Growth powers lean and green machine

People pass by an ABB billboard at the China international Industry Fair 2008 in Shanghai. [File photo/cfp]

ABB employs 19,000 people in 37 local companies and has a sales and service network covering 109 cities. The lion's share of the company's revenue in China comes from local manufacturing.

Many Chinese cities have drawn up plans for economic and industrial transformation, along with solutions to tackle problems caused by rising labor costs, an aging society and low work efficiency, so companies such as ABB can expect continued business growth in China, analysts say.

ABB business hits record high amid upgrading

ABB sees stable growth despite tough market

"Even though China's GDP growth in 2013 was lower than in previous years, the investment on green-energy and high-end products will add to prosperity and benefit the economy and the environment in the long term," says Sun Fuquan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development in Beijing.

Gu Chunyuan, senior vice-president of ABB Group, says China's rapid growth and its urbanization plans have prompted labor-intensive industries to find new ways to cope with increased demand.

"Most of the companies face problems in finding talent and retaining it as attrition rates are increasing in sectors such as computers, communication and consumer electronics product manufacturing," Gu says.

"By combining customer demand, we have gradually shifted our focus on industrial robot research and development in China from large robots oriented for automation to small robots for computer, communication and consumer electronics products' industrial upgrading."

ABB introduced a new type of robot fully developed in China, the IRB 120, last year. It is the company's fastest and most accurate six-axis robot. It is small and weighs just 25 kg, so it can be placed in any location or even hung upside down or mounted on the wall.

Gu says the robot has obvious advantages in limited spaces, especially in small work piece processing, material movement and assembly. This high-end product has become the preferred product for industrial upgrading of smaller-sized electronic products in China and is selling well elsewhere, he says.