamping, metalworking, palletizing and pick-and-pack drove increased orders in the Robotics division. Affected by the automotive market downturn, it was not a record year for this division. Key technologies in the Robotics division continue to be vision, force control and safety.


Author Bio: Content manager, CFE Media