ABB is now a partner of BMA

ABB and the medium-sized BMA Group significantly strengthened their partnership last year for frequency converters, motors and controllers. For over 150 years, Braunschweigische Maschinenbauanstalt AG (BMA) has been one of the world’s leading suppliers to the sugar and sweetener industry. In more recent times, BMA has been using drives from ABB and since 2009 has also been ordering controllers for its extraction plants and centrifugals for the sugar industry.

The main customer for ABB products is BMA Automation GmbH, a subsidiary of the BMA Group. As the company’s General Manager Bernd Stolte explained, “There is great demand for ABB technology from our customers throughout the world. For this reason, we have chosen a comprehensive solution including frequency converters, motors and controllers from ABB.” Bernd Stolte offered additional key factors in the company’s decision, such as the modern modular, maintenance-friendly converter concept, the straightforward commissioning and the space-saving switchgear cabinets, which are of great benefit in the modernisation of production plants. Furthermore, the communication amongst the individual drives via optical fibers proved decisive due to the importance of drive synchronisation in beet extraction plants.

Braunschweigische Maschinenbauanstalt AG (BMA) and the other companies in the BMA Group supply machinery, apparatus and equipment for industrial-scale processing of renewable raw materials. Their products comprise a wide range of machinery and apparatus for the key processes of their customers around the world. Further business activities include engineering and after-sales services, production, assembly, commissioning, support and training.

As a member of the BMA Group, BMA Automation carries out customised solutions for industrial automation systems focusing on the food and sugar industry. The company employs 26 members of staff and posted a turnover of 3.4m euros in 2008.

In Germany, ABB reported a turnover of 3.69m euros in 2008 and counted some 10,900 employees as of 30 June 2009. ABB is a global leader in power and automation technologies. The company enables utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group employs approximately 117,000 people in around 100 different countries.