ABB?s Ekip UP helps fashion supplier introduce smarter power

Italy’s Printing House of Martinengo, a major supplier to global fashion and couture brands, has partnered with ABB to upgrade and digitize its existing switchgear and circuit breakers. 

Focused on implementing cost-effective yet innovative solutions that improve its performance and productivity, the company is leveraging the digital innovations offered by Ekip UP, part of the ABB Ability Protection and Connection Initiative.

“ABB Ekip UP is ideal for updating older facilities, capturing data and sharing it with cloud-based energy management functions without any other meter or external gateway required,” said Fabio Monachesi, global product manager in ABB’s Protection and Connection business.

“The technology works with the plant’s existing power systems, helping digitize industrial processes. With no need to change a site’s existing switchgear or panel-boards, the Ekip UP range of digital units add the monitoring, protection and control needed to renew processes based on advanced metering with flexible sensors and built-in connectivity.”

The Printing House of Martinengo, part of the Lisa Group, has been producing printed textiles for the fashion industry for more than 40 years. Its facility near Milan produces more than 100,000 meters of printed fabrics every day. As part of its energy strategy, the company wanted to install more efficient process technologies and to make its power infrastructure more intelligent and connected – while preserving the site’s original switchgear and circuit breakers.

“We’re a company with a history of using technological innovation to stay ahead, with R&D that is among the most advanced in the industry and process knowledge that is second to none,” said Fabio Ferrari, chief executive officer at the Printing House of Martinengo. “Every investment we make has to count. That is why, with our installed circuit breakers still working fine, we wanted a solution that kept them online while making our power systems more intelligent and productive.”

Leveraging the embedded software capability and plug-in sensors, the Ekip UP digital unit measures all the energy parameters and uploads the plant to the web without affecting the continuous operation of the company’s 24/7 processes. The cloud-based ABB AbilityTM Electrical Distribution Control System, developed in partnership with Microsoft, enables the Printing House of Martinengo to understand its power more effectively, while an easy-to-use smartphone app highlights plant performance, provides analytics and calculates costs immediately. 

Data from ABB Ekip UP has helped the Printing House of Martinengo identify its higher efficiency equipment and processes among its installed base, steering future investment decisions that will cut power costs and carbon dioxide emissions. Further developments at the facility will upload more digital functions and services from the ABB AbilityTM portfolio, supporting this key player’s pursuit of continued profitable growth and ever-higher levels of sustainability. 

Fabio Ferrari added: “ABB’s Ekip UP has delivered exactly what we needed. It has given key lines in our facility a simple, effective upgrade that brings more intelligence into our energy saving, power management and CO2 reduction strategy. This technology is already helping us make smarter investment decisions as we digitize and expand other parts of our facility with a plug & play solution.”