ABB Ltd. ABB recently received a robots supply order from Changan Ford Automobile Co., Ltd.worth $52 million. This Swiss power and automation technology multinational will aid the enhancement of flexibility and efficiency of the company’s new production facility in Harbin, China. Notably, Changan Ford Automobile Co. is a 50-50 joint venture firm of Ford Motor Co. F and Changan Automobile Group.
Contract Details
Per se the deal, ABB will supply robots – comprising IRB 6700, IRB 7600 – for Changan’s new highly-automated Body-in-White (‘BIW’) welding production line and will be used for the manufacturing of Ford’s new focus model. Alongside, the order includes GateFramer car body framing positioning system, which boasts the capability of developing up to six vehicle models on the same line.
With the installation of these robots and GateFramer system, Changan Ford will be able to flexibly manufacture the cars in response to varying customer demands. Additionally, it will aid the company in curtailing the investment costs its incurs for manufacturing via traditional production lines.
Bottom-Line
The abovementioned contract strengthens ABB’s long-standing relationship with Changan Ford that started in 2007. Since then, ABB’s robots have been assisting the manufacturing line at the company’s Ford Mondeos plants in Chongqing.
Encouragingly, ABB’s industrial robot technologies cover the overall automobile manufacturing process, which includes BIW painting, stamping, powertrains and painting. The company’s Robotics division boasts a client base comprising of several automobile giants such as Honda Motor Co., Ltd. HMC and AB Volvo VOLVY. With an existing installed base of 250,000 industrial robots globally, ABB had mastered the art of deploying robotics for industrial purpose.
Apart from this, we believe the recent contract win complements ABB’s Next Level strategy, reflecting its PIE (penetration, innovation and expansion) initiative to expand and enhance business in high-growth sectors like utilities, industry, transport and infrastructure, to name a few. Enhancing industrial productivity on a global basis also comes as part of the company’s overall ‘Next Level' strategy. This also bode well for this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) stock’s future growth.
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