The £47 million a year UK market for high performance machinery drives is to be tackled by a new team at ABB. The market represents 37% of the total UK AC variable speed drives sales and is one that, until now, ABB has not participated in.
“ABB is entering the world of high performance servo drives for the first time,” comments Steve Ruddell, general manager, drives and motors. “This is the fastest growing sector of the variable speed drives market and our plan is to take 10% market share by the end of 2010.”
The team, led by Graham Barlow and including Gary Busby and Steve Moore, will be in charge of a market segment growing by an estimated 5% annually.
ABB is the market leader in standard AC drives with a market share of 17% worldwide, 5% ahead of its nearest rival. Its position in the UK is even stronger, with nearly 22% of the total market, almost twice that of its nearest rival.
“Defining the market can be a challenge,” says Graham Barlow. “Drives in this sector can be referred to as “intelligent” drives, “smart” drives or “servo” drives. Intelligent drives are defined in the marketplace as having built-in motion control capability. They can be high end drives featuring complex functions such as synchronization between multiple axes or low end drives used for basic positioning.
“Meanwhile, smart drives are defined as those drives having a built-in PLC. Then there is the servo drive which, while accurate and dynamic, may not necessarily be “smart” or “intelligent” depending on its functionality within a machine system.
“What we are bringing to the market is a new category called a machinery drive. It is one that attempts to combine all of the above into a true universal solution. The term “machinery drive” has been coined for this new drives category. And the recent launch of a new range of AC drives by ABB, the so-called “high performance machinery drives”, is indicative of a shift in the drives market.
The main features of such a drive include:
Dynamic
extremely rapid changes in speed and direction
Accurate
follows precisely the demanded changes in speed and direction
Flexible
has supporting functions such as:
Basic position control
Advanced motion control including multi-axis synchronization
PLC (Programmable Logic Control)
Serial communications to overriding process control
Drives any type of AC motor
Uses a variety of feedback speed/position devices
“The approach for tackling this market is similar to the one we used when breaking into the HVAC and food & beverage sectors,” says Ruddell.
“We put in a dedicated team of skilled and knowledgeable individuals, gave it the resources needed and then went after the market. Within two years, we had achieved our targets. For high performance machinery drives the target is to achieve 10% market share by the end of 2010. This market is currently dominated by companies such as Control Techniques and Lenze, who we are now planning to give a run for their money.”
“Our market research shows that system integrators and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) want to deal with suppliers that can fulfil all their needs rather than just supplying one component. With our extensive product portfolio and our depth of expertise, I believe we are very well placed to meet this demand,” says Graham Barlow.
Complementing the ABB in-house team will be a network of approved system integrators who can provide ready-made solutions and support with all the ancillary components needed to make an effective servo system.
The initiative is supported by the launch of the dedicated ABB machinery drive which is aimed at demanding applications such as cutting, slitting and winding in the paper industry; injection moulding in the plastics and rubber industry; cranes and lifting equipment; park rides and theatre machinery; and machinery for textiles manufacturing and wire drawing.
“With our new product we are offering the market something that is new and different. With our many other products, we can offer OEMs and system builders a complete package. The servo drives market is the fastest growing segment of the drives market and the UK market is the third largest in Europe, behind Germany and Italy. This is a market we want to be a part of,” Ruddell concludes.