ABB will manage and operate three on-site facilities at BHP’s Flat Products Division at Port Kembla, providing machining, fabrication and heat treatment services, which were formerly part of BHP’s Manufacturing Services Group.
“The contract is a major coup for ABB. It creates challenges and opportunities which will further position ABB as the preferred partner to create value for customers such as BHP,” said Richard Kelleway, head of ABB Australia’s Process Industries Division.
“If we help our customers become more successful in a business environment of accelerating globalization, deregulation, consolidation and eBusiness, we will boost our growth as well,” he said.
The agreement is linked to a minimum workload guarantee from BHP over the first four years of operation. In return, ABB will realise service level efficiency improvements for BHP. ABB will provide the existing range of services, as well as additional services focused on asset maintenance and reliability improvement.
ABB will not restrict services to BHP but will also market to the Illawarra region and beyond. “For ABB, this is a new milestone in our relationship with BHP Port Kembla and the Illawarra community which has spanned over 40 years,” said Mark Southey, head of ABB Australia’s Asset Management and Service Division.
“We are making a strong commitment to the region by maintaining the workshops located on the BHP Port Kembla site at Steelhaven, investing resources into the facility and employing a local workforce of around 90 people.
“These facilities are a complementary fit to our local resources and significantly enhance our ability to provide comprehensive services to our customers.
“By outsourcing non-strategic operations such as this, BHP can focus itself on its core activities of steel making while taking advantage of ABB’s experience in successfully managing operations of this type,” said Mr Southey.
ABB (www.abb.com/) serves manufacturing, process and consumer industries, utilities, and the oil and gas sector, with 160,000 employees in more than 100 countries. In Australia, ABB consists of six divisions – Utilities, Power Technology Products, Process Industries, Automation Technology Products, Manufacturing & Consumer Industries and Asset Management & Services.
