Introduction
ABB Ltd is a corporation organized under
the laws of Switzerland. In this Form
SD and the attached Conflict
Minerals Report (included as Exhibit
1.01), “ABB”, the “Company”,
“we”, and “our” refer to ABB Ltd and
its consolidated
subsidiaries. ABB is a foreign private
issuer as defined under Rule
405 of Regulation C under the Securities
Act of 1933 and
Rule 3b-4 under the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934. Our shares are
listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange,
the NASDAQ OMX
Stockholm Exchange and were listed on
the New York Stock Exchange (in the form of American Depositary
Shares) through
May 22, 2023.
Conflict minerals are defined as cassiterite,
columbite-tantalite and wolframite, and their
derivatives, which are
limited to tin, tantalum and tungsten,
as well as gold (3TG). The functionality
of a substantial portion of our global
product
portfolio relies on the use of direct
materials, especially electronic components,
which include amounts of tin, tantalum,
tungsten or gold (
necessary conflict minerals
). For example, tin, tantalum,
tungsten and gold are each contained
respectively
in weld wire, capacitors, electronic
contacts and electrical connection
coatings, each of which are components
in many of our
products. Our operating businesses
and their products are described in more
detail below.
In 2023, we operated our business
through four Business Areas which
are aligned based on products
and services.
The Business Areas were:
Electrification, Motion, Process Automation,
and Robotics & Discrete Automation.
We also have
certain insignificant business operations
relating to our remaining
engineering, procurement, and
construction (EPC)
contracts, which are being wound down
and managed in a separate business
unit outside of those businesses.
The description
of our businesses
and their main products in 2023
is as follows:
●
Electrification:
manufactures and sells electrical products
and solutions which are designed to
provide safe, smart
and sustainable electrical flow from
the substation to the socket. The portfolio
of increasingly digital and
connected solutions includes renewable
power solutions, modular substation
packages, distribution automation
products, switchboards and panelboards,
switchgear, UPS solutions, circuit breakers,
measuring and sensing
devices, control products, wiring
accessories, enclosures and cabling systems
and intelligent home and building
solutions, designed to integrate and
automate lighting, heating, ventilation,
security and data communication
networks.
●
Motion:
designs, manufactures,
and sells drives, motors, generators
and traction converters that are driving
the
low-carbon future for industries,
cities, infrastructure and transportation.
These products, digital technology
and
related services enable industrial customers
to increase energy efficiency, improve safety and reliability, and
achieve precise control of their processes.
●
Process Automation:
offers a broad range of industry-specific,
integrated automation, electrification
and digital
solutions, as well as lifecycle services
for the process, hybrid and
marine industries. The product portfolio
includes
control technologies, industrial software,
advanced analytics, sensing and measurement
technology, and marine
propulsion systems. In addition, Process Automation
offers a comprehensive range of services,
from repair to
advanced digital capabilities such as
remote monitoring, preventive maintenance,
asset performance management,
emission monitoring and cybersecurity.
●
Robotics & Discrete Automation:
provides industrial and collaborative
robots, autonomous mobile robotics,
mapping and navigation solutions, robotic
solutions, field services,
spare parts and digital services. The Business
Area also specializes in automation
solutions based on its programmable
logic controllers (PLC), industrial PCs
(IPC), servo motion, transport systems
and machine vision.