NOVI, MI—Responding to unprecedented growth in battery manufacturing, ABB has developed an agile production process that aims to reduce bottlenecks. The new Plant Optimization Methodology is designed to help automakers and battery manufacturers quickly ramp up EV manufacturing.
Battery manufacturers around the world are currently struggling to keep pace while ensuring their production remains profitable, efficient and safe without sacrificing quality. Recent government mandates, such as EU and U.S. efforts to keep battery manufacturing local, are placing additional pressure on manufacturers already facing the challenges of managing costs and ensuring environmental safety.
“Our approach aims to support the production increases in gigawatt factories around the world to reduce bottlenecks in this fast-growing sector,” says Staffan Sodergard, global product line manager for battery manufacturing at ABB. “This is a very exciting, emerging space that holds tremendous potential to scale up to meet demand and, ultimately, enable a low-carbon society.”
According to Sodergard, ABB’s modular, repeatable methodology combines electrification, instrumentation, control and digital (EICD) technology, the ABB Ability Adaptive Execution project execution approach, and ongoing operational support into a single source that enables new plants to achieve fast time to market.
The methodology leverages the value of early collaboration to optimize plant design and performance by helping to minimize greenfield site project changes. In doing so, it compresses manufacturing schedules, reduces start up hours, and delivers CAPEX and OPEX savings.
Unlike traditional approaches, which can have multiple vendors and interfaces, on-site integration and complex installation, Sodergard claims that ABB seamlessly integrates EICD technology with centralized collaboration and streamlined processes to optimize operations. “Standardization from concept stage through to end product provides the flexibility required to reduce interface complexity and enable a fully optimized approach to battery manufacturing,” he points out.
