ABB's new South African Digital Solutions Centre
Automation company ABB on September 9 unveiled its new South African Digital Solutions Centre, which aims to help companies across industries to overcome their most pressing technology and digitalisation challenges.
The centre, which is based at ABB’s Longmeadow facility, in Johannesburg, gives customers in the energy, mining and mineral resources, manufacturing, process industries, transportation and utilities sectors the opportunity to co-develop solutions that take advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalisation to unlock lasting business value.
The new centre is the only one of its kind in Africa, which ABB South Africa MD Shiven Sukraj said, during the virtual launch on Thursday, “represents a significant commitment to South Africa and the wider region as growth markets and an important customer base”.
ABB South Africa process industries local division manager John Manuell, meanwhile, commented that most industries and sectors were going through a rapid transformation that was being enabled by digital technologies.
“The South African Digital Solutions Centre strengthens our capacity to serve and support customers with technologies and capabilities that are key to the digital transformation of their operations,” he elaborated.
The Digital Solutions Centre was designed to help customers take major leaps in productivity and efficiency, driving competitiveness, quality and security through smart grid technology, electrification of all points of energy consumption and advanced automation solutions.
It offers customers the ability to experience ABB’s digital solutions, advanced automation and 24/7 control room solutions in a fully equipped environment, encountering and solving challenging real-life scenarios.
Remote support is another significant feature, with ABB Ability Remote Insights enabling customers to remotely connect with ABB’s global experts using a laptop, tablet or mobile.
This, ABB South Africa digital lead Kabeer Sewpersad said during the virtual tour, would help businesses save on maintenance costs, reduce downtime and increase safety in their operations.
“Remote access platform services allow experts to access plant data remotely to analyse equipment and plant behaviour and recommend corrective actions,” he said.
In a press release issued following the launch event, it was noted that the centre’s ‘mine of the future’ would be of particular interest to the country’s mining industry.
Management consultancy McKinsey estimates that mine digitalisation could save the mining industry $373-billion globally by 2025 by raising productivity, reducing waste and keeping mines safe.
The digital solutions presented at the centre are embedded under the ABB Ability MineOptimize portfolio, which provides mine operators with a suite of digitally connected solutions, products and collaborative services, to unify and optimise the lifecycle of a mine and ensure the right people have the right information at the right time.
Through the recently launched ABB Ability eMine portfolio, ABB brings together electrification, automation and digital technology “like no other company”, it stated.
By digitally connecting all solutions, they can be monitored and controlled to optimise operations and energy use in real time. The digital offering for Ability eMine is focused on four pillars – power and process control, power and energy management, electrical asset performance management and mine operations management.