German Chancellor and Swedish PM visit ABB ‘factory of the future’ in Hannover

German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven were given a glimpse into the factory of the future by ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer

Mr Spiesshofer explained how a production cell would work in the factory of the future, where robots will collaborate with humans.

They were shown how two-armed YuMi robots together with single-armed YuMi put together wristwatches individually with unparalleled precision, using the transport system from ABB’s newly formed Robotics & Discrete Automation business.

“The future of production will be smarter, more flexible and closer to the customer,” said Mr Spiesshofer. “We bring together electrification, automation, robotics and digitalisation to create solutions for tomorrow.”

At this year’s Hannover Messe, ABB is showing how increasingly smart digital technologies are coming together to transform the way we power, produce, work, live and move.

As the official Hannover Messe partner country of 2019, Sweden is the focus of the world’s most important industrial fair, and ABB – established in 1988 from the merger of Sweden’s ASEA and Switzerland’s BBC – also looks with pride on its Swedish heritage.

Photo from right to left: Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor; Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden; Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO ABB; Bernd Althusmann, Economic Minister of Lower Saxony; Stefan Weil, Prime Minister Lower Saxony; Hans-Georg Krabbe, Managing Director Germany; Anja Karliczek, Federal Minister of Education and Research; Jacob Wallenberg, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors ABB.