Columbus, O.— ABB Automation opened the first of three factory-authorized centers for industrial repair services here on May 23. ABB Automation is consolidating its testing, repair, and reconditioning centers into three strategic locations to better serve its worldwide customer base. Two more centers will be located in Europe and Asia.

Products repaired at the new center include: automation power products, such as drives and motors; instrumentation and control products, such as field devices for sensing, controlling, and actuating; analyzers; metering equipment; and control and information systems.

"Our Columbus facility was chosen as the repair center for the Americas because the location places the operation within 500 miles of 58% of the populations of both the U.S. and Canada," says Dane Maisel, ABB Automation's Logistics and Repair Services vp. "The breadth of our repair capabilities spans the full range of ABB Automation products, as well as numerous third-party equipment repairs.

"The consolidation effort is part of ABB's overall strategy to provide both the quality and responsiveness that is paramount to automation customers. ABB has achieved a 75% reduction in cycle-time over the last two years, while processing an average of 1,200 repairs per month."