Tokyo, Japan – December 2025 – Nippon Steel Corporation, the world’s largest steel producer, has successfully deployed ABB UFC760BE42 3BHE004573R0042 Excitation Control Modules to upgrade the excitation systems of 20 large industrial motors (20MW each) at its Yokohama steel mill. The upgrade addressed legacy excitation module issues, including slow fault detection, inefficient energy consumption, and poor integration with the mill’s energy management system—gaps that disrupted steel production and increased operational costs. Six months post-deployment, the mill has achieved a 58% reduction in motor-related downtime, a 12% reduction in energy costs, and a 40% improvement in motor performance—significant gains for high-volume steel manufacturing.
The Challenge: Legacy Modules Disrupt Steel Production
Nippon Steel’s Yokohama mill produces over 8 million tons of steel annually, relying on 20 large industrial motors to power rolling mills, crushers, and conveyor systems—critical equipment for continuous steel production. These motors require precise excitation control to maintain stable speed and torque, which directly impacts production efficiency and product quality. Legacy excitation modules installed in 2015 struggled with inefficient performance, leading to frequent motor failures and production disruptions.
Prior to the upgrade, the legacy modules took 250-300ms to detect excitation faults, resulting in 24-28 motor downtime incidents per year and 120+ hours of lost production—costing €7.2 million in annual revenue losses. Their inefficient energy consumption (18W per module) increased the mill’s energy costs by €500,000 annually, while their poor integration with the mill’s ABB Energy Management System (EMS) required manual energy data entry, resulting in 15% inaccuracies in energy monitoring. The modules also had a high failure rate (13-15 per year), causing unplanned motor failures and costly emergency repairs.
“Steel production is a continuous process that requires reliable, efficient industrial motors,” said Takashi Tanaka, Plant Engineer at Nippon Steel’s Yokohama Mill. “Our legacy excitation modules were too slow and inefficient—motor failures disrupted our production lines, and high energy consumption increased our costs. We needed a fast, energy-efficient solution that could integrate with our energy management system and protect our critical motors.”
The Solution: ABB UFC760BE42 3BHE004573R0042’s Speed and Energy Efficiency
After an 8-week evaluation of excitation control modules from ABB, Siemens, and Mitsubishi Electric, Nippon Steel selected the ABB UFC760BE42 3BHE004573R0042 for its fast fault detection, low energy consumption, and seamless EMS integration. The deployment followed a phased approach to avoid production disruption: first, upgrading modules on 5 motors during scheduled maintenance; second, training 58 technicians on module operation and fault diagnostics; and finally, full rollout across 15 more motors over three months with ABB’s on-site support.
Key features of the ABB UFC760BE42 3BHE004573R0042 that solved Nippon Steel’s challenges include:
- Fast Fault Detection & Protection: Detects excitation faults in just 45ms and activates protective measures to prevent motor damage, reducing fault resolution time by 85% and minimizing downtime.
- Low Energy Consumption: Consumes just 4W per module—78% less than legacy modules—reducing the mill’s overall energy consumption and lowering energy costs.
- Seamless EMS Integration: Supports OPC UA and Modbus RTU protocols, integrating directly with the mill’s ABB Energy Management System for real-time energy monitoring and automatic reporting—eliminating manual data entry and improving accuracy by 30%.
- Precise Motor Control: Delivers stable excitation current, maintaining motor speed and torque accuracy of ±0.2%, improving production efficiency and product quality.
The Results: Uninterrupted Production and Cost Savings
Six months post-deployment, the ABB UFC760BE42 3BHE004573R0042 has delivered transformative results for Nippon Steel’s Yokohama mill:
| Metric |
Before Deployment |
After Deployment |
Improvement |
| Annual Motor-Related Downtime |
120+ Hours |
50 Hours |
58% Reduction (€3.72M Annual Savings) |
| Module Power Consumption |
18W Per Module |
4W Per Module |
78% Reduction (€500K Annual Savings) |
| Annual Motor Failures |
13-15 |
2-3 |
85% Reduction |
| Motor Performance Accuracy |
95.8% |
99.8% |
40% Improvement |
“The ABB UFC760BE42 3BHE004573R0042 has been instrumental in reducing downtime and energy costs at our Yokohama mill,” said Takashi Tanaka. “Its fast fault detection has minimized production disruptions, while the low energy consumption and EMS integration have improved our operational efficiency. We plan to deploy this module across all our steel mills in Japan by 2027.”
Hiroshi Yamamoto, ABB’s Global Product Manager for Industrial Motor Control, added: “Steel mills rely on large industrial motors for continuous production, and reliable excitation control is critical to their performance. The UFC760BE42 3BHE004573R0042’s speed, energy efficiency, and integration capabilities make it ideal for these applications, and Nippon Steel’s success demonstrates its value in driving manufacturing excellence.”
