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ABB Drives at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center
demonstrate to the ABB team how their work helps save lives
If you have ever wanted to appreciate why quality and fast order fulfillment are crucial to healthcare facilities managers and all end users, you would have enjoyed being part of the visit ABB personnel working in the New Berlin factory made to the Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee in 2009. ABB staff Gene Brittain, Paul Jacob, Houxeng Xiong, Alan Pelishek, and Seng Yang volunteered for the visit to St. Luke’s, to see how drives leaving the factory reach their final destinations. The visit began at JMB & Associates, the local ABB Representative for HVAC products, serving the medical center. Jody Seidler, the service manager for JMB & Associates, explained to the group how “having ABB support us enables us to serve customers on a daily basis.” |
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Jody Seidler of JMB & Associates explains how ABB drives control fans in the medical center’s 3-filter air supply system.
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Jody Seidler of JMB & Associates, shows Alan Pelishek, far left, and Houxen Xiong, far right, how the medical center’s cooling tower works.
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He explained that the advantage of ABB drives is the fast warranty and “hot job” turnaround time on emergency orders. “Competitor units have to go back to the factory and sit. ABB has the ability to replace a unit within hours. This can be a big advantage for future sales. A lot of the time, the way to win customers is with the hot, one-piece orders for emergencies.”
In the case of St. Luke’s, it’s a good partnership, Seidler noted, and “most hospitals throughout the state utilize ABB products, due to their quality—and the service and performance that our business works day and night to deliver with these products.” |
Clean air and temperature control helps save lives
In many instances, the failure of a drive in the field can result in production downtime and significant financial loss; in the case of St. Luke’s and other medical facilities like it, the failure of a drive can be much more catastrophic.
Cherian Varghese, HVAC Supervisor at St. Luke’s, explained to the group that, in hospital environments, “HVAC systems are vital because, just as one example, for surgeons, any fluctuation in temperature can cause their glasses or computer screens to fog, and that impedes critical conditions, so it is crucial to keep air temperatures in control.”
Along with temperature control, ABB drives also control the fans for the hospital’s 3-filter system, which filters the “supply” air into the building and surgical rooms, keeping the air sterile and preventing infection. “Hospitals never close,” noted Cherian, “so reliability is key—and we are very pleased with how ABB VFD’s helps us ensure these operating conditions that we need.” |
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Cherian Varghese, HVAC Supervisor at St. Luke’s Medical Center, shows ABB employees three of the ABB HVAC drives used on the facilities’ cooling towers.
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St. Luke’s has nearly 100 ABB drives controlling cooling towers, chilled water pumps and supply and return fans throughout the facility, including in the new Patient Tower—the 12 storey, 430,000-square-feet addition that houses eight new operating rooms, 78 intensive care units, and 192 private patient rooms.
A circle of care
When the ABB employees were asked about their experience on this customer visit, Gene Brittain, a regional application engineer, noted, “It’s easy to see how every person has a hand in providing the highest product quality and support possible, so hospitals like St. Luke’s feel confident to use our products.”
ABB, Automation Products, Low Voltage Drives, is the world’s largest manufacturer of electric motors and drives. In the USA, an integrated channel of sales representatives, distributors, and system integrators allow ABB, New Berlin, Wisconsin, to supply a complete line of energy-efficient electric drives, motors and engineered drive systems to a wide range of industrial and commercial customers. Products manufactured include AC and DC variable speed drives for electric motors from 1/8th through 135,000 HP, and application-specific drive system solutions to meet diverse customer needs (www.abb.us/drives).
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 120,000 people.
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