IT in Manufacturing


Predictive asset performance management with ABB Ability Genix

November 2024 IT in Manufacturing

In today’s industrial processes, assets are fundamental to keeping the production cycle going, avoiding unplanned shutdowns and ensuring strategic business outcomes. Managing and maintaining these assets dictates the efficiency of industrial operations and meeting customer needs. With digitalisation, asset performance management (APM) is moving away from traditional time-based maintenance approaches, which can lead to high costs, low output, unplanned work, safety risks, environmental damage, regulatory issues and energy inefficiencies.

The ABB Ability Genix APM suite is a comprehensive asset management platform powered by AI, IIoT and model-based predictive data analytics. This enables a paradigm shift towards a more proactive and predictive asset management approach.

Maximising performance, minimising failures

Data is at the heart of APM. Access to data on operational systems (OT), information technology (IT), and engineering technology (ET) is helping industries such as oil and gas, refining, and power generation to monitor their critical assets proactively.

By applying this data-driven approach, the Genix APM suite leverages advanced analytics and predictive algorithms. It provides insights into asset health, identifies potential issues or failures, and recommends proactive measures to avert unplanned downtime, thereby establishing a culture of reliability.


Charles Blackbeard, business development manager, ABB Ability Digital Solutions.

Furthermore, it reduces maintenance costs and wastage, optimises energy usage and helps enterprises meet their business and sustainability targets. It also engenders greater confidence among plant operators to act proactively based on actionable insights in order to avoid production incidents.

Lack of visibility across assets can give rise to risk exposure and potential costs. The Genix APM suite begins with an initial event – such as a process upset or asset degradation – that triggers the implementation of protective measures to prevent further failures. These measures start with rules-based monitoring, ranging from simple sensor alerts to more complex conditional statements based on multiple sensors.

Genix APM also includes various risk and predictive analysis models. These include Predictive System and Analytics, which integrates technologies into a unified APM solution for the process automation industry, while facilitating predictive maintenance by contextualising OT, ET and IT data.

Furthermore, Genix APM goes beyond routine-based predictive maintenance schedules and equipment condition monitoring while giving role-specific actionable insights, thereby helping tactical decision making. Efficient asset maintenance based on real-time data reduces maintenance costs by more than 15% and downtime in industrial contexts by more than 5%.

Ensuring safety and higher productivity

Genix APM plays a key role in ensuring safety and helping reduce energy usage by providing data on asset utilisation and enabling plant operators to prioritise and optimise productivity. It has been implemented across various industries worldwide.

Norwegian oil and gas producer OKEA has a MoU with ABB to deploy digital solutions that help drive smarter, safer and sustainable operations. As part of the MoU, signed in 2019, OKEA has been leveraging ABB’s digital offerings, including APM.

Strong domain expertise

ABB is a pioneer in automation, electrification and digital solutions, and is making a world of difference in enhancing asset performance and extending asset lifespan. In July 2024, ABB was recognised as a leading provider of APM solutions based upon the Genix suite, by Verdantix. This research firm, which evaluates software suppliers across 18 capability areas and nine strategic success factors, placed ABB in the Leaders quadrant for its advanced functionality and strategic advantages offered by its solutions.

As production processes become more complex, evolving towards a more proactive and predictive APM is welcome; and collaborating with a leading solution provider like ABB will help achieve operational excellence and optimise productivity.

For more information contact ABB South Africa, +27 10 202 5105, [email protected], www.abb.com/za


Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

Sustainable energy management
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Utilising its innovative ONE approach technology, Siemens provides complete transparency on resource consumption and offers data-driven optimisation recommendations for sustainable energy management.

Read more...
Paving the way for a carbon-neutral future in South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
At ABB Electrification, we believe the infrastructure of the future must do more than support daily operations, it must anticipate them. We are committed to building intelligent systems that connect and optimise infrastructure across sectors.

Read more...
Africa’s hidden AI advantage
IT in Manufacturing
Through my work implementing AI systems across three continents, I’ve become convinced that Africa’s unique context demands urgent AI adoption. Successful implementation requires local expertise to understand resource constraints as design parameters to create the innovations that make technology truly work under real-world conditions.

Read more...
Siemens Xcelerator empowers space-tech pioneer, Skyroot Aerospace
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Siemens Digital Industries Software has announced that Skyroot Aerospace, a leading private space launch service company in India, has adopted Polarion software from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio to digitally transform its software development processes and enhance efficiency as it aims to accelerate access to space for its customers worldwide.

Read more...
Water is running out, is your ESG strategy ready?
IT in Manufacturing
Water is one of the most critical yet undervalued resources in modern business. Water stewardship asks businesses to understand their water footprint across the entire value chain and to engage with others who share the same water resources.

Read more...
Cybersecurity in 2025: Six trends to watch
Rockwell Automation IT in Manufacturing
Rockwell Automation’s 10th State of Smart Manufacturing report finds that cybersecurity risks are a major, ever-present obstacle, and are now the third-largest impediment to growth in the next 12 months.

Read more...
The state of the smart buildings market in 2025
IT in Manufacturing
Smart buildings are entering a transformative phase, driven by sustainability goals, technological innovation and evolving user expectations. According to ABI Research’s latest whitepaper, the sector is undergoing a strategic overhaul across key areas like retrofitting, energy efficiency, data-driven operations and smart campus development.

Read more...
Digital twin for Bavaria’s National Theatre
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Siemens and the Bavarian State Opera are digitalising the acoustics in Bavaria’s National Theatre in Munich, Germany. The result is a digital twin that simulates sound effects, orchestral setups and venue configurations in a realistic 3D acoustic model so that musicians, the director and conductors can assess a concert hall’s acoustics even before the first rehearsal.

Read more...
How AI can help solve South Africa’s water crisis
IT in Manufacturing
Climate change, ageing infrastructure, pollution and unequal access are putting intense pressure on the country’s water systems. A powerful question arises: “Can artificial intelligence help us change course?”

Read more...
Backup has evolved, but has your strategy?
IT in Manufacturing
With cyber threats rising and compliance standards tightening, South African organisations are under growing pressure to revisit their data protection strategies. The era of treating backups as a box-ticking exercise is over.

Read more...









While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.




© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved