Challenge
Complex upgrades require advanced expertise. Experienced system integrators will use a holistic approach to fully scope automation system upgrades and consider how the project’s complexities will impact the customer’s budget, uptime, timeline, or performance requirements. An example of this was a PLC-5 and SCADA application upgrade for a leading rice milling company. The company had an obsolete PLC-5 controlling their rice finishing line, in addition to an obsolete SCADA application controlling their entire facility. The legacy SCADA system was costly to keep operational, and the existing network caused communications issues between the customer’s production areas. The customer needed a new PLC program to be installed within a 48-hour timeframe to minimize production impacts, and the existing SCADA system needed to remain operational during the migration to Inductive Automation’s Ignition platform. E Tech Group was engaged as the customer’s choice system integrator given their advanced expertise in system migration and the successful execution of projects at the customer’s other facilities.
Solution
E Tech Group’s goal is to set the customer up for long-term success, not just short-term gains. The project team created a site inventory of the customer’s existing PLCs, network, computers, and applications. PLC specifications were quickly defined, and long lead items were ordered. The project team remained in constant communication with the customer to keep them well-informed across the different project stages and how to best utilize the new system. The project included upgrades to servers, computer, and network switches in collaboration with the customer’s IT department, the upgrade to Ignition SCADA software across six applications with approximately 500 screens, and the upgrade to two ControlLogix PLC chassis.
Results
The SCADA upgrade was completed in several phases and each application was upgraded individually. This helped minimize impacts to the customer’s production efforts and enabled the legacy and new SCADA applications to run simultaneously so the customer’s personnel could learn the new SCADA software. E Tech Group staffed the project with subject matter experts in the Ignition SCADA platform, control engineering, and complex system migrations. E Tech Group leverages this diverse, multidisciplinary engineering approach to create intelligent automation solutions for the customer’s long-term success and the opportunity to support their operations in the years to come.
Challenge
A supplier of Latin food products was challenged to increase the efficiency of their canned goods sterilization process. Their goal was to move away from a manual sterilization process and move into the future with automation. The food products supplier engaged E Tech Group to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and the flexibility of their operations given their in-depth experience in automating manual processes.
Solution
The first step was developing a solid system design. E Tech Group’s project team built the controls scheme from the ground up with considerations specific to the customer’s processing needs and sterilization standards. These considerations included hardware reliably, accurate instrumentation, and logical program flow.
The automated process design leveraged the customer’s existing controls and integrated new technologies. This included an Allen Bradley CompactLogix Controller, Flex IO Remote Rack, PanelView HMI, ABB Drives, safety monitoring relay, and instrumentation for high temperature environments. The detailed system design allowed for a smooth installation and commissioning of the project.
Results
E Tech Group staffed the project with subject matter experts in instrumentation, Ethernet-enabled devices, temperature control, safety equipment, and electrical design to support a successful execution. The project team designed, developed, tested, and commissioned the project in about six weeks and helped the customer reach their goal of increased efficiency. The automated sterilization process helped increase the customer’s production rates in comparison to their previous manual process, and provided enhanced data reporting to make informed production decisions. With the automated sterilization process in place, the customer is able to improve the productivity, accuracy, and flexibility of their operations.
Challenge
Heating and cooling technology has come a long way in recent decades. Upgrading legacy HVAC controls can be a daunting project for many businesses where downtime is simply not an option. This was a challenge faced by a California-based wine company who needed to recontrol their HVAC system in one of their largest production facilities. The original system was outdated, hard to maintain, and only supported local control. The wine company engaged E Tech Group to upgrade their HVAC controls and integrate Inductive Automation’s Ignition SCADA system for improved efficiency and system reliability.
Solution
The first step was to identify how the customer’s existing system was designed and functioned. Due to limited documentation of the original install or existing modifications, the project team completed extensive field research to determine the current system’s functionality. Once accomplished, E Tech Group worked closely with the customer to add additional functionality to the system’s efficiency and reliability. The project team leveraged Allen Bradley ControlLogix PAC with ethernet remote IO and integrated Inductive Automation’s Ignition HMI platform for remote control plus a panel mount touch PC for local control. Throughout this process, the project team’s goal was to integrate the new system with little to no interruption to the customer’s current operations. With careful planning and coordination with the customer and other contractors, E Tech Group deployed a smooth transition to the upgraded HVAC controls system with no downtime.
Results
The project was completed in about four months. With the new system, the wine company can experience new remote monitoring functionality and the ability to receive mobile notifications of critical failures. E Tech Group staffed the project with subject matter experts in HVAC controls, the Ignition platform, and project management. Experienced controls engineers used their knowledge to create a robust PLC control backbone for HVAC controls and an efficient system design integrating the Ignition SCADA platform. Project management coordinated the implementation of the project to meet the customers goals and supported a smooth transition to the new system with no interruptions. To date, E Tech Group has completed four HVAC and refrigeration related projects for the customer and is currently in progress to complete another refrigeration project.
Barnum Mechanical Inc. hosted an interview with the CEO of The Better Meat Co. to discuss how Barnum Mechanical and E Tech Group supported their new production facility.
Many food processors create a proof of concept in several sizing stages before they build a full-scale processing facility. Designing an automated processing facility requires flexibility in the design and the ability to constantly improve the system with things discovered through research and development efforts. This is the story of how The Better Meat Co. partnered with Barnum Mechanical Inc. and E Tech Group to design, build, and automate a full-scale processing system at The Better Meat Co.’s new mycoprotein fermentation facility in Sacramento, California. Industry partner Barnum Mechanical teamed up with E Tech Group to support an expedited completion timeline.
Solution
The Better Meat Co. needed a full-scale processing system built from the ground up. The first step was understanding The Better Meat Co.’s current laboratory operations and what they were expecting to do in the new industrial scoped system. The project team assessed existing equipment, current system requirements, and collaborated with various stakeholders to best design the full-scale processing system, keeping alternative meat processing standards and scalable performance capabilities top-of-mind. “We have never built a fermentation plant before, whereas Barnum and E Tech Group had.” explains Paul Shapiro, CEO of The Better Meat Co. “They had a lot of experience that was very helpful in informing the decisions that we would end up making. And many of these decisions I don’t think would have been so simple for us to figure out on our own . . . They were partners with us in helping us decide what type of a design we wanted in the first place.”
The project team leveraged their expertise in automated control systems and process design to create a custom solution. The project team connected new Allen Bradley ControlLogix PLCs to Inductive Automation’s Ignition HMI application and SCADA software over an Ethernet switch. During this phase, multiple experts from both engineering firms collaborated and programmed simultaneously. The project team accomplished a software redundant control system that was capable of developer remote access support, redundant databases, recipe controls, historic data logs, and interactive reports. All of this supported The Better Meat Co.’s ability to control efficiency, remain flexible to meet new production cycles, and make real-time, data-driven decisions.
“We need lots of flexibility and variability in our facility because everything that we’re doing on our pilot scale is designed to inform what we may do at our future fermentation facility. And so, we don’t want just one process that we could lock in here.” added Shapiro. “What we’ve done with Barnum and with E Tech Group is to create a plant that actually has a lot of flexibility in terms of what we’re able to do . . . The system that Barnum and E Tech Group helped to build allows us to experiment, simultaneously with different types of feedstocks so that we can sterilize different media in order to run different types of fermentations.”
In a few short months, the automated system was capable of successfully developing The Better Meat Co. products on demand. “. . . If you can afford to add automation, it’s a good idea to do it,” endorses Shapiro when asked his thoughts on the value of automation. To date, the new system continues to support The Better Meat Co. and has not experienced a technical outage since its deployment.
Barnum Mechanical and E Tech Group enjoyed the opportunity to partner on this project to deliver a flexible system that is scalable for The Better Meat Co.’s growing operations. To learn more about the project and the customer’s satisfaction, we welcome you to watch the interview with Paul Shapiro, CEO of The Better Meat Co.