ABB has expanded the generative AI capabilities of its Genix Asset Performance Management (APM) solution. The new component – Genix APM Copilot – offers intuitive functionality and streamlined contextualized data flow across processes and operations.

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_{Stacey Jones, ABB Energy Industries, Digital, Lake Jackson, TX., United States, stacey.jones@us.abb.com}

As industrial operations become more extensive and more sophisticated, the effective management of assets and their performance becomes a critical task. APM is a data-driven approach that optimizes the reliability, efficiency and lifespan of physical assets such as turbines, compressors, electrical breakers and instrumentation. The methodology combines predictive analytics, condition monitoring and maintenance strategies to prevent failures, reduce downtime and improve operational performance. APM is crucial for industrial operations such as oil and gas, chemicals, power and water, where asset failures can lead to costly business disruptions and potential safety and environmental risks.

ABB Genix APM

ABB’s APM offering is the Genix Asset Performance Management Suite. The comprehensive monitoring capability provided by this APM solution moves asset management beyond equipment condition monitoring and diagnostics to provide predictive and prescriptive analytics and optimization models, giving role-specific, actionable insights for quick strategic and tactical decision-making.

Boosting APM with AI

Currently, AI is transforming the world of APM by enhancing predictive maintenance, optimizing asset utilization, reducing downtime and improving overall operational efficiency, sustainability and profitability. By leveraging AI-driven analytics, machine learning models and real-time data processing, businesses can maximize asset performance while reducing costs and risks »01.

ABB Genix APM Copilot

To further leverage real-time data and AI-driven insights, ABB Genix APM now integrates large language models (LLMs) and generative AI capabilities in the cloud, using Microsoft’s Azure Open AI Services. The new capability, ABB Ability Genix APM Copilot, enhances user experience by offering intuitive functionality and streamlining the flow of contextualized data across processes and operations. The companies are collaborating on this implementation of generative AI technology to help industrial customers unlock insights hidden in operational data and increase workflow efficiencies. Improved data insights and a more effective return of assets to optimal operating conditions will enable significant gains in efficiency, productivity, asset reliability and operational safety. Energy consumption and environmental impact can be reduced, too. The enhanced functionality and user experience delivered by the ongoing Microsoft/ABB industry and technology strategic partnership drives safer, more innovative and more sustainable operations across a wide range of industries.

ABB integrates generative AI by tuning LLMs, such as GPT-4, to the relevant platform and applications, enabling functionality such as code, image and text generation. The LLMs are trained on operational and maintenance data derived from industrial assets. In short, the potential of generative AI is used to improve data flow, provide real-time actionable insights and enhance decision-making processes for industry engineers, subject matter experts and executives [1]. Moving beyond the typical human-machine exchange of chat interfaces, Genix APM Copilot connects and takes actions within third-party solutions as part of integrated, agentic workflows.

The role of generative AI in industrial applications

Generative AI represents a significant leap forward in industrial digital solutions. By harnessing the power of LLMs to generate contextualized text, images and recommendations, ABB’s Genix APM Copilot accelerates root-cause investigation and overall decision-making. This added capability ultimately lowers the cost for APM users of investigating an issue and enables the generation of an answer or course of action from within the same workflow. The Genix APM Copilot integration augments predictive maintenance, detailed asset analysis and the automation of complex tasks − all of which are pivotal for optimizing operations and reducing environmental impact.

Key features and benefits of Genix APM Copilot

Genix APM Copilot is designed to transform the way industries manage and maintain their assets by providing:

Enhanced alert management by supplying intelligent support to help users prioritize and address critical alerts efficiently.
Predictive and diagnostic insights that assist root-cause investigation based on embedded physics-based models and sensor rankings.
An action support environment. For example, a work request in the maintenance management system can be created directly from APM workflows.
Intuitive user interaction. Copilot offers a chat or voice experience that allows users to interact with the system through natural language queries. This feature simplifies data retrieval and analysis, making it accessible to users at all levels.

Transformation with Genix APM Copilot

The deployment of generative AI through ABB’s Genix APM Copilot is poised to bring about transformative changes in industrial operations. As described above, improved data analysis and remediation will substantially improve efficiency, productivity, asset reliability and operational safety while reducing energy consumption. Insights into actions have never been faster or more intuitive. These advancements align with ABB’s corporate commitment to enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient future.

Businesses running the Genix platform have already seen up to 40 percent cost savings in operations and maintenance, up to 30 percent improvement in production efficiency and up to 25 percent improvements in energy and emission optimization [1]. The introduction of generative AI capabilities is expected to amplify these benefits further, ushering customers into a new era of AI-driven decision-making.

ABB’s Genix APM Copilot, powered by generative AI, represents a significant milestone in the evolution of industrial digital solutions. By integrating cutting-edge AI technology with ABB’s extensive domain expertise, this collaboration with Microsoft is set to revolutionize asset performance management, driving efficiency, sustainability and operational excellence across the industrial landscape.

References
[1] ABB, “ABB and Microsoft collaborate to bring generative AI to industrial applications.” Available: https://new.abb.com/news/detail/104829/abb-and-microsoft-collaborate-to-bring-generative-ai-to-industrial-applications. [Accessed February 13, 2025.]

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