ABB is to invest €100 million in a global innovation and training campus in industrial automation at home of B&R in Eggelsberg, Upper Austria. The campus will focus on innovative technologies for the smart factory of the future, based on ABB Ability, in which production will be undertaken autonomously by smart and cloud-connected machines and robots.
The new research and development campus will cover 35.000 mq, and alongside the new ultra-modern R&D laboratories, which will develop and test the new automation technologies, from industrial control systems up to machine learning and artificial intelligence, the facility will also host an Automation Academy to train and educate customers, partners and employees in these technologies. The important investment, one year after the announcement of the acquisition of B&R, lays the foundation for around 1.000 new high-tech jobs in Austria. ABB is thus delivering on its Next Level strategy, which defines innovation as a key driver of profitable growth.
The company invests $ 1,4 billion in R&D annually, and has a team of around 30.000 R&D and application engineers, with also 1.000 B&R employees working in R&D and application development. The ground-breaking ceremony is planned for this summer, and the new campus is expected to be up and running in the course of 2020.