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ABB launches Real Progress campaign to accelerate sustainability with technology

ABB has launched its global sustainability initiative, showcasing the power of technology and expertise to accelerate sustainability while enhancing productivity. The company shares in a press statement that its Real Progress campaign is a rallying call to customers, partners and suppliers, inspiring them to harness technology leadership and the solutions that exist today to amplify their own impact across process industries such as pulp and paper, mining and metals.

he company is showing that the power of bold ideas and pioneering technologies can overcome these challenges, step by step, together with the wider industrial and societal ecosystem.

The decarbonization challenge unites the pulp and paper, mining and metals industries with leadership teams striving to meet increasing market demand with a more rapid increase in energy and resource efficiency to reach their committed sustainability targets such as more carbon-neutral operations. ABB states that across these vital process industries, there is a growing recognition that automation, electrification and digitalization are essential components of their journey towards meeting climate targets set out by businesses, legislation, governments and international agreements over the next 25 years and beyond.

“The journey toward sustainability isn’t a gradual progression; it’s a bold transformation. The actions and decisions we take today, together with every innovation we embrace, are powerful steps towards a sustainable future, and we’re unapologetically leading the charge,” said Joachim Braun, division president of ABB Process Industries. “Every day, ABB is working side by side with customers in their mines, their mills and their plants, to provide complete technology solutions with automation, electrification and digitalization to radically reduce emissions and energy use. Together with our great network of partners, we are proud of driving real progress in sustainability, but we know that more can and must be done. We’re part of the journey and commit to making real progress always.”

In the pulp and paper industry, ABB is supporting customers in the transformation of their mills, helping to reduce waste and accelerate towards circularity through a broad portfolio of solutions. One such option is ABB Quality Control System (QCS), deployed to provide papermakers with visibility into the sheet as it is formed to reduce waste and improve runnability. Alongside customer Klabin in Brazil, ABB’s team was reportedly able to create uniformity across more than 20 sites, combining QCS, the ABB Ability System 800xA distributed control system (DCS), electrification and power distribution. Typical machine uptime reached 99 percent, making it possible to produce a ton of packaging paper in just 29 seconds, says the company.

Automation combined with advanced process control (APC) is frequently deployed for more consistent operations, improved production, energy savings and reduced costs. There are many variables that need to be considered in the pulp and paper-making processes, too many to measure and react to manually. By dynamically adjusting to multivariable process changes, ABB’s APC helps stabilize pulp and/or paper machine operations and helps reduce variability, enable energy savings and improve productivity, shares the company.

Modern drives and motors are also installed by ABB for reliable operations, energy efficiency and process performance. To maximize production, pulp and paper processes need to run reliably every single day. ABB notes that its drives are designed to provide reliable control over the speed and torque of motors so that they can run according to the precise demands of the process. From pulp processing to paper, board and tissue machines, using ABB medium and low voltage drives and motors means more efficient energy use, cutting operating costs.

“When I look on the journey that ABB has taken as an organization, shaping the paths customers take in every part of their operations, I’m proud,” said Stefano Cinquina, global business line manager of pulp and paper at ABB Process Industries. “I also recognize what’s facing our pulp and paper customers daily, the need to innovate on limited budgets and resources, the requirement to produce more with less energy, material and water waste, and the desire to bridge skills gaps while there’s a shortage of talent. Together, we can do it because we’ve overcome so much already. As an industry, we’re making packaging from 100 percent recycled materials, utilizing paper in battery production and replacing plastic bottles with paper. It’s possible to make a difference in the world and we know it’s real progress, authentic and within our grasp.”