On the afternoon of 17^th Nov, Mr. Fabrice THOMAS, VP Head of Supply Management of ABB, gave a speech for SPEIT subject on “Global Management in a Growing Environment: ABB Robotics Supply Chain”.

Mr. Fabrice THOMAS mainly focused on related topics: Robotic market, supply chain evolution and intercultural management. As is known, China has become the world’s largest and fastest-growing market for industrial robots. In 2014, the annual sales of industrial robots in China surpassed 57,000, 56% higher than its previous year or accounting for 25% of the global supply. As the first phase of a three-stage plan for China to become a manufacturing power, China officially unveiled the “Made in China 2025” plan this May and listed robots among the 10 key sectors that China will focus on.

Mr. Fabrice THOMAS thinks, along with the booming robotic industry, the development of robotic applications including software and hardware as well as talent cultivation has increasingly become the key for deploying robots on the production lines.

Note: Mr. Fabrice THOMAS, VP Head of Supply Management, ABB Engineering (Shanghai) Ltd. He received a MBA degree in HEC Paris. ABB is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility, industry, and transport and infrastructure customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in roughly 100 countries and employs about 140,000 people, with revenues of around $40 billion in 2014.