ABB Responds...

"In the recent Control weblog "ABB ships R&D to India," there were some conclusions made about our overall global R&D activity that were not accurate. ABB develops a lot of product technology in a lot places; it seems a bit sensational to take an announcement about an existing R&D center in India and decide that it means ABB closed the R&D lab in Cleveland. In fact, both the R&D center and Research lab in Cleveland are still there and doing very well, thank you. C'mon, Walt, you need to check your facts a little better before standing on your soapbox. Gee, Bob, I didn't say that...I asked why the R&D Center in Cleveland couldn't be expanded. I'm sorry you misunderstood. So let me be clear that I DO know that there is still an R&D center in Cleveland. It just didn't get the 200 jobs that went to India. ABB has a number of global research and development centers that collaborate on product development; the Bangalore and Cleveland centers that you mention in your weblog are just two of them. As a global technology company, ABB has global R&D centers in Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, Poland, China, as well as India and the United States, just to name a few. Therefore, a news item about one R&D center staffing up does not necessarily mean that this is being done at the expense of another. Of course it does, Bob. But we both know the realities. You can get work done in India, Poland and China for a tiny fraction of what it costs to operate in the US or Western Europe. So, rather than concentrating on R&D in the US with a formerly US-based company, you are now part of a global company, and so it goes. System 800xA was developed as a team effort of a number of these centers; Sweden, Norway, Germany, as well the US and India centers worked on, and continue to work on, its development. This was discussed when System 800xA was announced and continues to be the case. Yes, I heard you say that. And I believe that, too. I just felt the need to carry the flag a little. And I want to be clear about something else: I don't believe the quality of work in India is any less than in Cleveland. It is just obviously cheaper. And that doesn't bode well for Cleveland... In prior press briefings we had announced an increased concentration on the US market...our R&D centers in the US continue to work on collaborative development for a number of ABB technologies, including System 800xA. And we did bring our Process Automation business headquarters to the US, as announced previously. So nothing has changed here...with the exception that one of our global R&D centers is expanding." --Bob Hausler, VP Global Systems Marketing, ABB My point, of course, was that the one that was expanding was NOT the one that's here. Thanks, Bob. I do appreciate the feedback. Walt