ABB offers customized digital tools and start-up service as world gets back to work

ABB is offering “customized digital tools and start-up services” as the world gets back to work after weeks and months of lockdown as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

ABB says it is offering a “support package” to help restart production lines to support customers’ resumption of operations.

ABB’s Robotics and Discrete Automation business has launched a special package of digital solutions as well as virtual and field service support initiatives to help businesses restart production lines that may have been idle for weeks or months during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As well as helping customers to troubleshoot and fix issues related to robots and operations lying dormant, the offer includes several ABB digital tools to help customers optimize processes and be more proactive in maintenance activities, which will help reduce costs in both maintenance and production areas.

The company is also supporting its customers with a virtual consultation and audit to help identify issues and support needed and delivery of spare parts to ensure customers have the correct part in stock for a quick and effective restart to production and to minimize risks in the restart process.

Alternatively, old controllers or manipulators can be upgraded to extend the life of installed robots.

Sami Atiya, president of ABB’s Robotics and Discrete Automation business, says: “As manufacturing and production begins to ramp up, we want to ensure the restart is as smooth and efficient as possible.

“In addition to virtual training, field service teams and spare parts, we can help customers remotely monitor, troubleshoot and optimize entire robot fleets via ABB Ability Connected Services.

“Our digital solutions and tools can help to ensure maximum performance and avoid unplanned downtime during this critical period for the world economy.”

ABB Ability Connected Services is ABB’s remote services offering, monitoring the health and performance of more than 9,000 robots in over 1,000 factories worldwide, according to the company’s figures.

It enables customers to securely integrate and aggregate their data, apply predictive analytics and generate insights to help drive performance and productivity improvements.

All OmniCore-enabled ABB robots come ready to be connected to ABB Ability Connected Services, wirelessly or hard wired, while older robots can be retrofitted with a Service Box to access connected services.

ABB is offering a number of tools and services, including:

• condition monitoring and diagnostics, asset optimization service;
• web-based training on robot programming;
• RobotStudio;
• spare part and worn part packages;
• field service maintenance packages including preventative maintenance, virtual tech support and Inspection during warranty; and
• upgrade of old controller or manipulator.