Au2mate has upgraded a danish cream cheese dairy plant which has resulted in massive reductions of energy and raw material consumption.
GOALS
Upgrade of existing obsolete and outdated equipment
New application developed in accordance with framework standards / ISA S88 / ISA S95
Solution focused on reducing production costs and minimising waste
CHALLENGES
Migration to take place during full production
Multiple shutdowns with many temporary interface points between new and old systems
Ensure full traceability during the entire migration
RESULT
Smart solutions and new techniques embedded in the software has resulted in:
Reduced costs of electricity, steam, and ice water on 20 %
Reduced costs of water and chemicals on 30 %
New software and hardware platforms, based on open platforms and latest standards, in the full production plant
Cream cheese dairy plant upgrade
case
BACKGROUND
The Cream cheese dairy has a yearly production of 58.000 ton cream cheese in different taste varieties. The process plant has around 3.500 plant components connected to the control system. Their existing control system was old and the background for replacing it was mainly problems in getting spare parts as well as limited options for support.
The success criteria for the technical solution were to have an open system which the dairy was able to maintain/extend themselves, a secure investment, as well as securing the knowledge and experience at the dairy.
Furthermore, the system had to be in accordance with company framework / ISA S88 / ISA S95 and build for data collection and traceability via integration to enterprise IT report system and SAP.
SCOPE OF DELIVERY
8 Siemens S7-414 PLC’s
1 Wonderware Intouch station with a large KPI monitor in the control room.
14 Wonderware Intouch stations divided in respectively control room and process area.
3 Redundant Wonderware IAS servers
1 Siemens programming station
ISA S88 structured Siemens software application
Wonderware Intouch SCADA application
Data collection to ISA S95 structured database
THE PROJECT
The project was estimated to take place over a period of 3 years. It was carried out as a staged upgrade/extension divided in a total of 12 stages so the migration could be done with a minimum of operational disruptions. The project has been carried out after the GAPP project model (Good Automation Project Processes – developed by SESAM-FOOD) where each phase follows the project model from description of solution to handing over of the final project.
The project has been carried out in close collaboration between the technical staff and operators at the dairy and Au2mate and 23 functional description reviews and 9 software FAT’s has been held.
GAINS FOR THE DAIRY
The upgrade has had a vital role in the reduction of energy costs (electricity, steam, and ice water) with more than 20 % as well as a 30 % reduction of costs for water and chemicals. Furthermore, the dairy has reduced their maintenance costs for the control system and increased the flexibility and integration opportunities.
Increased horisontal and vertical integration, combined with the applied MES elements (product definitions and recipes) has led to a more effective production with minimum downtime and maximum traceability and reporting.
