Photo: ABB
In 2018, ABB Traction was in search of a wire harness supplier that could adapt to the company’s needs and grow together with it. ABB Traction found what it was looking for in Crimppi. Since then, the collaboration has expanded and deepened into a partnership, where knowledge is shared for best results.
ABB’s railway unit, ABB Traction, offers high-performance products and solutions for trains and locomotives in the form of traction converters, energy storage systems, onboard power supplies and battery chargers. The company offers best-in-class traction technology to its customers, and demands the same high quality throughout its supply chain. This quest for quality is shared by Crimppi, who came into contact with ABB Traction through an inhouse recommendation:
“We were introduced to ABB Traction by another ABB division, ABB Drives. In 2018, we kicked off our close collaboration by sending our top-level engineers to Switzerland to understand ABB’s needs on-site. From there onwards, we have been able to prove ourselves and move on to larger and larger projects”, describes Marin Odak, General Manager at Crimppi Croatia.
Photo: ABB
A reliable and flexible supplier
With over two decades of experience in producing cable sets, Crimppi is a reliable and flexible supplier to ABB Traction. Being able to quickly adapt to changing needs, Crimppi provides ABB Traction with the best wire harness solutions on the market that fully align with ABB Traction’s products.
“Crimppi is an important supplier for us that produces and delivers to ABB Traction the product wire harnesses, which are used in our converters and which we sell to our customers”, explains Francis Conod, Global Category Manager at ABB Traction.
Knowledge sharing leads to improved quality and product reliability
Crimppi supports ABB Traction with knowhow already at an early stage in the company’s product development and provides ABB Traction with both technical support and project support.
“What makes Crimppi a good collaboration partner for us is their capability and knowledge of the wire harness product, and also their willingness to develop the partnership together for an easier collaboration. They support us along the process, are experienced and easy to work with. I would recommend them to other suppliers, they are capable and experienced”, notes Conod.
The cornerstone of Crimppi and ABB Traction’s successful collaboration is both party’s readiness to share knowledge with one another. The combined knowledge allows the companies to move forward in big strides and Crimppi to better understand ABB Traction’s operations on all levels. This leads to improved quality and reliability of products and product designs.
Further deepening the collaboration
Since 2022, Crimppi works with all ABB Traction locations in Europe: Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Poland. The collaboration continues with many interesting projects over the continent. Currently, the companies are, for instance, cooperating on technology for the most powerful multi-system locomotive in Europe – an interesting and important project in many ways.
“Our main goal for the future is to continue to support and improve our close collaboration with all ABB Traction locations in Europe. We have still not had the chance to visit all locations and see the faces behind the projects we are working on. Our collaboration is already very good and we look forward to meeting each other and deepening it further”, states Odak.
Photo: ABB
