ABB has secured an industrial IT order valued at approximately R2m which includes the supply, engineering and delivery of a millwide InformIT system, from the Sappi Saiccor Pulp Mill on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast. ABB said this order signifies the acceptance of new technologies by the South African market.
Sappi Saiccor's large installed base of ABB Open Control systems and their seamless integration with ABB's IndustrialIT products, were key factors in the customer's decision to award the contract to ABB. ABB's IndustrialIT product portfolio includes a suite of software for managing historical and real-time process and production information. The information will be presented on desktop computers throughout the pulp mill. It will enable management to make-up-to-the minute decisions regarding key operational factors influencing the pulping process. Sappi Saiccor will also use ABB's Inform IT to build a comprehensive model of the plant in order to track, predict and optimise control of the pulp quality. The project is on the fast track with full implementation by the end of September 2001.
A spokesperson from ABB said one of the best features of its IndustrialIT systems is its scalability. "These technologies will allow customers to make realistic responses to market opportunities."
The ABB Group has recently been awarded two major IndustrialIT contracts: one, a US$17m order for the installation of the process control and instrumentation system in the largest paper machine ever built by Papierfabrik Palm in Germany, and the other a 10-year automation systems contract by the Dow Chemical Company in the US for infusing the company's plants with a new generation of ABB's IndustrialIT technologies to link operations and enhance productivity.
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