ABB Automation & Power World 2011, held in Orlando, Florida last month (April 18-21), exceeded projected event attendance expectations. The conference attracted a record number of participants for any ABB event, totaling more than 4,200 attendees.

ABB also announced the dates and venue for ABB Automation & Power World 2012. The event will return to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, on April 23-26, 2012.

ABB Automation & Power World is a three-day, comprehensive users conference and exhibition that showcases ABB’s extensive automation and power offerings under one roof. The 2011 event included more than over 500 hours of workshops, customer case histories, partner presentations, and hands-on training sessions, as well as the exhibit hall and unique demonstration areas.

ABB designed its largest customer event for automation, robotics, industrial power and utility power users in engineering, operations, mill, plant, general management, and executive management in a wide variety of industries. Organized workshops, as well as information networking with ABB experts, industry experts and end user peers helped attendees share best practices, as well as learn how to reduce costs while improving their productivity and efficiency, be more competitive in today's challenging economic environment, and build the foundation for future growth and prosperity.

The continued convergence of key market issues, such as the need to improve energy efficiency, optimize all aspects of manufacturing productivity and use of raw materials, and critical issues such as cybersecurity and process safety, have exponentially increased interest for automation and power customers.