News & Knowledge

We’re your source for automation news. Keep up with the latest industry updates and E Tech employee spotlights, as well as tips and guidance from our manufacturing experts.

| 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!

| June 15, 2022

E Tech Group Employees Earn PI Certification

Congratulations to our Principal Engineer, Matt Martin, and Senior Project Manager, Tony O’Deay on earning their PI System Infrastructure Specialist Certifications.To complete the PI System Infrastructure Specialist certification an individual must have one year of experience configuring the PI system, complete a set of training modules, and pass a 50-question final exam. The certifications show our company has trained and is experienced with PI System. E Tech Group is committed to providing expert service and support for the PI system. Thank you, Matt and Tony, for pushing yourselves and sharing this expertise to E Tech Group and our clients!