Västerås, Sweden, November 17, 2005 – ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, announced today that it has received an order from Tarkett AB, Ronneby in southern Sweden, to replace another vendor's ten-year-old automation system for the mixing line for raw materials and ingredients for flooring products.Tarkett chose System 800xA Extended Automation for this project. ABB's delivery includes advanced batch management functions as well as the integration of the new System 800xA extended automation system with Tarkett's ERP system and existing weighing and dosing systems for the mixing line. In addition, ABB will be responsible for the training of the operators and the commissioning. The new system is planned to start up in January 2006.
"The main purpose of this investment project is to raise our production by 20 percent in this line, due to the substantial growth in the demand for our products," says Jan Runnsjö, project manager at Tarkett. "The replacement of the old automation system is an important part of this project. Besides a larger production capacity, we will be able to achieve greater precision in the mixing, which will give a more uniform and higher quality of the end products. At the same time, we'll lower our raw material and reprocessing costs.
Another benefit is that we'll obtain greater flexibility in the plant, which is also an important factor, because we must be able to handle more products simultaneously in increasingly small batch series." ABB's solution is based on the latest version of the 800xA Extended Automation System, which presents all the necessary information so that it is clear and easy to access, understand and act upon. It helps plant personnel in a number of areas track in a fast and simple way the production and perform the necessary settings to achieve maximum control of the process. The batch management function controls, transfers and follows the product through the process. At the same time, it stores all the production data to give the operator a simple and quick overview of what has happened.
This solution ensures very high repeatability in the production process, which is one of Tarkett's goals. For Tarkett it was a natural choice to select ABB as supplier, due to their earlier positive experience with a similar solution in other sections of their production facilities. ABB's expertise in batch production, smooth project execution and proximity to technical support and service were other important criteria. Tarkett AB in Ronneby produces each year 17 million square meters of plastic carpets for public buildings and institutions.
Annual sales of the Tarkett Group total $1.6 million. ABB ( www.abb.com ) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact.
The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 103,000 people.
