The two companies aim to provide their customers within digital industries an "end-to-end offering of advanced open digital solutions", ranging from product life-cycle management to asset health solutions.

The partnership is combining ABB Ability, which offers digital solutions for planning, building and operating of industrial operations, with Dassault Systèmes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform, through which industrial companies can integrate 3-D applications to create digital twins.

ABB has already adopted the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to model and simulate its solutions before delivering them to customers.

With this partnership, ABB said it will develop and provide customers with advanced digital twins, enabling customers to run ABB's solutions and their operations with improved overall efficiency, flexibility and sustainability.

"Together, we are offering an open, end-to-end digital portfolio - from digital twin to asset health - that gives our customers a competitive edge, building on our combined offering, domain expertise and global reach," said ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer.

"ABB is adding Dassault Systèmes to its strong partner network for industrial digitalisation, including Microsoft, HPE and IBM."

The ABB-Dassault Systèmes partnership will initially focus on factory automation and robotics through digital twin experiences for end-to-end optimisation of processes and systems, electrification solutions for smart buildings, and process industry automation.

According to ABB, competitive pressure in process industries, such as mining, requires companies to continuously look for new ways to increase safety, productivity and energy efficiency of sites, while reducing costs and risk of daily operations.

A digital model of the underground environment, in connection with mine planning and control systems, would allow to optimise energy consumption and mine automation, as well as enable mine operators to monitor and optimise production in real time, while running virtual simulations of future scenarios.