* system-wide automation development software can reduce project costs by 30% or more!

Wauwatosa, WI, 17 June 2015 --- The speed and efficiency of industrial

control and machinery automation projects is enhanced significantly with a
major new release of ABB's integrated development toolsuite.

Automation Builder 1.1 provides an integrated development environment for
solutions using the spectrum of automation components - including PLCs and
safety PLCs, motion controllers, drives, robots and HMIs - substantially
reducing software complexity and cutting time to market and cost of
ownership.

Among many new features, the latest release of ABB's software extends the
data exchange capabilities with electrical planning and engineering
software, with a new bi-directional interface to the widely-used EPLAN
Electric P8. Electrical automation and PLC design data may be imported,
modified and transferred back to the electrical CAD environment -
eliminating any need to manually enter data and thereby ensuring
synchronization of signal identification between the two software
environments.

The release now includes a comparison function that allows engineers to see
what might have changed since they last looked at a project, and the ability
to use profiles of previous development tool versions for compatibility.

Support for new hardware includes the ability to program the latest member
of the well-known AC500 PLC family - the PM595 CPU - programming ACS880
IEC61131-3 programmable drives and the DCT 880 thyristor power controller,
and developing motion control systems with ABB's new MotiFlex e180 servo
drives or the ACS580 general-purpose drive.

Another important new element of the software is the introduction of an
easy-to-use download and licensing system. ABB offers three licensing
options: a basic version suitable for first time PLC users and engineers
working on smaller-scale automation, motion and drive projects - this is
available at no cost; a standard version which supports integrated
engineering of advanced and complex systems including the use of safety
PLCs; and a premium version.

The premium version incorporates C/C+ programming tools, E-CAD interfaces
and other high level features for optimal productivity and easy
collaboration, and simpler management of engineering data on large-scale
projects involving thousands of I/O points.

With Automation Builder 1.1, users may also automatically update the suite
of software tools to the latest versions using a 'one click' mechanism, and
a single license covers all of the software packages included.

ABB has also introduced many usability improvements to further enhance the
user's productivity. These include simplified drop-down menus, drag-and-drop
features on the object tree, an improved device repository with search and
filter functions, a powerful list editor for AC500 I/O mapping, and a
re-worked help system - to name a few.

Software development is the most expensive element of the vast majority of
automation projects. By providing a unified development environment for the
complete scope of automation projects, ABB is helping application experts,
software and hardware engineers to focus their time and effort purely on
developing the application, and not waste time on the myriad of interfacing
issues that can arise when building solutions using many different types of
automation devices. ABB estimates that the Automation Builder environment
can reduce development engineering effort by around 30% for medium
complexity projects, and deliver even higher savings on large-scale
projects! This is particularly the case for projects involving many
different types of automation components.

Automation Builder provides powerful PLC development resources in the form
of the standards-compliant IEC 61131-3 development environment, and ABB's
Panel Builder tool for creating HMIs. The software suite also includes tools
for configuring and programming the latest generation of ABB's safety PLCs -
the AC500-S family - the RobotStudio tool for simulating and programming ABB
robot applications, and the Mint WorkBench tool with its pre-built and
tested libraries for programming ABB's servo drives.

"Software complexity is the number one project issue today for most
automation OEMs and system integrators. Automation Builder gives automation
developers and owners the means to simplify control engineering and
standardize on a single development platform for all projects - regardless
of scale," says Armin Wallnhoefer of ABB.

Users can find out more and download a trial version of Automation Builder
at: www.abb.com/automationbuilder.