Case Study: ABB achieves predictive maintenance for railway power converters with Embever Cloud-as-a-Module

ABB launches predictive maintenance for railway power converters with Embever, retrofitting trams in Zurich and Vienna

ABB, a global leader in electrification and automation, faced the challenge of lacking post-delivery insights into its auxiliary power converters for railway vehicles. Without real-time data, ABB was unable to offer proactive services, which negatively impacted maintenance costs and system availability. To address this need for predictive maintenance, ABB partnered with vendor Embever to implement a solution.

Embever developed a customized IoT solution using its Cloud-as-a-Module Sora hardware, which was seamlessly integrated via an I2C interface and connected to a tailored dashboard. This allowed ABB to launch a new predictive maintenance product with a low initial investment. The solution enables continuous monitoring, minimizes downtime, prevents collateral damage, and has led to significant cost savings for customers and a remarkable improvement in customer satisfaction. The system is already in use on trams in Zurich and Vienna.

ABB