ABB gives Southwest Aluminum's cold-rolling operations a digital upgrade

ABB will supply integrated automation, process control and digital technologies for two cold-rolling mills operated by Southwest Aluminum (Group) Co., Ltd. in Chongqing, China, as the aluminium producer expands and modernises its wide-strip manufacturing capabilities. Both mills are expected to be fully commissioned and operational by the end of 2027.

The project involves a 2,500 mm two-stand six-high cold rolling mill and a 3,000 mm single-stand six-high cold rolling mill. ABB's technology package will include its Ability System 800xA distributed control system, drives, flatness control, sensing and measurement technologies.

The two production lines will use standardised automation architectures designed to improve compatibility between systems, establish consistent operating environments and simplify maintenance and spare-parts management.

Digital technologies to improve production and quality control

Alongside the automation systems, ABB will implement its Ability Smart Manufacturing Solution for Cold Rolling Mill across both production lines. The platform will integrate production, quality and equipment data, enabling operators to assess mill performance, monitor product quality and evaluate equipment conditions.

ABB Ability History, an industrial time-series data management platform, will collect and store high-frequency process information for further analysis. This data will help monitor important rolling parameters, including thickness deviation and flatness, supporting greater visibility into production performance.

The technology package will also incorporate ABB's Golden Coil analysis methodology, which is designed to identify and replicate operating practices associated with product quality, productivity, yield and energy consumption.

By bringing together production information and process analytics, the digital systems are intended to help Southwest Aluminum identify performance variations and improve consistency across its rolling operations.

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Predictive maintenance to support equipment reliability

ABB's digital solutions will also integrate condition monitoring, drive performance analysis and hydraulic diagnostics. These capabilities will help identify potential equipment faults earlier, support predictive maintenance and improve maintenance planning.

The standardised automation architecture across both mills is expected to provide a consistent operating environment while reducing complexity in equipment management and maintenance.

Frederik Esterhuizen, global business line manager, metals and power conversion, in ABB's process industries division, said the projects build on the companies' longstanding relationship.

"The two projects build on the experience ABB and Southwest Aluminum have developed together over many years," Esterhuizen said. "Cold rolling places demanding requirements on process stability, control accuracy and equipment availability. Applying a common automation architecture across the two mills, together with deeper analysis of process and equipment data, will give Southwest Aluminum a strong foundation for optimizing performance throughout the operating life of the lines," he stated. 

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Southwest Aluminum advances wide-strip production capabilities

The investment forms part of Southwest Aluminum's efforts to expand and modernise its wide-strip production operations. The two mills will combine process automation with digital analytics to support production control, equipment availability and manufacturing consistency.

With commissioning expected by the end of 2027, the projects will bring together ABB's automation and digital manufacturing technologies across two major cold-rolling lines.

The development highlights the growing role of integrated automation, production data analysis and predictive maintenance in modern aluminium manufacturing, where process stability, product quality and equipment reliability are essential to industrial performance.

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