ABB is a multinational corporation headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, operating mainly in
robotics and the power and automation technology areas.
It ranked 158th in the Forbes Ranking.
ABB is one of the largest engineering companies as well as one of the largest conglomerates
in the world.
ABB has operations in around 100 countries, with approximately 150,000 employees in November
2013, and reported global revenue of $40 billion for 2011.
ABB is traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zürich and the Stockholm Stock Exchange in
Sweden since 1999, the New York Stock Exchange in the United States since 2001, September
2005 on London Stock Exchange and in November 2005 on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
History
ABB resulted from the 1988 merger of the Swedish corporation Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget
and the Swiss company Brown, Boveri & Cie; the latter had absorbed the Maschinenfabrik
Oerlikon in 1967.
CEO at the time of the merger was the former CEO of ASEA, Percy Barnevik, who ran the company
until 1996.
ABB's history goes back to the late 19th century.
ASEA was incorporated by Ludwig Fredholm in 1883 and Brown, Boveri & Cie was formed in
1891 in Baden, Switzerland, by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri as a Swiss
group of electrical companies producing AC and DC motors, generators, steam turbines
and transformers.
Organizational structure ABB is the world's largest builder of electricity
grids and is active in many sectors, its core businesses being in power and automation technologies.
The company has one corporate division and five production divisions since reorganisation
in January 2010.
ABB is one of the few large companies that have successfully implemented the matrix structure
in their organization.
Corporate and Other The Corporate and Other department of ABB
deals with the overall management and functioning of the company as well as asset management
and investment.
It supports MNCs.
Discrete Automation and Motion The division Discrete Automation and Motion
provides products and services for industrial production.
It includes electric motors, generators, drives, programmable logic controllers, analytical,
power electronics and industrial robots.
ABB has installed over 200,000 robots.
In 2006, ABB opened a manufacturing centre in Shanghai, China.
Also, wind generator, solar power inverter, UPS products belong to this division.
Low Voltage Products The Low Voltage Products division manufactures
low-voltage circuit breakers, switches, control products, wiring accessories, enclosures and
cable systems to protect people, installations and electronic equipment from electrical overload.
The division further makes KNX systems that integrate and automate a building's electrical
installations, ventilation systems, and security and data communication networks.
Low Voltage Products also incorporates a Low Voltage Systems unit manufacturing low voltage
switchgear and motor control centres.
Customers include a wide range of industry and utility operations, plus commercial and
residential buildings.
Power Products Power products are the key components for
the transmission and distribution of electricity.
The division incorporates ABB's manufacturing network for transformers, switchgear, circuit
breakers, cables, and associated high voltage and medium voltage equipment such as digital
protective relays.
It also offers maintenance services.
The division is subdivided into three business units - High Voltage Products, Medium Voltage
Products and Transformers. Power Systems
Power Systems offers turnkey systems and service for power transmission and distribution grids,
and for power plants.
Electrical substations and substation automation systems are key areas.
Additional highlights include flexible AC transmission systems, high-voltage direct
current systems and network management systems.
In power generation, Power Systems offers the instrumentation, control and electrification
of power plants.
The division is subdivided into four business units - Grid Systems, Substations, Network
Management, and Power Generation.
Process Automation The main focus of this ABB business is to
provide customers with systems for control, plant optimization, and industry-specific
automation applications.
The industries served include oil and gas, power, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, pulp
and paper, metals and minerals, marine and turbocharging.
By 2014, PA will consist of Six business units: Turbocharging, Marine, Control Technology
Measurement Products & Services, and Industrial Solutions.
Corporate affairs In 1990, ABB purchased Westinghouse's metering
and control division.
Also, in the early 1990s, ABB purchased Combustion Engineering, headquartered in Stamford and
Norwalk, Connecticut, a leading U.S. firm in the development of conventional fossil
fuel power and nuclear power supply systems to break into the North American market.
Klaus Agthe was CEO of the US operation at the time.
Continuing with its expansion plans, ABB purchased Elsag Bailey, a process automation group,
in 1997 which included Bailey Controls, Hartmann & Braun, and Fischer & Porter.
This was the largest acquisition to date in ABB's history.
ABB bought International Combustion Ltd from Rolls-Royce in 1997.
ABB's boiler and fossil fuel businesses were purchased by Alstom in 2000, and its nuclear
business was purchased by Westinghouse Electric Company in 2000.
In 2000, ABB also signed a contract for the delivery of equipment and services for two
North Korean nuclear powerplants to be supplied under an agreement with the Korean Peninsula
Energy Development Organization, a consortium formed in 1995 by the governments of the United
States, Japan, South Korea and the European Union.
ABB formally divested from a joint venture named ABB-Alstom Power in 2000, and sold its
interest in conventional power generation systems to Alstom Power.
ABB's nuclear business was sold to BNFL and merged into Westinghouse Electric Company.
In 2001, ABB was ranked as number one on the Dow Jones corporate sustainability index for
the third year in a row.
In 2002, ABB asked Lindahl, the company's former chief executive, to return some of
his $50 million retirement pay, which its board called excessive.
ABB also asked its former chairman Percy Barnevik to pay back part of his $87 million pension
package.
The size of the pensions was disclosed at the same time as ABB's $691 million net loss
for 2001 made headlines and drew sharp criticism in Switzerland and Sweden.
ABB's Building Systems business unit was sold off in 2004 to Capvis, a Swiss private equity
company, as part of ABB's strategy to focus on power and automation technologies.
ABB's building systems businesses in Australia and Hong Kong were sold off the year before,
in May 2003, to Downer EDI Limited.
Building Systems provided services for building facilities encompassing indoor air quality,
building automation as well as power distribution and management.
Financial debt and lingering asbestos liability brought ABB to the brink of bankruptcy in
the early 2000s.
In 2006, ABB returned to financial health by settling its asbestos liability regarding
claims that were filed against ABB's U.S. subsidiaries, Combustion Engineering and Lummus
Global.
In August 2007 Lummus Global was sold to CB&I.
In December 2008, ABB acquired Ber-Mac Electrical and Instrumentation to expand its presence
in western Canada's oil and gas industries.
Ber-Mac Electrical and Instrumentation has been in the business of supplying electrical
power and instrumentation equipment and services, both domestically and to international markets
since 1980.
Ber-Mac provides its clients with expertise in industrial automation, electrical and instrumentation
design, process optimization, panel fabrication and field services.
It is particularly strong in the Oil & Gas industry.
Ber-Mac’s value proposition in engineering expertise and service capabilities is highly
respected throughout Western Canada, this was a key factor in ABB’s decision to acquire
the firm.
This acquisition significantly expanded ABB’s presence in Western Canada to more than 760
employees in over 20 locations.
In 2009, ABB realigned its automation divisions to enhance growth opportunities.
As of January 1, 2010, the business units in the Automation Products and Robotics divisions
were regrouped into two new divisions – Discrete Automation and Motion, and Low Voltage Products.
The Process Automation division remained unchanged except for the addition of the instrumentation
business from the Automation Products division.
In May 2010, ABB acquired software company Ventyx for more than $1 billion from Vista
Equity Partners.
In 2011, on May 9 ABB announced acquisition of Australian-based Mincom Limited from private
equity firm Francisco Partners - to expand their enterprise software business for undisclosed
sum.
On July 29, 2011, acquisition has been finalised.
Mincom is now Ventyx.
In 2011 ABB acquired Baldor Electric USA for $4.2 billion in an all-cash transaction
On January 30, 2012, ABB Group acquired Thomas & Betts in a $3.9 billion cash transaction.
On June 15, 2012, ABB completed acquisition of commercial and industrial wireless technology
specialists Tropos.
In July 2013, ABB acquired Power-One in a $1 billion all-cash transaction, to become
the leading global manufacturer of solar inverters [1].
Other In May 2013, ABB Sécheron SA joined with
several groups in Geneva in a one-year demonstration of a trolleybus route using a novel charging
system.
Rather than overhead wires, charging is accomplished by fixed overhead devices located at stops
along the route and at the terminus.
Jean-Luc Favre, head of Rail ISI, discussed the promising role of improved electric transport
technology in ABB.
Management On June 17, 2013, the Board of Directors of
ABB Ltd. announced the appointment of Ulrich Spiesshofer as Chief Executive Officer after
the surprise resignation of Joe Hogan for personal reasons.
Former CEOs: September 2008– May 2013: Joe Hogan
February 2008 - September 2008: Michel Demaré - ad interim
January 2005 - February 2008: Fred Kindle September 2002 - December 2004: Jürgen Dormann
January 2001 - September 2002: Jörgen Centerman January 1997 - December 2000: Göran Lindahl
1987-1996: Percy Barnevik Chairman of the Board
The Board of Directors is chaired by Hubertus von Grünberg.
He took over the position in May 2007, following the retirement of Jürgen Dormann, who had
chaired the board since 2002.
Former Board Members: Peter Sutherland
Donald Rumsfeld Primary investors
The largest single stake in the firm is held by the Swedish investment company Investor
AB, controlled by the Wallenberg family, which holds 8.3%.
Main competitors Legrand
FEMI-CZ Havells
LayerZero Power Systems GM Modular Switches
See also ASEA
Brown, Boveri & Cie Combustion Engineering
List of conglomerates Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon
Stromberg References
Further reading ABB: The Dormann Letters, Jürgen Dormann/ABB
Group, Zurich Bélanger, Jacques et al.: Being local worldwide:
ABB and the challenge of global management, Cornell University Press, New York.
ISBN 0-8014-3650-8 Kevin Barham, Claudia Heimer: ABB: the dancing
giant – creating the globally connected corporation.
Financial Times, London.
ISBN 0-273-62861-5 External links
Official website ABB Robotics YouTube channel
ABB Sécheron SA