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Delivering a 1.5 Year ROI on a $2M Line Automation Recontrol

A steel service center was experiencing a troubling trend in increasing downtime and scrap losses. E Tech Group proposed modernized controls and programmable drives, implementing an automation solution with a 12-18 month projected ROI.

The Project: Troubleshoot Black Box Automation Equipment

A larger steel service center client was seeing troubling trends in its temper mill cut to length line: increasing downtime, lower-than-desired yields, and higher scrap losses. The client was hampered in its ability to troubleshoot and improve the processes because the OEM equipment and its controls and drives programs were a “black box” solution. This meant only the OEM and its technicians had the source code of the software used to run the equipment.

The Solution: Partnering Rockwell & Siemen’s Automation Products

Enter E Tech Group: a leading North American control system integrator providing top-tier industrial automation services for clients across sectors. With a 30-year Center of Excellence in the Metals Industry, electrical and mechanical engineering expertise, and deep knowledge of coordinated drive systems and automation modernization, E Tech Group consultants studied the client’s entire temper mill line. This included evaluating all of the upstream and downstream processes, the equipment and automation platforms, and the variety of alloys being cut to length.

E Tech Group’s study resulted in the delivery of a fully priced and detailed design/build/deliver solution. Modernized controls and programmable drives were the solution foundation needed to address the core problems of uptime, performance, and open platforms our client would be able to support internally and over the system life cycle.

E Tech Group has held long-term partnerships with key automation manufacturers, having executed thousands upgrades and recontrol projects over the past thirty years. As a Gold System Integrator with Rockwell and Solution Partner with Siemens, E Tech Group confidently proposed utilizing the Rockwell PLC and Siemens Drives – a combination used often throughout many of E Tech Group’s previous projects in order to deliver the “best of breed” for both the PLC and Drives platforms.

In addition, newly replaced levelers, hydraulic stands and piping were coupled with the far more accurate sensor and data reporting from the new PLCs and Drives back to the operators for enhanced and timely notification and decision making.

The Results: Significant Changes that Add Immediate & Future Value

The elegant design of the new control system architecture reaped almost immediate rewards; the results of this recontrol were obvious in just two months:

Uptime is now >95% versus 80% on average
Flatness of rolled steel is better than when the equipment was first installed
Scrap losses are trending significantly lower
Cost of ownership and operation is much lower with an open platform and training from E Tech Group; the client’s onsite maintenance team is already first line of support with E Tech Group automation and IT professionals assisting remotely as needed
Flexibility to manage and innovate has greatly improved with the open code and easy access to trained support resources

Finally completed and fully operational, the total investment for E Tech Group’s turnkey factory automation solution was roughly $2 million. Based on the client feedback noted above – improved uptime, better performance and reduced scrap – ROI for this project will happen in just 12-18 months.

Learn More About Automation for Alternative Proteins

| February 2, 2023

Delivering a 1.5 Year ROI on a $2M Line Automation Recontrol

A large steel service center client was seeing troubling trends in its temper mill cut-to-length line: increasing downtime, lower-than-desired yields, and higher scrap losses. The client needed the problem(s) identified and mitigated ASAP so as to avoid more productivity loss and material hemorrhaging. Obstacle: Hack a Standalone Black-Box Control System The client was hampered in its ability to troubleshoot and improve the processes because the OEM equipment and its controls and drives programs were a “black box” solution. This meant only the OEM and its technicians had the source code of the software used to run the equipment. Without expert eyes, there was no way for the client to access and properly reconfigure the equipment and its controls. Solution: Perform a Comprehensive Process Analysis on the Mill Line Enter E Tech Group. With a 30-year Center of Excellence in the metals industry, electrical and mechanical engineering expertise, and deep knowledge of coordinated drive systems and automation modernization, E Tech Group consultants studied the client’s entire temper mill line. This included evaluating all of the upstream and downstream processes, the equipment and automation platforms, and the variety of alloys being cut to length. E Tech Group has held long-term partnerships with key automation manufacturers having executed thousands upgrades and recontrol projects over the past thirty years. As a Gold Partner with Rockwell and Solution Partner with Siemens, we confidently proposed the Rockwell PLC and Siemens Drives – a combination used often throughout many of E Tech Group’s previous projects that delivers the “best of breed” for both the PLC and Drives platforms. In addition, newly replaced levelers, hydraulic stands and piping were coupled with the far more accurate sensor and data reporting from the new PLCs and Drives back to the operators for enhanced and timely notification and decision making. Results: A Complete Control System Solution … Continued

| August 12, 2022

E Tech Group Automation Engineer Shares Expertise on Control Engineering Magazine Webcast

E Tech Group Lead Automation Engineer, Kevin Tom shared his knowledge and expertise on Best Practices for Effective Automation Applications for Control Engineering Magazine‘s webcast on August 16th, 2022, where he discussed the nuances of control system applications. When Should a Process be Automated? Kevin explains the criteria that a company should consider when weighing whether or not to apply automation to a process: What is being made and how is it currently being produced? Consider tools, parts, mechanisms. What is the environment like? Consider space constraints, equipment, hazards. What is the labor pool like? Consider union/non-union, labor shortages, turnover. In considering automation, goals and constraints must also be hashed out: Are we trying to replace human labor with mechanized processes? Are we trying to scale up operations/increase throughput? What is the capital we have to/are willing to invest in this project and what is the necessary ROI? These questions are all addressed early on in a project’s inception, as stakeholders hold the keys to the budget needed for an automation project. However, control system engineers should also be consulted early on to give insight into the specifics of these questions, like cost, ROI, improvement caps. Applying Automation is as Much Planning as Execution Kevin Tom’s cohost points out that much of the time, the options are: automate or die. It may sound histrionic, but the labor shortage is a real and pervasive issue, especially when manufacturers are trying to scale. Increased production goals means hire more people. But there aren’t enough people to be found, and/or high turnover, and/or lack of qualified professionals, which all present labor bottlenecks. Automation is the best (and only) solution to avoiding the obstacles associated with labor shortages. However, it isn’t as simple as design-build-implement. For the transition to automation to run smoothly, the system first … Continued

| July 20, 2022

What is the IT/OT Assessment Process?

In today’s increasingly interconnected world, it is more important than ever to ensure that your IT and OT systems are secure and reliable. The results of an IT/OT assessment can help you identify and prioritize any security risks that need to be addressed. The assessment can also help you develop a plan to improve the security of your IT and OT systems, and identify areas for operational improvement, such as bottlenecks and inefficiencies. How does an IT/OT Assessment work? What is the process? How does E Tech Group manage the process? And how do we break it down into an easy 1, 2, 3 process? Step 1: One-to-two-day site visit photographing and documenting all panels and line OT assets – regardless of manufacturer – and running a facility IT network scan. Step 2: Collect, analyze, and grade all IT and OT Assets for security vulnerability & obsolescence. Information presented back in an interactive Asset workbook and comprehensive written report. Step 3: Client meetings with management and operations to review the data and discuss remediation plans. An IT/OT Assessment can prove an invaluable tool for a company facing operational difficulties, security breaches, or reliability in their automated processes. By understanding what’s right in your IT and OT systems – and what’s not – you gain the tools necessary for us to create a secure, custom automation system for your current and future needs. Learn more about IT/OT Assessments: the process, the benefits and how E Tech Group can be your partner through it all!