At its 2001 technology briefing held in Zurich during November 2001, ABB SA outlined the progress it had made to 'industrial IT-enable' its products and services. For the first time the company presented industrial-IT initiative in its entirety. ABB also reported in excess of US$65 million in related orders to date. 70 journalists from around the world attended the briefing, with a further 7000 watching the event live via webcast.
"We now have 800 products ready for level 0 certification (common information architecture)," said Markus Bayegan, ABB's Chief Technology Officer. "The concept is a pillar in ABB's growth strategy, and will drive our research and development going forward." Bayegan, also Head of ABB Group Research and Development, reinforced ABB's commitment to growing the industrial IT initiative, running through a selection of achievements and priorities.
Klaus Ragaller, Head of the Industrial IT Deployment Project, said ABB released a first group of industrial IT products at the end of 2000. The release of these so-called 'product suites' helps existing systems connect with new software packages. The additional connectivity allows for fast, easy information retrieval. A second larger set of products was rolled out this summer and another release is slated for the end of year. "We are making good progress, taking market shares in the industries we serve and challenging the ABB organisation to focus on a group-wide strategic initiative," said Ragaller. "This is only the tip of the iceberg - many good things are still to come."
Industrial IT - how it works
An industrial plant, factory or utility is typically made up of thousands of parts. Industrial IT is ABB's information architecture for ensuring that all the parts in those operations are linked together and integrated in realtime.
The basic idea behind ABB's industrial IT concept is to group all of a plant's information around the 'objects' involved in an operation. Objects can, for example, be installed equipment, such as robots, vessels, valves, transformers, switches, motors or drives. Objects can also be the plant's end products, like automobiles, pharmaceuticals or even electricity.
Industrial IT enables ABB customers to click on an object icon on a personal computer to call up a menu showing all the information connected to that object. This includes, but is not limited to, design drawings, control diagrams, maintenance information, location and quality information. These different pieces of information are called the 'aspects', or characteristics, of a particular object. A typical industrial plant might involve 50 000 or more objects, each with its own realtime aspects.
ABB's industrial IT architecture allows the user to manage thousands of enterprise objects and their associated characteristics much the way one would manage the file folders on a PC. Although aspect data may be stored in multiple platforms or applications, they are automatically linked to their parent object. This approach allows copy-and-paste deployment of all the information required to support a newly installed plant device, easier troubleshooting, and even interaction among the aspects from multiple devices to optimise the system in which they are working.
In addition to this powerful architecture, ABB's industrial IT commitment spans a growing portfolio of 'information enabled' products supplied with all aspect data in consistent electronic format. The company has initiated an internal testing and certification program to move thousands of products from ABB and selected partners toward compatible industrial IT enabled functionality.
The world's most powerful robot
ABB also took advantage of the technology briefing to launch what it claims is the world's most powerful robot. The IRB 7600 is the first in a range of power robots. It is available in three versions: one with a reach of 2,30 m and a maximum payload of 500 kg, the second with a reach of 2,55 m and a top payload of 400 kg and the third one with a reach of 3,5 m and a maximum payload of 150 kg.
The IRB 7600 has wrist torque - a key measure of strength - of 3,010 Nm, and a motor power of 86,6 kw, allowing the robot to handle such weighty items as car body sides, frames and engines.
ABB currently has an installed base of more than 94 000 robots worldwide, more than any other robot supplier.
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