ABB 2007 Automation World begins today

A strong late winter snowstorm affecting many travelers could not dampen the enthusiasm of Automation World attendees. Despite travel delays from many Northeast cities, this year’s ABB Automation World Conference & Exhibition will open tonight to over 2,100 attendees at Orlando’s Caribe Royale hotel with an exhibit hall reception. The Customer Advisory Board driven event has grown into one of the largest supplier-hosted automation conferences in North America.

This year’s event’s theme, “Collaborate for Results,” will resonate through all of the program’s general sessions, individual courses and exhibit hall. An expanded executive forum will include panel discussions on incorporating innovation and collaboration into a company’s business model, and collaborating with customers and suppliers to capture their unique strengths.

Additional opportunities for formal and social networking have been added to the program, based on attendee feedback of networking’s collaborative value. And, this year’s exhibit hall will feature a higher level of collaborative technology than ever before, from Industrial IT System 800xA’s open standards, to new technology partners, to communications tools that help connect the plant floor to the board room.

Attendees have the option of beginning their Automation World experience early on Monday with a visit to ABB’s Lake Mary, Florida facility which designs, engineers and manufactures outdoor breakers, reclosers and distribution switchgear - vital to the energy efficiency of many automation industries. This will include a plant tour where guests will watch ABB’s state of the art, operational excellence process in action, as switchgear goes from raw materials to finished product. Workshops on industry arc resistant standards and safeguarding people and electrical assets will supplement the tour.

The conference is aimed at both operators looking for hands-on solutions that they can take back and apply immediately, or senior management interested in an innovative vision of the future of automation. The program includes industry-leading keynote speakers, customer case studies, application oriented workshops, technical training, panel discussions and hands-on demonstrations in over 40,000 square feet of exhibits – one of the most comprehensive automation and power technology showcases ever held in one place.

If you are not able to attend this year’s event, please check http://www.abb.us/ each day for highlights.