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.

| July 6, 2022

Senior Project Manager Panelist for ISPE- Food Science Technology Event

E Tech Group Senior Project Manager, Cassy Gardner was a panelist for the ISPE San Francisco first-ever Food Science Technology event. The diverse set of panelists dove into all things Food Science and Technology; covering topics from the perspectives of Design and Construction professionals to the views of frontiers within Food Technology companies. About ISPE: The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering The ISPE is a non-profit that aims to advance all sectors and stages of pharmaceutical engineering by providing research and automation professionals with educational, technological and networking resources. ISPE was founded in 1980 by professionals addressing the need for an organization that focused on practical applications of pharmaceutical science for technical professionals. The San Francisco Bay chapter has been a particularly active and prolific ISPE member since its founding in 1991. About E Tech Group: A Leading Nationwide Control System Integrator E Tech Group has deep domain expertise in the food and beverage industry, including automation for alternative proteins, recipe, batching, continuous production, and more. Coupled with our extensive experience in pharmaceutical automation, we are poised for the future of automation in food science technology and industrial food production. Thank you Cassy and all those involved with the event for sharing your knowledge and insight on the industry!

| June 28, 2022

Lift Table Motor Burnout Remedied by Signal Delay Timer

Our partner, Wynright, kept experiencing motor failures on hydraulic lift tables in their distribution centers. They asked that we get involved to help to pinpoint the exact issue causing $160K a month in failed motors and hours of downtime. E Tech Group harness our expertise in material handling automation to diagnose and remedy this expensive issue. Dysfunction: Overloaded Lift Table Motors During the process review with the customer and distribution center associates, it was determined that the failures were likely due to excessive cycling of the on/off state of the motor. The cycling was a direct result of the hard contact of a foot switch provided to the line associates to raise the lift table. Diagnosis: A Miscommunication Between Human & Machine In a normal working position, the associate would stand with one foot on the switch and the normal shift of weight as packages are moved across the worker’s position would cause incidental switching of the motor. Some instances indicated that in an effort to perfectly position the lift table, the worker would feather start/stop operation exacerbating the situation. Treatment: Implement a Better Translational Tool To remedy this, initially a VFD based solution was recommended. But we felt a solution with a delay timer that negates the signal from the foot pedal for a short time, stopping the on/off signals would provide a better, more long-term resolution to their issue. Stewart Brinkoeter, our fabrication manager, partnered with our Ohio team to finalize and implement this solution in one facility for a test run. Prognosis: An Elegant Solution to a Widespread Problem Just an hour and a half of downtime and less than a third the cost of a new motor, the table was functioning flawlessly and the associate working with the test unit did not discern any loss of functionality. Because of its success, … Continued

| 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!

| May 19, 2022

Questions answered: What is just enough industrial data analysis?

Director of Business Development, Laurie Cavanaugh presented a webcast for Control Engineering on Data Analysis with Matt Ruth of Avanceon. Below are a few participant questions and answers from the webcast. Who is typically the driving force to engage on analytics in a manufacturing plant? A top-down approach to data analytics is typically driven by corporate and involves corporate IT and the use of accessible data in the form of financials and some operational data that has been consolidated (transactional data) based on enterprise resource planning (ERP) and business intelligence software. A bottom-up approach is typically driven by manufacturing departments or sites and starts with granular detail (time-series data) using historian databases and extraction tools offered by automation and controls manufacturers. Where true value and insight can be experienced is in the convergence of these two analytics’ efforts to connect the corporate financial and operational data with the more granular process execution data to provide a more thorough and holistic view of key factors that drive organizational decisions from top to bottom. What do you see as the future of analytics in manufacturing? The future is now. User expectations and demand for contextualized and intelligent information, driven by the tools used outside of the workplace, are countering old excuses or reasons for the failure to deliver fact-based analytics, directed decision making, and immediate access to critical information. Technical tools and platforms are not lacking. What is lagging is the complete understanding and response to the non-technical bottlenecks and barriers. Greater awareness of how analytics applies to processes and proper context for critical decision factors produce the value that addresses those non-technical barriers. Do you realistically see the wall between information technology (IT) and OT disappearing? The IT/OT wall or divergence must be overcome for the sake of shared responsibility: the … Continued