The host of the first Factory Day at Finepoint’s Circuit Breaker Maintenance and Training Conference is once again opening its doors to conference goers this year. ABB previously hosted Factory Day in 1996, 2000 and 2005 and this year is offering a tour of its high-voltage dead-tank circuit breaker factory and aftermarket high-voltage service shop.

“Participants will see a world-class manufacturing facility recently constructed in 2003, which incorporates the latest in state-of-the-art production, assembly and testing methods,” said Bart Gaskey, marketing manager for ABB’s High-Voltage Aftermarket Services Group. “The participants will tour the factory that builds new products and the service shop, which supports legacy equipment that may be 40 or 50 years old.”

The day will consist of a paper session, where ABB will present new technology innovations, developments and case studies. Then attendees will tour the factory production shop to see equipment being manufactured.

“It’s a good chance for the users to see the in-depth, internal processes, which they may never get to see during the course of normal breaker operation,” Gaskey said. “Now the users can better understand what really makes these devices tick.”

Gaskey said that users will be more comfortable with the simplicity of operations and maintenance of the equipment while witnessing the built-in quality once they have gone through a tour.

ABB also sees the Factory Day as an opportunity to connect with the users of its equipment and share best practices. “It’s not just an opportunity to say what we’re doing; it’s an opportunity to understand what everyone else is doing and where the two groups mesh for the betterment of the industry.”

The paper sessions usually include discussion portion where ABB invites the participants to offer comments and suggestions. “Maybe there are issues important to the users that we as a major OEM aren’t thinking of or and maybe there are things that we currently offer that the users aren’t aware of.
A big thanks to Finepoint for making this conference a win for everyone involved," Gaskey said.

The Factory Day will be held on Oct. 2, 2007. See http://www.circuitbreakerconference.com for more information.