Today, the dream is shining into reality. ABB and Norwegian state oil company Statoil have launched a five-year JIP cooperation project to jointly build future submarine transmission technologies. The ABB factory is providing technical support for this ambitious future scenario.
ABB's Swiss factory is widely distributed around Zurich, in the town of Turgi near Zurich, where the ABB excitation plant is located, as well as a factory for transmission power electronic tests.
During the visit, in addition to participating in the submarine power transmission, the technical person in charge of the Turgi factory told the First Financial reporter that ABB is also developing and manufacturing custom traction transmission equipment at the Turchi factory to meet the special specifications of the new Allegra train. 'Now, trains can drive from Chur to Poschiavo without having to replace the power unit, which was not possible in the past.' The technical director added.
The Turgi factory is just a microcosm of the future of industrial giant ABB.
When you think that automation has completely reshaped the industry, come to ABB's future factory tailored to WANDER, the famous food brand Avatar, and you will find that ABB actually goes further.
Man, machine, future
In traditional memories, the noise associated with the operation of the machine, the workers standing next to the assembly line, and the unpleasant odor in the workshop are all common impressions of the factory. However, when the First Financial reporter came to the above-mentioned factory in the future, Seen another scene. In the spacious factory, only sporadic workers touched the computer screen in front of the worktable or operated the buttons on the workbench from time to time. Even in the production workshop, only the faint sound of the machine's rotation was heard. Here, The concept of the factory is being redefined: Technology is reshaping every link in the manufacturing process, a robot completes all the world of manual labor.
More powerful, more flexible technologies are accelerating the development of fully automated production facilities in the food processing industry, and what is reflected in the future is some form of future industry: In this smart, connected factory, the production line is equipped with sensors. , Acquire data related to products and equipment in each stage of the production process. The factory software manages all sensor and customer data, monitors equipment status in real time, makes decisions, and controls the machine, making it part of an ever-optimizing, self-healing environment.
For future factories, robots are the most important labor productivity. How to systemize and efficiently manage smart factories. The WANDER board member Theo Schmid told CBN reporters that ABB offers an option to choose from: All equipment - from production and processing equipment to unmanned trucks to warehouse equipment - is operated by computer-controlled robots. Technicians monitor the activities of these machines through a central control system.
Once workshop-style polishing is the highest criterion for people's evaluation of food quality. However, the escalating level of automation and intelligence is reshaping this perception. As we visited, five workers were the first financial reporters to count down. The number of workers, for a plant with a total area of more than 1,000 square meters, the decline in the number of labor is very obvious.
Here, process construction is performed in real time, production is extremely flexible, and automation is realized throughout the entire value chain from order to delivery. Production can be remotely monitored, customer orders and production can be handled automatically, and product manufacturing and distribution processes can be traced throughout: The two-dimensional code gives the product a unique identification, tracking the entire product from the factory to the installation site. Before leaving the factory, all products must undergo 100% automatic detection, strictly guaranteeing product quality.
However, the drastic drop in the number of labor does not mean that humanity will disappear completely in the production line. The First Financial Reporter found that in each factory floor, the paperless office is not fully implemented, and each one can be seen on the assembly line. The forms can still be seen.
Schmid told CBC reporters that although the number of laborers has dropped dramatically, people still play a key role in the entire production line. 'Every day's huge workload is done on the production line through automated means. If one of these links is misaligned, Then the quality of the follow-up work can not be guaranteed, so in order to ensure quality, workers are the last line of defense. 'Schmid added.
For this reason, Gu Chunyuan, president of ABB Asia, Middle East and Africa, told the First Financial reporter that manpower is still indispensable on the production line for the foreseeable future. From this perspective, the robots on these production lines are not replaced Workers, instead, become more of their 'colleagues', the so-called 'Cobot' than the 'Robot'.
technical foundation
The smart factory is only a microcosm of technological progress, and the underlying technology precipitates behind the support of the smart factory's efficient operation.
ABB Global CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer thinks ABB should focus on one area - and this area should be the core part of the enterprise. And technology is the only factor that can make these different areas closely linked, including electronic Electricity, material science and digitalization, and back office services. 'If you have both scale and technology, then your product will be very competitive.' Spiffer told the First Financial reporter.
Gu Chunyuan told the First Financial Reporter that the modernization and intelligence of the factory is the first to change the status quo of various discrete equipments such as 'island'. 'This requires a platform to understand the data needed to collect the plant to inspire them.' Gu Chunyuan said The "upload release" of this information data obviously cannot leave the semiconductor component.
Come to the ABB semiconductor plant in Lenzburg, Switzerland. If there is no prior warning, if you are in the factory floor, we think we are in the surgery room: In the factory workshop full of futuristic feeling, the frequently waving robot arm runs at high speed. Semiconductor production lines, a handful of engineers shuttled inside the huge factory floor, entered, recorded and confirmed on different operating displays.
The Randburg plant has a ten-stage purification plant, which means that there cannot be more than 10 dusts with a diameter of less than 0.0005 mm per cubic meter. ABB Switzerland’s senior technical sales expert told the First Financial reporter: “For semiconductors, The less particles, the better, because any particle can mean a defect. The semiconductor is the darkroom imaging. I believe photographers can easily understand this thing. For example, if there is something on your face, you have a A 0.5-centimeter point will come out on your photo, which is a defect for the chip. That's why the semiconductor is made in a clean room.
As we all know, power semiconductor components play an important role in low-loss power transmission. Semiconductor components are often used in power supply systems, transportation industries and industries to realize long-distance power transmission, railway traction drive systems, and data center uninterruptible power systems.
The entire semiconductor market is like a pyramid. At the bottom is the mobile phone charger market. At the top, it is used for high-voltage direct current. The technical requirements are extremely demanding. In the view of ABB executives, this laid the foundation for its market in China, ABB and China's high-speed rail. With cooperation, the frequency conversion function of semiconductors on high-speed rails is the secret that passengers do not feel the acceleration caused by the train when they start.