ABB: Collaboration key to success

For manufacturers to continue to growth in an incredibly competitive marketplace, it’s all about collaboration, said keynoters at ABB Automation World Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Fla.
“We can’t continue doing the same thing, we have to be able to take advantage of technology,” said Mark Taft, group vice president process automation for ABB’s Global Control System Business as he kicked off the day’s festivities.
“Collaboration is a necessity for today. A necessity for the future,” said Fred Kindle, president and chief executive of ABB before a record attendance of just over 2,500.
He pointed to the good news and the bad news for the industry. First, the bad news. “The competitive nature of the industry is sure to increase in the coming years. One reason is globalization.” He pointed to other trends. “Industry consolidation is another reason. Capital efficiency is a third reason. Today, the hedge fund industry is about $1.3 trillion. The message is clear, if you can generate returns you will control your destiny.”
But enough of the bad news, now the good news. Globalization increases competition, but “the world is full of opportunities,” Kindle said. China and India are growth opportunities, he said, but so are Russia, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Indonesia. “The question you have to ask is how are you going to exploit these opportunities?”
Manufacturers cannot take advantage of those opportunities unless they have partners; in most cases, they can’t go it alone.
“The new trend is not only on transactions, it is on interaction,” Kindle said.
One of the areas manufacturers have to get ahead in today’s evolving landscape is to innovate. The challenge, though, is innovation is different today than it was a decade ago, said Nicholas Donofrio, executive vice president of innovation and technology at IBM.
“Technology itself is not the only condition for success,” Donofrio said. “It is how you use it.”
In terms of innovation, Donofrio said he is often asked what will be the next big innovation. “There is no one ‘next big thing,’ ” he said. “There will be thousands of ‘next big things.’ “
Alcan’s Vice President of Technology, Engineering and Regional Industrial Development for the Primary Metal Group, Donald Macmillan, echoed the theme of the day saying, his company could not grow without the knowledge of its partners.
“We can’t do it alone,” Macmillan said. “We need partners to enhance the value proposition.”