ABB以高附加值智能产品服务全球制浆造纸工业
——访ABB全球制浆造纸总裁James T. Fisher先生,ABB公司副总裁、ABB北亚区制浆造纸总经理林曙明先生
2016-11-12刘振华
记者:刘振华 梁 川
ABB以高附加值智能产品服务全球制浆造纸工业
——访ABB全球制浆造纸总裁James T. Fisher先生,ABB公司副总裁、ABB北亚区制浆造纸总经理林曙明先生
记者:刘振华梁川
《中国造纸》记者:“2016 ABB自动化世界”活动的主题是“智能技术 智慧跨越”。传统制造业的制浆造纸工业需要智能技术进行产业升级。请问ABB为制浆造纸工业提供的智能产品或技术有哪些?
James T. Fisher先生:对于我们现在讨论的智能技术,ABB并不陌生。事实上,ABB多年来一直位于智能技术领域的前端。在物联网时代发展之前,ABB就在纸厂建立了尖端的工艺检测装置——质量控制系统(QCS)。ABB的质量控制系统不仅能够提供造纸工艺控制数据,还能提供系统本身“健康”方面
ABB全球制浆造纸总裁James T. Fisher先生Mr. James T. Fisher, President, Global Pulp & Paper Product Group, ABB
ChinaPulp&Paper: The topic of ABB Automation World China 2016 is “Smart Technology, Intelligence Upgrading”, as one of traditional manufacturing industries, pulp and paper industry needs smart technologies to upgrade. Would you please introduce some typical ABB smart products or technologies used in paper industry?
Mr. James T. Fisher: We are talking about smart technologies now, but smart technology is not something new to ABB. Actually, ABB has been at the forefront of intelligent technology for many years. Well before the development of Internet of Things, ABB had probably the most sophisticated process measurement device found in a paper mill, the Quality Control System (QCS). The ABB Quality Control System is a key part of the papermaking process providing intelligence, not just about the process for control purposes, but also about the “health” of the system itself. ABB, as the inventor of QCS developed the QCS in 1970’s, to provide data needed in a paper mill to make it work efficiently. Today about 35% paper machines of the world use ABB’s QCS. There are a number of small paper mills who cannot afford QCS, so it is even a larger percentage in large world-class paper machines.
As an example of smart technologies, one recent innovation by our Web Imaging System (WIS) team is the capability to count every visible piece of dirt in a moving
的信息。ABB是QCS系统的发明者,早在20世纪70年代,ABB就研发了QCS系统,并将其用于纸厂,收集、分析生产数据从而使纸机更高效运行。现在全球约35%的纸机安装了ABB的QCS系统。当然,全球有很多小型纸厂没有能力安装QCS系统,而我刚刚提到的35%是在所有纸机中的比例,或许在大型世界级纸机中这个比例会更高。
ABB在纸幅成像系统方面的一项创新是在快速移动的纸幅上计算尘埃数量的能力,每秒能计数成千上万个尘埃,这个数据量超越了市场上任何其他系统。我们仅需要定制的智能摄像机就能够完成这项复杂的任务,即ABB使用专利技术采用摄像机检测、分类和计数纸幅上的每一个可见尘埃。而其他公司的类似系统通常使用机外元件来检测纸幅。
《中国造纸》记者:如今“工业4.0”在很多行业获得关注,“工业4.0”能够帮助制造业转型升级,实现智能制造。作为自动化、电气及传动系统的供应商,ABB为制浆造纸企业提供哪些服务帮助他们实现“工业4.0”?
James T. Fisher先生:“工业4.0”和物物相连的概念,以及因此需要更多的数据对于完全理解和优化造纸工艺非常重要。而其中更重要的一点是获得数据的质量情况,如果一个决定来自一个错误的数据,那可不是一件好事,这正是当前ABB先进检测技术引人注目的关键所在。因此,我们的客户有理由相信获得的这些大量数据是精准的。
这些系统产生的数据量非常庞大,使用ABB工具如ServicePort能够过滤数据并提供智能反馈,有时在问题出现之前就能使客户了解哪些是需要尽早处理的。
ServicePort是一个类似小型数据中心的服务型产品,能获得并储存纸厂数据。当现场出现问题时,工程师能够通过数据了解到底哪里出现了问题,并能够准确给予解决。更重要的是,我们能通过该系统储存的数据来分析未来可能出现的问题,并通过采取相应措施阻止该问题的发生。因此,ABB工程师能够使纸机一直处于良好的运行状态。这就能够显著减少设备和生产停机时间,从而延长设备寿命。
sheet. This can be in the hundreds of thousands of dirt spots per second. This amount of data would overload any other system on the market. Only by using the smarts of our customer designed cameras we are able to accomplish the incredible task. Other companies use off the shelf components to measure the sheet, but ABB using proprietary technology actually measures, classifies and counts every visible spec of dirt in a sheet at the camera level.
ChinaPulp&Paper: Nowadays, one very popular word is “Industry 4.0”. “Industry 4.0” could help manufacturing industries update and achieve smart manufacturing. As one of automation, electric and drive suppliers, what services does ABB provide to pulp and paper enterprises to help them achieve “Industry 4.0”?
Mr. James T. Fisher: The thinking around “Industry 4.0” and making all devices “connected” and thus much more data available are very important to fully understand and optimize the papermaking process. A key thing to remember however is the quality of the data that is made available. Bad decision resulting from bad data is not a good thing. This is where ABB stands out with the most advanced measurement technology available on the market today. Our customers can trust that the large quantities of data that we generate for analysis is accurate and precise.
The amount of data these systems produce is very large and using ABB tools like ServicePort we can filter through the data and provide intelligent feedback to let people know specifically what needs to be fixed, sometimes even before it breaks.
ServicePort is a kind of like small data center. It collects, stores and analyzes the data. Engineers have data available if something wrong. They know exactly what is the wrong and know exactly what to do to fix it. Even better than that, ServicePort can predict. We can use the data to determine where problem may occur in the future, and hopefully prevent that problem from ever occuring. This can significantly reduce equipment and production downtime, and extend product life span.
Making the connection between a customer’s “pain” and available technology solutions is usually about utilizing the data already available in the mill in a new way. This is
通过将客户的“痛点”与获得的技术解决方案之间建立联系,从而以一种全新的方式来利用纸厂已获得的数据。这些数据已经获取,我们的工作是使其可用且可控。报警灯闪烁时没人知道应该采取什么措施,ABB提供的产品能够做到比闪烁报警灯更多的工作,我们为服务人员及客户提供能够给出可控建议的工具。
林曙明先生:ServicePort是“工业4.0”和物联网应用的具体体现。我们通过现场自动化系统在线收集分析生产数据并监控生产,工程师能够远程获得这些数据。如果纸机出现问题,或者需要更改生产参数时,工程师能够从ServicePort上获得数据并进行分析,通过物联网远程连接ServicePort,核对数据并采取措施使纸机更好地运行或解决问题。ServicePort能够在任何时刻、任何地点帮助用户改善生产和工艺。
ABB公司副总裁、ABB北亚区制浆造纸总经理林曙明先生,ABB全球制浆造纸总裁James T. Fisher先生,中国造纸杂志社社长梁川女士,本刊记者刘振华女士(从左到右)Mr. James T. Fisher, President, Global Pulp & Paper Product Group, ABB, Mr. LIN Shu-ming, Vice President & General Manager, Pulp & Paper, North Asia, ABB, Ms. LIANG Chuan, Manager, China Pulp and Paper Magazines Publisher, Ms. LIU Zhen-hua, journalist, China Pulp & Paper (left to right)
《中国造纸》记者:作为全球500强之一,多年来ABB一直以一流的产品和技术服务制浆造纸工业。ABB有何“法宝”来保持核心竞争力?
James T. Fisher先生:ABB的“法宝”是拥有专门致力于制浆造纸工业的专家。通过组accomplished by sitting down with one of ABB’s Pulp and Paper specialists and learning about where there are difficulties in the pulp and paper process. The data is already there, and our job is to make it usable and actionable. What value is a flashing alarm light of no one knows what action to take? The products coming from ABB are intended to do more than “flash a light”; we are providing tools that give actionable recommendations to our service personnel and our customers.
Mr. LIN Shu-ming: ServicePort embodies “Industry 4.0” and Internet of Things. We collect data, automatically analyze it and allow engineers access remotely. If the paper machine has something wrong, our engineers have the information available in ServicePort. ServicePort could help users identify production and process issues and improvements at any time and any location in the world.
ChinaPulp&Paper: As one of world top 500, ABB has been serving pulp and paper industry with superior products and technologies for many years. How does ABB keep its core competitiveness? Is there some special “magic weapons”?
Mr. James T. Fisher: Our “magic” is in our people who average decades of experience that is specific to the Pulp & Paper Industry. By organizational design, we have always maintained a dedicated Pulp and Paper organization, and this has been a key to our on-going success. This commitment is specific to the Pulp and Paper industry comes from our Sales, Service and R&D team, and our key strategy is to keep these experts located close to our customers.
As far as research and development is concerned, we have continued to invest in our research and development. We are making sure our existing customer base and cost effectively take advantage of our new technologies. ABB has R&D teams in Ireland, Sweden, Finland, China and Singapore who spend all of their time developing new produ-cts for the Pulp and Paper industry. Our R&D teams are delivering a steady stream of
织设计,ABB一直保留专门的制浆造纸工业团队,而这正是我们持续成功的关键。ABB拥有销售团队、服务团队及研发团队,而我们的主要战略是使这些专家更靠近客户。
此外,我们一直持续投资研发,以确保现有客户在节约成本的基础上能够有效使用我们的新产品。ABB在爱尔兰、瑞典、芬兰、中国、新加坡都有专门致力于为制浆造纸工业研发新产品的团队。我们的研发团队正在研发一系列能够提高产能和质量、降低能耗的创新产品。2016年ABB研发了用于QCS的全新颜色传感器、来自L&W团队全新的纤维检测仪以及来自WIS团队的新的尘埃检测设备。2016年还未过半,在剩余的时间里,ABB预期能够研发出更多的新产品。
《中国造纸》记者:我们注意到一个数字,那就是70%。全球超过70%的纸厂选择使用ABB的产品或服务,ABB是如何做到这一点的?
James T. Fisher先生:我认为有三点非常重要。首先是ABB拥有优秀的员工,这些员工能够使客户了解他们能够从ABB的产品和系统中获得多少收益。这些ABB的员工专注于造纸工业并熟悉我们的业务。正如前面提到的,我们在中国拥有一直优秀的团队。其次,ABB提供可信赖及高质量产品。造纸企业都希望做到连续不断地生产,因为造纸过程中的计划外停机会花很多钱,因此可信赖和高质量产品对他们来说非常重要。再有就是客户的信任。纸厂是一个复杂的环境,同时会发生很多事情。有时纸机可能会发生断纸,此时我们就会帮助客户重启纸机。因此客户相信我们能帮助他们将生产重新启动。总之,专业的员工、可信赖高质量的产品以及客户的信任帮助我们获得全球纸厂70%的订单。
林曙明先生:人员、服务和产品是我们获得这个数字的关键点。在“2016 ABB自动化世界”活动过程中,我们的一个客户表示,他们从ABB购买的扫描架已经用了20多年了,现在仍在高效运行。也就是说ABB不仅仅销售设备,还包括一系列的增值服务;而客户考虑的不仅仅是短期的投资,更注重长期的投资回报。
innovative products to increase productivity, quality and reduce cost. Already this year we have introduced a new Color Sensor for our QCS system, a new Fiber Measurement from our L&W team and a new Dirt Measurement from our WIS team. The year is still young and we should expect even more “magic” for our developers as this year progresses.
ChinaPulp&Paper: We noticed a figure, which is 70%. More than 70% paper mills of the world use ABB products or services. How does ABB achieve that?
Mr. James T. Fisher: I think there are three important things that have allowed us the privilege of 70% paper mills to use our products or services. Firstly, we have good people who can describe how much value our customers get from ABB’s products and systems. These people from ABB focus on paper industry and understand the business. We have a great team in China, which I have mentioned previously. Secondly, providing reliable and high quality products. Because costumers we sell to are trying to make paper every minute. Unplanned downtime during papermaking costs a lot of money, so reliable and high quality products are very important to them. The third thing is customers’ trust. The paper mill is a challenging environment. Many things may happen at the same time. Things will break and we help customers to things fixed and get them running quickly again. Therefore, customers trust us to help them maintain production and help them restart it again if a problem occurs. In a word, professinal people, reliable and high quality products, and customers’ trust help us to get 70% paper mills to order from ABB.
Mr. LIN Shu-ming: People, service, and products are the key we got that figure. During ABB Automation World, one of our customer said their scanning framer has been used for more than 20 years, but it still runs efficiently. What ABB sells is not only products, but also services. What customers consider is not only the short-term investment, but also the long-term investment return.
ChinaPulp&Paper: ABB Quality Control System and Web Imaging System Factory opened in Shanghai in 2010. It has been more than 5 years since its opening, how does it work at present? What are the application situation of produ-cts, technologies and services from this factory in China?
《中国造纸》记者:ABB位于上海的质量控制系统及纸幅成像系统工厂于2010年开业,至今已经5年多时间,现在这个工厂运行情况如何?请简单介绍一下这个工厂的产品、服务及技术在中国的应用情况。
James T. Fisher先生:ABB质量控制系统及纸幅成像系统工厂从爱尔兰向中国迁移获得了爱尔兰及芬兰团队的大力支持。起初我们聘请爱尔兰及芬兰专家到中国工厂指导,将建立质量控制系统所需的技术及知识传授给中国团队,并成功地实施了既定计划。
如今,ABB中国工厂团队已经成熟,位于上海的ABB质量控制系统及纸幅成像系统工厂能够交付QCS系统、QCS传感器、扫描架、执行器以及纸幅在线检测系统,最近我们又新增了纸幅监控系统。自开业以来,ABB质量控制系统及纸幅成像系统工厂已为全球制浆造纸企业提供了约250套扫描架。我为ABB中国工厂团队完成的业绩感到非常骄傲,未来我们将会获得持续的成功。
林曙明先生:ABB中国质量控制系统及纸幅成像系统工厂是ABB全球唯一为制浆造纸行业生产设备的工厂,这就能够确保所有ABB产品的高质量,从而避免了区域差异。
ABB质量控制系统及纸幅成像系统工厂ABB QCS & WIS Shanghai Factory
《中国造纸》记者:当前,中国经济正面临下行压力,中国造纸工业的增长速度放缓,工业急需转型升级和结构调整。在这种情况下
Mr. James T. Fisher: The initial transition of our QCS and WIS factory from Ireland to China involved significant assistance from our teams in Ireland and Finland. We successfully implemented a clearly defined plan to transfer the skills and deep knowledge required to build quality systems to our team in China by initially embedding experts from Ireland and Finland.
Today our China factory team stands alone with no expatriates from either Finland or Ireland. Our Pulp and Paper factory in China can deliver QCS Systems, QCS Sensors, Scanning Frames, Actuators and Web Inspection Systems. We are currently adding our new Web Monitoring Systems to the factory as well. Since opening, approximately 250 scanners have been shipped to our customers around the world from ABB QCS and WIS Shanghai factory. I am very proud of what our China factory team has accomplished, and as a result, we are well positioned for continued success in the future!
Mr. LIN Shu-ming: Our factory in China is the single source of production for pulp and paper industry, insuring the highest quality and avoiding regional differences.
ChinaPulp&Paper: At present, China’s economy is facing downward pressure, the growth rate of China’s paper industry slows down, and the industry needs transfomation and stucture adjustment. How does ABB do business at current situation? Are there some special measures ABB takes to adapt these changes?
ABB如何开展业务?ABB采取了哪些措施应对这些变化?
James T. Fisher先生:从2008年开始,造纸工业就进入了前所未有的衰退,不幸的是这种衰退一直延续到最近几年。这无疑对我们每个人都产生了影响。在中国,造纸工业的增长速度与前些年相比确实下降了很多,但是与欧洲或美洲的增长速度相比依旧是高速增长。一些不能负担大型投资的小型纸厂将关闭,但是同时这给大型纸厂提供了更多的业务,从而这些纸厂需要从ABB订购服务及控制系统。尽管项目投资速度减缓,但结果是ABB依旧可以从中获得业务。
尽管造纸工业增速放缓,但中国经济依旧值得期待,而这种期待将为造纸工业提供需求。我认为大型造纸企业能够从这次调整中获利。这些造纸企业可能会在未来几年投建一些新项目,因而他们需要高效的、具有竞争力的产品和服务来帮助他们保持竞争优势。
ABB通过帮助中国制浆造纸企业优化工艺,使他们从ABB系统的投资中获得最高回报。通过充分发挥ABB系统的潜能,我们正在帮助客户降低成本,提高产品质量。
例如,ABB近期推出了优化控制系统系列的OPT800,能够将现有ABB控制系统升级为新的、先进的优化控制系统,并可远程提供长期优化和服务支持。采用前面提到的具有Loopscan特征的SericePort,能够快速分析数以千计的控制回路,并确定关键回路,以保持在最佳状态下运行。造纸工业当前具有较大的成本压力,一些小的细节例如保持关键回路开度适中可显著节约成本。所有这些只需要在我们的物联网上添加一个简单的远程服务功能。
林曙明先生:OPT800是ABB优化控制系统的一个产品,它能够有效进行工厂管理,利用已经储存于自动化系统上的信息,优化制浆造纸厂。当前中国的一些大型纸厂都在他们的生产线上安装了OPT800。
《中国造纸》记者:近几年,一些新兴市场兴起,并获得一定的发展,ABB是否有计划将中国的服务团队向这些市场转移?
James T. Fisher先生:ABB的目标是尽量靠近客户,因为我们需要在这些国家开拓更多
Mr. James T. Fisher: Starting from 2008, paper industry entered a recession the likes of which many of us have never seen, and it unfortunately lasted until recent years. It centainly had an impact on all of us. In China, the growth rate decreased a lot compared to previous years, while it’s still a higher rate if compared to that of Europe or America. The paper industry in China is shifting now. Small mills who cannot afford to make significant investment are being shut down, but that is giving more business to larger mills that buy services and systems from ABB, actually resulting in a growth in business as a result.
It is only the rate of growth that has slowed down, the economy continues to expand in China, and that expandation is putting new demands on paper industry. I think the best papermakers, the largest mills are the ones who are going to get benefit from the shift. The remaining paper manufacturers need efficient and competitive technologies and services to help them remain competitive.
ABB is helping China’s pulp and paper companies get the highest return on the investment they have made in ABB systems by helping them optimize their process. By harnessing the full potential of the ABB systems that our customers have already installed, we are helping to reduce cost and increase quality.
As an example, we have recently introduced the OPT800 family of Advanced Controls. We can very cost effectively update the control of existing ABB control systems with new, “state of the art” advanced control systems and make the long-term optimization and service support available remotely. Using the previously discussed ServicePort, a feature named Loopscan, can quickly analyze thousands of control loops and determine the key loops to be addressed to keep the process in operating in an optimum condition. The paper industry is under a lot of cost pressure, and small things like keeping key loops tuned properly can save significant amounts of money! All of this is accomplished by adding a simple remote service capability to our Internet of Things.
Mr. LIN Shu-ming: OPT800 is a product of Advanced Process Control. It enables effective plant management by making use of the information already in automation system to control and optimize the operations for pulp and paper mills. Some large paper manufactures in China have installed OPT800 in their production lines.
的造纸业务。在这些国家,ABB拥有专业的工程师为这些市场服务,但是亚洲造纸工业的中心依旧是在中国,这也是ABB 质量控制系统及纸幅成像系统选择落户上海的原因。当前,ABB在新加坡、爱尔兰、芬兰及瑞典都有研发团队,但是中国依旧是我们业务的中心。
林曙明先生:尽管近几年中国造纸工业的增速放缓,但中国仍是全球造纸工业增速最快的国家,因此中国一直都是ABB亚太市场的中心。当前亚洲其他一些国家造纸工业发展迅速,形成新兴市场,而我们在这些区域拥有当地的服务团队来进行支持。但对于一些大型项目,可能还是需要中国团队进行支持,毕竟中国团队是亚太地区最全面的团队。
《中国造纸》记者:未来ABB对进一步开拓制浆造纸市场的战略有哪些?
James T. Fisher先生:首先,ABB会持续投资研发,以确保现有客户在节约成本的基础上能够有效利用新技术。目前ABB在质量控制系统及纸幅成像系统工厂研发方面的投资是我们竞争对手的2倍。
其次,ABB将继续致力于成为具有成本效率及竞争力的自动化供应商。ABB的产品价格不一定是最低的,但是我们必须成为具有更高附加值的品牌。这将是我们持续进行的一项工作。
ABB质量控制系统及纸幅成像系统工厂车间Plant of ABB QCS & WIS Factory
ChinaPulp&Paper: Recent years, some new markets spring up. Does ABB plan to move to these markets?
Mr. James T. Fisher: For ABB, our goal is to be close to our customers. We have professional engineers from these countries to serve these areas, but the center of paper business in Asia is China. That is the reason why our QCS and WIS factory stand at Shanghai. We have R&D teams in Singapore, Ireland, Finland and Sweden, but China is in the center of core of our business.
Mr. LIN Shu-ming: As China is the country with the largest growth rate of paper industry around the world, China is always the center of Asia-Pacific market of ABB. There are new markets in some other Asia countries, we have local service team to support in these areas. But for some large projects, many still need the surport of our Chinese team. After all, the Chinese team is the most comprehensive one in Asia-Pacific.
ChinaPulp&Paper: What is the ABB’s strategy to expand pulp and papermaking market in future?
Mr. James T. Fisher: Firstly, ABB is continuing to invest in our research and development. We are making sure our existing customer base can cost effectively take advantage of our new technologies. We are currently investing in R&D for our QCS system at approximately twice the rate of our nearest competitor.
Secondly, remaining focused on being cost efficient and competitive also. ABB has not to be the cheapest or lowest price products supplier, but we have to be the reasonable brand with the highest value. That is what we will continue to do.
ABB Serves Global Pulp & Paper Industry with High-valued Smart Products——Interview Mr. James T. Fisher, President, Global Pulp & Paper Product Group, ABB,and Mr. LIN Shu-ming, Vice President & General Manager, Pulp & Paper, North Asia, ABB
Journalist:LIU Zhen-huaLIANG Chuan