ABB hopes network will win 20% of soft-start market

ABB hopes to boost its share of the UK soft-start market to 20% this year through a new "Sofstart Alliance", based on its existing Drives Alliance network. The eight members of the new Alliance will sell soft-starts rated from 3-1,050A, backed by a 24-hour delivery service and technical advice for customers.

Alliance personnel are being trained by ABB on topics such as selecting profile types, measuring power factors, saving energy, and ensuring compliance with EMC legislation. They can also advise customers whether it would be better to use a soft-start or a variable speed drive for a particular application.

"The choice of whether to opt for a drive or a soft-starter can often be a confusing one, with a wrong decision resulting in a solution which is either under- or over-qualified for the job at hand," explains Steve Whittingham, who is managing the Softstart Alliance. "We have trained all of our partners to be able to help customers with this choice and ensure that they get the solution which matches their needs for the best cost, both in the short and long term".

• ABB has appointed two dedicated partners to distribute its recently launched Real-Time Production Intelligence (Real-TPI) software, which is designed to improve productivity. Coventry-based MCS and Maidenhead-based iControl are pooling their resources to create a new service called Sustema. Real-TPI collects and analyses production data and identifies ways of boosting production efficiency. ABB says the software can help manufacturers to recover the estimated 40% of capacity that is wasted through stops and interruptions.