Challenge
Production health is a synergy between availability, performance, and quality. Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is the gold standard to measure these metrics and can help identify early signs of production issues with modern software solutions. This was the challenge for a leading supplier of almond products who needed to find a better way to monitor the real-time efficiency of their lines as well as record production line problems as they occurred. The almond supplier also wanted to own this data and not rely on outside data hosting resources since these often limit extensive data archives. E Tech Group was engaged to upgrade the almond supplier’s performance monitoring system given their experience with the platform, OEE, and database structures.
Solution
The almond supplier requested E Tech Group convert their existing production system to Ignition, an industrial application platform from Inductive Automation, to standardize their SCADA architecture due to its scalability and intuitive design features. The customer requested the project be expedited within a very tight timeline and E Tech Group was ready to put boots on the ground.
E Tech Group provided connection programing to ensure assets were properly tracked in the Allen-Bradley PLCs using Studio 5000 Logix Designer in addition to the Ignition system using the Perspective module. This supported the customer’s ability to have a personalized visualization system that could monitor, control, and record their industrial applications in real-time across any mobile device.
The E Tech Group team set up a database that could effectively log information in an organized manner and enabled seamless data extraction. This structure was difficult to develop from scratch due the high-level of efficiency desired when querying the data. The E Tech Group team engaged their Ignition specialists to configure and connect the SQL database structure with Ignition’s transaction groups and this was later proved to be highly efficient.
Result
The project was completed in three months and the Ignition Perspective module is currently being tested by the customer. The project deployed seamlessly given E Tech Group’s proactive collaboration with the almond supplier. The Ignition platform enabled the customer to track shift start and end times as well as monitor the shift time efficiency. E Tech Group’s Ignition specialists leveraged their in-depth expertise to support the conversion to the Ignition platform, enabling a strong performance monitoring system that could properly track, store, and visualize data to support the customer’s OEE.
Challenge
In the mining industry, the ability to quickly respond to process changes is essential. One minor process change can negatively affect resource extraction and cause expensive periods of downtime. To help manage their complex operations, mining companies rely on supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems to oversee their industrial processes locally or at remote locations; however, these systems are oftentimes outdated which cause operational challenges. This was the case for a mining company focused on gold recovery who needed to upgrade their legacy SCADA system for enhanced control capabilities across multiple locations. E Tech Group was engaged to support their mining operations by upgrading their outdated SCADA system.
Solution
The gold-mining company needed to efficiently monitor and control its assets across multiple remote locations. The E Tech Group team strategized project deployment considerations with various stakeholders at the gold-mining company to maximize the customer’s efficiency and data acquisition efforts with the new SCADA system. E Tech Group applied their Solution Experts Business approach and staffed the project with control engineers specialized in SCADA solutions for a smooth deployment process.
The customer chose Ignition, an industrial application platform from Inductive Automation, to standardize their SCADA architecture due to its scalability and intuitive design features. As a Premier Ignition System Integrator, E Tech Group applied their expertise in Ignition implementation to streamline the migration process and enhance the company’s ability to make quick process decisions with real-time data reporting.
Results
Within a few short months, the E Tech Group team successfully supported the gold mining company’s migration to a new SCADA system. “For many companies, implementing the right SCADA system can save significant money, time, and process headaches. The peace of mind that SCADA provides from its remote visibility and asset control benefits is priceless and supports more real-time, data-driven production decisions”, says Pedro Bertoni, E Tech Group Project Manager about the advantages of SCADA systems.
E Tech Group is continuing to support the gold-mining company with upgrades to their programable logic controllers as well as data acquisition enhancements from remote panels.
Challenge
Communication is an essential tool for operational efficiency. Poor communication across manufacturing departments and their control technology can result in production downtime, inferior product quality, unhappy customers, and ultimately the loss of focus as an industry leader. After all, a company’s expertise is their product and generally not control system communications. When one of the world’s largest almond processing companies became unsatisfied with their legacy SCADA system and its limited report capacity, E Tech Group was called to action to support the conversion to a new SCADA system.
Solution
The almond processing company determined Ignition, an industrial application platform from Inductive Automation, was the best platform to standardize their supervisory control and data acquisition across multiple locations. As a Premier Ignition System Integrator, E Tech Group applied their expertise in Ignition implementation to streamline the conversion process and support post-conversion operations. “Complex system upgrades call for advanced expertise. Partnering with a system integrator well-versed in Ignition is essential to drive successful results and a well-executed project”, says Xavier Tristan, Controls Engineer at E Tech Group.
While migrating to the new system, the E Tech Group team resolved network-related challenges and prioritized a user-friendly software design. The team developed screens on the new Ignition platform to closely resemble the company’s legacy system for operator ease and comfort. The goal was to reduce the learning-curve for their client’s workforce as they adopt to the new SCADA system. This enabled the company to enhance their workforce efficiency post-conversion with greater data communications and minimal training costs.
Results
Within a four-month timeframe, the E Tech Group team successfully converted the almond processing company’s legacy SCADA system to Ignition. The new platform equipped the company with enhanced visualization and reporting capabilities to make the right decisions at the right time. This means improved cross-functional efficiency, greater quality assurance, and reduced downtime —all with a more reliable, easier to manage system.
Challenge
Terminating a system integrator can be a difficult decision. From suboptimal performance to poor communication, unfulfilled promises from a failed partnership can be devastating to the project outcome and client-integrator relationship. For one of the world’s largest culinary oil production companies, poor communication and staffing issues with a large system integrator challenged the company to find a new partner for state-side support. E Tech Group was given the opportunity to renew their trust in system integrator partnerships.
Solution
Initially, the international culinary oil company was hesitant to engage with another system integrator, but recognized state-side support was needed to uphold future projects and correct the prior integrator’s missteps. E Tech Group addressed their concerns and explained how their solution-focused culture differentiates from others. “E Tech Group has a strong reputation for delivering best-in-class solutions. Our goal as a cohesive team is to find every opportunity to improve operational efficiency for our customers. This is how we foster confidence as long-term, solution-focused partner”, adds E Tech Group Project Manager, Amit Jadhav.
A key project that needed support was integrating the oil company’s weight scale system with Ignition, an industrial application platform by Inductive Automation, to empower timely data and inventory reporting. The E Tech Group team scheduled weekly status meetings to inform stakeholders on the project’s progress and applied their Solution Experts Business approach by staffing the project with specialized personnel to get the job done right. “This customer was amazed at how fast I could implement their ideas with Ignition.”, remarks E Tech Group Controls Engineer and Ignition subject matter expert, David Schmidt. “E Tech Group has years of experience working hands-on with customers and, with this customer, this resulted in a very smooth development process.”
Result
E Tech Group successfully integrated the Ignition software and is currently on the next step of this engagement — integrating Ignition with the company’s SAP system for enhanced enterprise connectivity. The oil production company was thoroughly impressed with E Tech Group’s commitment to their word, notably their schedule flexibility, transparent communication, and multidisciplinary support approach. The company saw the advantage of having E Tech Group as a trusted partner and committed to an extended support service contract to formalize the new partnership.
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