PLC Upgrade: The pros outweigh the cons

For any manufacturer, the decision to upgrade PLCs is difficult. First there’s the cost of a new system and the labor to install it. Then there’s the expense of retraining your employees to operate the new hardware; not to mention the loss of production while systems are shut down during the switch. But those costs are minuscule when compared to those involved during a sudden failure of an outdated PLC. In that instance, the company still faces the expense of repair or replacement and retraining, while likely dealing with a longer shutdown as they scramble to find now-unavailable parts and other long-term solutions. Not to mention the fact that a modernized PLC can often increase efficiency, production capacity and speed, and improve inventory processes, thereby saving the company money in the long run.

In other words, the decision to upgrade a PLC is one every manufacturer wants to be able to make for themselves on their terms—before a catastrophic system breakdown leaves them no choice.

Challenges in the Mountains

Peak Materials is headquartered in Silverthorne, Co., in the mountains just west of Denver. The town sits at 9,000-plus feet of elevation. As soon as the QSI representatives arrived, they saw that the challenge with upgrading Peak’s PLCs wasn’t going to be working in the thinner air of the Rockies, but rather working around the manmade mountains of rock and sand integral to Peak’s business.

The outdated GE PLCs used a couple of remote racks located in different parts of the quarry-like complex. In order to complete this conversion, QSI needed to communicate with those racks from the main hub. In a typical conversion, the engineers would simply connect via hardwired Ethernet/IP communications, but it was clear from the outset that the distance between points was too far for Ethernet. Therefore, the original proposal called for the use of radio communication using wireless Ethernet radios. But now that QSI was on the ground, their engineers’ concern grew that the heaps of rock and dirt dotting the landscape—some as tall as 50 feet—might obstruct the antenna communications.

Finished with time to spare

Once the old cable had been ripped up, there was no going back. Peak was going to be shut down until the new fiber had been pulled and the new PLC was up and running. Knowing that time was of the essence and that every minute of shut-down had financial impact on Peak, the QSI engineers worked 12-hour days, trudging through the mud and snow to see the job through. They had arrived on a Sunday with a goal of being completed with the conversion and having everything fully functioning by the following Friday. But thanks to their thorough preparation and quick troubleshooting, the engineers had the new Allen-Bradley system installed and ready for testing by the end of Tuesday.

On Wednesday, QSI engineers observed as each system began running smoothly and sequentially under the new Allen-Bradley PLC. The engineers walked through and tested each point of input and output. Along the way, they were able to explain the new systems to the Peak employees that would go on to run and monitor them. By Thursday, the rock crushing and mountain building had commenced.

An extra day and a bonus job

Even though the task was complete, the QSI engineers stuck around for that Friday to take in the beautiful mountain scenery, double check the new installation, and, as it turns out, help Peak with an unexpected and completely unrelated issue.
While onsite, the Peak main control room suddenly lost communications with one of the outlying offices. Since they were there anyway, QSI engineers teamed up with the Peak IT team to troubleshoot and resolve the issue.

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The Client

Wicked Weed Brewing is a craft brewery located in Asheville, North Carolina. Since 2011, they’ve been developing signature flavors and stylish names like Bedeviled Golden, El Paraiso, and Lieutenant Dank. In 2017, they entered into a partnership with the Anheuser-Busch (A-B) family of craft brewers, giving them access to marketing, distribution, and capital support while maintaining freedom and control over their own operations.

Wicked Weed had plenty of beer knowledge, style, and skill. What they needed, though, was a greater presence across the country, in order to capitalize on their new partnership with A-B.

The Problem

Wicked Weed therefore began an expansion of their production operations. However, this proved to be challenging almost immediately. With the current single-can production process, they were maxed out and could not meet their targets.

Wicked Weed would need not only to expand their beer-making facilities, but also their packaging process. Their current setup included systems that worked okay yet were inadequate for ramping up to meet the wider production demands.

Thus, it became obvious quickly that the production operations would need to be automated. Which often presents an additional challenge.

David McWain, project manager for A-B, said that it’s quite difficult to implement an automation that works quickly. “Most integration companies and automation companies don’t pass the first performance test the first time.” Usually that test is a requirement of line efficiency, or what percentage of its full capacity the line is running at.

For example, if a line has a capacity of 250 cans per minute, and because of problems that cause stoppage of the line the overall production is only 200 cans per minute, that’s an 80% efficiency. For the record, Wicked Weed did not have a good handle on their line efficiency, because the line itself was not automated. This led to an additional opportunity for enhancement. Automating the line would allow Wicked Weed to know exactly how efficient they were, be able to diagnose future problems faster, and develop solutions more efficiently.

But, as McWain pointed out, that’s not always a given.

The Solution

A-B partnered with a contractor to design, build, and program the new automated production lines. The goals included increasing capacity and swift resolution of alarms, all of which would lead to more efficient use of the line.

As in any automation project, multiple steps were involved. QSI got engaged right from the start, consulting on electrical design. Engineers from QSI were able to provide guidance on all aspects, including the HMI (human/machine interface) layouts, alarms, and trigger systems.

An interesting twist to the standard automation process also arose early in the project. Because of Wicked Weed’s production layout, one of the steps involves a right-angle pusher. Cans filled and packaged into either 4-packs, 6-packs, or cases wait at the end of a conveyor. When the appropriate quota has been met, they are then pushed off at a right angle for the next step. An additional challenge is that this quota varies by the brew and the packaging requirements, so flexibility in design and action are a must.

This became a problem, because slight irregularities in the alignment of the varying packs or cases mean that sometimes those bundles getting pushed to the side would bump against a fixed barrier and alarm the line to stop. Stopping the line means cans and packs weren’t moving through the process fast enough, that the line was experiencing down time, and that overall the facility was not running as efficiently as it could.

In order to overcome this bottleneck, QSI consulted on a solution that involved a variable mechanical stopper to align the various cases or packs before pushing. QSI brought engineering experience and combined it with a real-world solution to the problem. The stopper could be adjusted for the number of packs necessary in each push, it could appear or disappear as necessary (depending on the packaging requirements), and it would help to ensure proper alignment at each push, meaning that there would be less blockage and less down time.

Once the mechanical designs were in place, electrical design and programming were necessary. QSI engineers worked to customize not only the software underneath, but the external interface as well. They designed and programmed the HMI system, developed a series of alarms and triggers, and programmed everything to interact seamlessly.

The Results

David McWain, the project manager from A-B overseeing the Wicked Weed can line expansion, said that QSI passed all their benchmarks with spectacular margins. “98% line efficiency, they passed on the first try,” he said. This is unusual, he said. Remember, most automation projects don’t pass with the first implementation. For QSI to hit that benchmark meant faster completion of the project, at a lower cost, with higher satisfaction.

What was most special, though, about working with QSI was the people. McWain said that QSI’s ability to create real-time solutions to open questions was unparalleled in the industry. Often, responses from other engineers could take up to a week, delaying projects and adding significant barriers. But from QSI, solutions usually came back quickly, sometimes even the same day. “Really, very timely solutions to open items,” he said.

And overall, the expansion and automation project has gone well. A-B has continued the relationship with QSI, too, including them in multiple projects since the first. These investments have helped Wicked Weed increase production from 30,000 barrels a year to 150,000 now, with a target for more. And McWain has decided to work with QSI directly, rather than going through other contractors. Why? “It’s their ability for real-time solutions. Which is pretty big in the automation world. … And all their solutions were cost-efficient.”

What a great combination.

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Quantum Solutions Inc. (QSI) implemented an iGPS tracking system for the Kraft Heinz Company’s facility in Garland, Texas. Kraft recognized the need for a system to be able to track their pallets of product, giving greater visibility into the manufacturing and packaging processes.

Reasons for Track and Trace Systems

Track and trace systems are a critical component to packaging integration and processes, allowing a manufacturing facility to track and trace the product back to a specific production batch or the raw materials utilized. Track and trace allows for:

• Greater visibility into the product’s manufacturing and components, providing increased efficiencies and productivity levels
• More efficient supply chain tracking; with the ability to follow materials and products as they travel through a manufacturing facility or a supply chain
• Manufacturers to identify areas of inefficiency and make necessary adjustments to optimize processes
• Manufacturers increased visibility, and thus sustainability, into processes and the ability to identify areas of diminished productivity or waste

Manufacturers can mitigate risk by reducing the scope of a potential product recall with track and trace systems. With an automated track and trace system, manufacturers are able to recall the product in a timely manner by easily identifying what product was impacted and at what point in the process with a click of a mouse.

Paper documentation and data entry is minimized due to the entire process being integrated with their existing systems. All manufacturing and production data can be located in a centralized system. Integration with existing controls systems allows manufacturers to validate that the necessary information was entered before moving the product through the supply chain.

Project Goals

In order to develop and implement a pallet tracking system to allow deep visibility overall, as well as in each supply chain step, QSI was brought in to implement an iGPS pallet tracking system for Kraft. Kraft required that data be collected throughout the entire process, including packaging and distribution.

QSI needed to be able to engineer a system that works with the existing facility and space requirements/constraints, while being able to process and hold the complex tracking, process and packaging information and data in one memory block. Kraft needed the data to be collected into a system for long term storage with easy access to the information.

Challenges

Quantum Solutions faced a challenge with the facility’s close quarters in the packaging area, making it difficult for the system to determine which RFID tag was associated with which specific pallet. This limitation required QSI to design and engineer a process for storing pallets that allowed for each pallet to be easily correlated with a RFID tag.

Kraft also wanted data to be collected from the raw materials resources all the way through to packaging. Therefore, a lot of complex information needed to be stored on one memory block with the pallet RFID.

Complete supply chain information was required to be collected and integrated into the Kraft inventory database for long-term reference and easy accessibility.

Solution

Quantum Solutions developed a system which worked with the existing capacity of the facility. QSI engineers developed and integrated several communication protocols and hardware devices which collected the necessary information for tracking each pallet, including RFID, barcode, product type, date and more.

The iGPS track and trace system implemented and commissioned by Kraft through QSI automatically tracks, labels, and loads data into their inventory database. This process of data logging allowed for improved production scheduling, customer shipping and delivery accuracy and traceability. Product or deliveries that did not meet the established quality standards are easily traced back to their source, allowing Kraft to adjust processes to increase quality and quality control.

The Results

Upon the complete implementation of the iGPS track and trace system by Quantum Solutions, the Kraft Heinz Company experienced improved accuracy and reduced costs in a variety of areas. Kraft is now able to identify and track over 99.8% of the pallets without any operator involvement. By reducing the volume of lost pallets, Kraft experienced significant material savings and reduced waste.

Kraft was also able to reduce labor costs due to minimized user input time for the data entry process. Additionally, in the event of a necessary recall, overhead, labor and time costs were greatly reduced due to the easily accessible historical pallet information.

Client Testimonial

“Quantum Solutions has been a key integrator of our AutoPRN system here in the Garland facility. Their original installation was seamless with little to no impact to production dating back to 2009. The design is robust and reliable with almost no issue since the original installation. The HMI designs are very intuitive and operator friendly as well.”
Alejandro Jaurrieta
Engineering Project Manager
The Kraft Heinz Company

To learn more about the track and trace services and solutions provided to Kraft Heinz and how Quantum Solutions, Inc. can design a system for your facility that will increase productivity and efficiency, check out our Services page or contact us using the form below.

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The modernization required conversion of the PLC 5s and upgrade of other legacy controls hardware and communication protocols. The new control system would include the latest ControlLogix platform with updated hardware devices along with completely redeveloped Programmable Logic Control (PLC) and Human-Machine Interface (HMI) functionality. 

Reasons for Control System Modernization

1. Previous generations of control systems were rugged and durable but lacked expandability due to size, space, and processing power constraints. For this reason, manufacturing facilities often find themselves at maximum capacity as they make their products and materials on outdated, end-of-life control systems.
2. Outdated systems can become cumbersome and prone to errors, variability, and breakdowns, leading to diminished productivity yield and quality. These manufacturers lack the benefits of innovative, updated manufacturing technology, which could significantly improve their processes. 
3. Modern systems have vastly improved capabilities, reliability, connectivity, and expandability in comparison to predecessors. Modernized systems allow manufacturers to integrate with more systems throughout the facility and take advantage of the newest technology to improve product quality and output. The ability to integrate more of the latest control devices and technological advances into the control system is vital to remaining competitive in the industry.

Increasing productivity and quality, reducing cost and waste

Planters Peanuts aimed to reduce costs and increase productivity by removing out-of-service lines without adding operators. That goal would require a seamless control philosophy to achieve nearly twice the operator efficiency. QSI set out to deliver on this while also reducing the overall stress on the operator. Increased visibility into the system would be key to increasing the efficiency of all operators. 

Another goal for Planters was improving quality and reducing waste. The control system design and programming would need to reduce variability from operator to operator and better automate the desired process to eliminate out-of-spec products that often resulted from outdated systems.

In addition, Planters sought to upgrade and modernize the full 7-line cooker system. If the project could improve quality and increase productivity without additional labor costs, then QSI could easily justify project funding.

Modernization Challenges

Due to a lack of documentation and descriptions in the program for each line, there was no way to reach an objective understanding of the process as it existed. The deficiencies in the programming had led to a wide variance of approach from operator to operator, as well as varied performance results. Not only did the facility lack a functional description of the current product line operations, but there were also varying perspectives about how Planters wanted those lines to operate. 

The existing system was automated, but still left many tasks as manual processes. The night crew would perform CIP (clean-in-place) without guidelines or a defined sequence to ensure proper cleaning. They experienced significant waste from out-of-spec products attributed to poor control of the different steps in the process. Specifically, they struggled with controlling cooking temperature and coating of oil and salt according to the recipes. 

Every day, the morning operator was forced to waste time before production waiting for oil to fill, a manual process. However, the oil fill system was not integrated with the cooker lines, requiring the cooker operator to request oil from the supervisor. This could take two or more hours during which they could not begin the cooking process, as all operators arrived and requested oil concurrently. 

Each of the lines operated with outdated HMIs on each cooker with poor graphics, an unorganized layout, and uninformative alarm notifications leading to poor visibility into the process. The HMI server would crash often, leaving HMI clients unusable and all lines shut down.

The Solution 

Design: QSI completely migrated Planters’s outdated PLC 5’s to the new Allen Bradley ControlLogix platform. Our team designed each line with a centralized PLC and remote I/O capabilities to integrate all existing devices. The smaller footprint of new controls hardware allowed the customer to use existing panel space to minimize wiring and panel costs. 

QSI strategically placed five remote workstations (PanelView Plus HMIs) between adjacent lines. The original HMI locations offered poor operator visibility and response time. QSI also installed a secondary centralized HMI (a master RSView SE application) in the cooker control room, providing visibility into all lines, without rendering HMIs on the floor inoperable if the control room HMI wasn’t running.

Project Management: QSI engineers spent considerable time on-site to understand and document the process as it existed, studying the habits of the top-performing operators, as well as what approaches didn’t work for the others. QSI engineers then presented their findings to the modernization team and facility manager to collaborate on the best control strategy to meet project goals. 

Development: 

QSI deployed the secondary centralized HMI to help supervisors assist with control and monitoring all seven lines, recipe management, scheduling, and routing finished products to tank storage. 

The entire process was reprogrammed, including raw nuts tote dumping, oil cooking, weigh feeding, cooling, salt coating, and tank storage. From a quality standpoint, QSI redesigned all of the system’s PID loops, including the burner temperature and the salt and oil coating, eliminating out-of-spec product waste. 

QSI programmed an automated CIP mode, allowing all machines to be cleaned in a consistent and timely manner. This cut down on the overall CIP time and eliminated any overlap with the morning supervisor waiting for lines to be cleaned. 

QSI also programmed an automated Auto-Fill mode, allowing supervisors to initiate a cooker oil fill after all CIP checks were cleared. The system interfaced with the oil transfer system and heated to a baseline temperature prior to production operators arriving, preventing the morning production delays and reducing stress on operators. 

A more sophisticated alarm strategy was programmed, ensuring all critical downstream alarms would stop the nuts at the weigh feeder. Previously, if there was a critical alarm or backup, it would continue to feed nuts causing long periods of downtime, with the wasted and burnt product.

The Results

Following the modernization implemented by QSI, the Planters Peanuts facility in Suffolk, Virginia experienced vastly increased productivity and efficiency due to the upgraded automation controls and redesign of the system. This allowed Planters Peanuts to decrease their operator overhead, utilizing a single operator to run two lines. 

The new modes of operation now allow the supervisor to get more out of CIP crews, prefill and schedule the cookers, and have everything ready upon the arrival of operators. 

By understanding the necessary steps and processes, QSI was able to design and program a system that improved product quality and consistency across all 7 cooker lines. Planters Peanuts drastically reduced waste while improving efficiency and productivity. 

Due to the implemented alarm strategy, Planters experience shorter periods of downtime and clean-up after device and equipment failures. 

Over the many years since project completion, they have consistently and significantly beaten previous production numbers and operators have expressed consistent positive feedback about their satisfaction with the system.

The post Hormel—Planters Peanuts: Cooker Lines Modernization Case Study appeared first on Quantum Solutions Inc..

Migrating systems can be a challenge for any manufacturer. Some companies find it difficult to work migration into their budgets, while many manufacturers can only offer a limited amount of downtime to allow for the migration or upgrade.

However, migrating system technologies can help mitigate future risks associated with the system.

Arc Advisory Group reported on the Global DCS Migration Market Outlook:

Very often, manufacturers are producing their products and materials on outdated systems that are even nearing the end of life. Therefore, these manufacturers lack the range benefits of updated manufacturing technology.

Not only are outdated systems cumbersome, they also can cause some disadvantages to the manufacturing, packaging, and inventory processes that can be mitigated by implementing an updated technology.

Use of Obsolete PLC-5s

Continued use of obsolete systems, such as PLC-5s and other equipment, can be very costly to an organization. Obsolete systems result in higher spare part costs, such as maintaining a larger inventory for process system materials.

Obsolete systems cause manufacturers to be unable to reach their full production and packaging capacities, resulting in lower production and efficiency.

Limitations of Outdated Production and Packaging Systems

Another issue with utilizing outdated PLC-5s is the limitations associated with the system. As technology evolves, communication networks become limited, causing additional costs to work with or around the limitations.

Support with the systems becomes harder to find and more costly. Breakdowns and issues increase, and maintenance becomes cumbersome.

The Kraft Heinz PLC-5 Conversion

The Project Goal: PLC-5 to ControlLogix Migration

Quantum Solutions Inc. (QSI) was chosen to provide complete design, programming, implementation and commissioning to replace three outdated Allen-Bradley PLC-5 processors for The Kraft Heinz Company in Granite City, Illinois.

These outdated, nearing end of life PLC-5s were converted to the newer, upgraded Allen-Bradley 5570 ControlLogix processors. Two 4 stream in-line blending systems and a batching system were all to be converted.

Challenges in the PLC-5 Conversion

While converting an entire PLC system is never a simple task, there were a variety of challenges that Quantum Solutions needed to overcome and find solutions for in order to ensure project success in a timely manner.  For example, it was critical to project success and business operations that Quantum Solutions perform the upgrade and migration with a minimal window of downtime available.

Kraft Heinz was not able to provide much downtime due to the production requirements. It was important to minimize downtime so that Kraft Heinz did not see a large impact on production. QSI engineers were able to engineer an implementation plan that was capable of decreasing the amount of downtime needed for the conversion.

Another challenge associated with minimizing downtime was the utilization of existing wiring. In order to minimize the overall downtime and make the conversion more efficient, QSI had to utilize existing wiring while updating both the PLC and the outdated communication networks.

To maintain the goal of minimal downtime and outages during implementation and install, QSI designed and engineered a method to minimize the total amount of wiring changes necessary for the conversion.

The PLC-5 Conversion to ControlLogix & the Results

Quantum Solutions provided a complete conversion for the three outdated Allen-Bradley PLC-5s to the updated Allen-Bradley 5570 ControlLogix processors. Following the complete design, engineering, and programming, Quantum Solutions commissioned and implemented the new platform with only one-weekend outage for the company. Due to this, Kraft Heinz experienced minimized downtime in production for the facility.

With modernized Kraft Heinz’s control systems, they will be able to continually upgrade communication networks and device IO to the latest communication protocols as they change. Previous to the PLC-5 conversion to ControlLogix, Kraft Heinz was not able to complete these upgrades.

The plc-5 conversion gave Kraft Heinz the flexibility and visibility to easily set up for the newest Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) technologies in manufacturing.

Kraft Heinz was able to lower maintenance costs by eliminating the need to maintain a large inventory of spare parts for outdated systems. Kraft Heinz now has greater production visibility to quickly respond to demand and production changes. Kraft Heinz can now easily ensure regulatory compliance and minimize security risks with the visibility now available over their processes.

What Kraft Heinz is Saying About Us

“We have worked with QSI in this particular facility for more than 18 years, and through every transition, there has never been a doubt that we would keep that relationship despite all the other qualified system integrators we meet.  It’s amazing how everyone on the QSI team, both new and long-standing employees, are just a really good people–the kind you like to be around. The engineers are very experienced with both legacy systems and the latest technologies which allows them to find innovative ways to balance cost and value as our plant operations grow and change.  We trust and rely on the QSI team because they have always been straightforward in completing projects with a level of service that exceeds our expectations.”   Mark Coleman, The Kraft Heinz Company

Quantum Solutions can create an entire conversion plan for a PLC-5 migration for your company. Contact us today to get started migrating your legacy systems.

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