Manufacturing Plant Modernization

Project Overview

Under the direction of the engineering director, we performed a plant audit and overhaul which included retrofitting systems, removing certain bottlenecks, conversions of SCADA / control systems to a specific standard, augmenting operator workflow, and more.

Project Details

We were approached to help with a conversion of Wonderware to FActoryTalk View SE as part of a corporate effort to standardize on Rockwell Automation equipment. During the conversion, we've identified various areas of improvement for the facility - migration from legacy systems (PLC 5, SLC 500, TI505, etc.), revamp of their networking architecture, and a substantial overhaul of control system from manual to automated.

As the project unfolded, we've not only migrated to FTView SE, but delivered a much more automated control architecture to the entire facility. Numerous areas were migrated to the CompactLogix / ControlLogix platforms, connected to the network, automated, had PID loops added to them, instrumentation revamped, etc.

Project Impact

The facility has seen substantial production improvements in the following areas:

1. The batching process has become much more consistent.
2. The operator training time has been significantly reduced (it took over 6 months to ramp up a new operator in the control room due to "complex" manual controls).
3. The process quality defects have been greatly reduced - this was possible using signals from various PLCs and VFDs that were now on the plant network.
4. Reduction of "ghost network stops" - the network was completely unmanaged which led to various issues.