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.

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| March 31, 2023

Best Practices for Effective Automation Applications

E Tech Group Lead Automation Engineer, Kevin Tom shares his knowledge and expertise on the Best Practices for Effective Automation Applications in a three part series featured on Control Engineering. No matter the automation technologies being considered or implemented, universal rules apply; a significant portion includes collecting the right information for the automation project. Whether just starting or a seasoned expert, heed this advice when applying automation. Automation can do quite a bit, but do not over-reach automation’s capabilities. Automation cannot cure overly complex operations. Get the right design first, then apply the right automation. Real-world examples will help fill skills gaps with smart manufacturing. This has been edited for clarity. Explore Kevin’s three-part discussion on system integrators’ role in improving automation applications: What’s Inside? Automation SparkNotes: Part 1: Automation effectiveness through data collection Part 2: Automation case study Part 3: Automation Q&A session Part 1: Automation effectiveness through data collection Part 1 covers automation as a data-driven process built on collaboration. Multiple points of view are necessary to understand what needs accomplished, what’s expected, and how to get there. But opinions aren’t the way to make decisions. Data is. Recommendations for best practices include a full rundown of E Tech Group’s process of collecting data for initial project design, including personnel interviews, IT/OT risk assessments, equipment mapping, and pulling in every relevant department for input. The more data there is to collect, the more an opinion becomes an authoritative consideration. Specifically, a 5-step process for uncovering candidates for automation application is proposed: Dull. A dull process is repetitive or boring. An operator who is not engaged will frequently make mistakes, hurting quality benchmarks and production consistency. Dirty. Is the process or the environment dirty? Hazardous? Consider tasks like welding, painting or mixing. Dangerous. Can the process harm an operator? Consider … Continued

| March 24, 2023

When Dealing with Obsolescence Becomes a Challenge

E Tech Group’s Group Engineering Manager, George Bruce, shares his insight in leading an extensive system upgrade over a weekend. A system integrator upgraded a decades-old obsolete system to a current high-speed system over a weekend. This article originally appeared in Control Engineering. Avoiding Obsolescence: Insights on E Tech Group’s Process: To upgrade and separate the equipment, five systems controlled by a central PLC needed to be migrated to either ControlLogix or CompactLogix and have all communication transitioned to Ethernet. The team needed to map the three decades of piecemeal undocumented upgrades that were currently keeping systems operational. The largest system consisted of a 17 slot PLC-5 rack and 12 hard wired drives, with a mix of 120V digital inputs/outputs and analog inputs. Automation & Control System Needs Upgraded, No Downtime Allowed E Tech Group automation engineers were contracted to update and replace obsolete hardware in a pickle plant. They knew that if the one centralized PLC-5 that controlled five systems responsible for over 50% of pickle production failed, they would be shutting down the entire plant to identify and fix the issue, leading the company to lose valuable time and revenue during peak production periods. To upgrade and separate the equipment, the five systems controlled by the central programmable logic controller (PLC) would need to be migrated and have all communication transitioned to Ethernet. A Piecemeal Automation System, Time Constraints & Michigan Weather Because there were a number of hurdles to take into consideration when beginning this upgrade, it took careful planning to ensure this project could be completed without disrupting production or extending the deadline. First, the team needed to map the three decades of piecemeal undocumented upgrades that were currently keeping systems operational. Second, understanding the facility used only fresh produce, and at certain times ran at … Continued

| March 19, 2023

Congratulations to Our Recently Promoted Team Members

Congratulations to some of our recently promoted team members: Christina Jumalon, Eric Zhang, Samantha Nadeau, Zac Beyer, Andreas Lang, Sahil Mehta, Ken Her, and Umar Karim for recent, well-deserved promotions. Christina Jumalon – Automation Engineer II Christina has had an incredible year of growth, supporting a fast-paced startup where she took an active role in PLC/HMI programming and troubleshooting, documentation, and Phase testing in close coordination with client process engineers. She’s also helped with documentation and testing for various projects throughout the year. Eric Zhang – Automation Engineer II Eric has developed his skills as an embedded engineer. Eric has also shown his hard work and ability to learn quickly while being on call and asked to troubleshoot and debug the live system when needed. He is asked to juggle multiple projects and priorities while maintaining his stellar quality of work. He has also helped us to expand our client role by helping to work with manufacturing, infrastructure, and other groups as needed. Eric has become a trusted resource to the PLC team and has expanded his documentation, coding, testing, and debugging skills. Samantha Nadeau – Automation Engineer III Sam is a very talented engineer who is technically capable, motivated, and committed to the quality of work she delivers. Sam has developed and maintained strong working relationships with engineers in the LSE unit as well as here on the west coast, where she is an active contributor to our company culture and social atmosphere. Sam juggled being a part of projects with the LSE and LSW teams. Zac Beyer – Lead Automation Engineer I Zac has seen an incredible variety of platforms and technologies in the past year. From specifying and procuring intrinsically safe hardware to quickly ramping up to support an OSI Pi project to programming Siemens PLCs … Continued

| March 19, 2023

E Tech Group Announces Promotion of Jennifer Palumbo to Vice President of Marketing

Congratulations to Jennifer Palumbo. Jen was recently promoted to Vice President of Marketing. Jen has been with E Tech Group since 2019, She played a major role in establishing E Tech Group as one company and creating our brand identity. She was an integral part of leading the brand migration, and communicating our mission and vision statement. “Jen has been a critical member of the E Tech Group executive team focusing and driving the efforts in establishing E Tech Group as one company as well as recruiting, developing a professional marketing team, and helping to drive our company to new heights,” said CEO Matt Wise. Congratulations to Jen Palumbo on a well-deserved promotion and thank you for the leadership and dedication you put into everything you do!