STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 14, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Tetra Pak and ABB have agreed to increase their cooperation and jointly develop a plant automation solution, based on the new ABB Industrial IT platform. This suite of Industrial IT applications for liquid foods targets the increasing demands of customization and flexibility in the food and beverage market.
The companies will also cooperate in "supply chain" and product "track and trace" solutions based on ABB's Operations Management System. Through this agreement, Tetra Pak will gain a valuable additional automation base, which together with the existing platform Tetra PlantMaster, will enable it to better serve existing and potential customers in the liquid food market.
Sam Stromersten, President, Tetra Pak Processsing Systems said: "This agreement is completely in line with Tetra Pak's strategy to supply total production solutions of which plant automation forms a critical element. ABB will now become a preferred supplier of plant automation soft ware and its technology will be a valuable complement to our existing portfolio of automation solutions."
Bruce Loxton, head of ABB's business area Telecom and Product Manufacturing Industries said: "A close cooperation with a leading process equipment supplier will considerably increase ABB's business opportunities in this area."
In order to enhance Tetra Pak's capabilities in the area of design and engineering of automation solutions, approximately 50 ABB employees in Sweden, Denmark and Ireland will join Tetra Pak. ABB and Tetra Pak are also exploring the possibilities to extend the agreement to other countries.
Rolf Kronholm, ABB Group account manager for Tetra Pak said: "This new deal, together with the existing cooperation agreement covering robot automation, provides us with a broad base for a substantial expansion of our business with Tetra Pak."
Background information
Tetra Pak is one of the world's leading suppliers of liquid food processing and packaging systems. Tetra Pak operates in more than 165 countries with 20,150 employees and with a turnover in excess of 7 billion Euro.
ABB is a global leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. ABB has approximately 152,000 employees in more than 100 countries.