Oil Delivery Control System Upgrade at a Baking Facility

Problem

This manufacturing facility makes baked goods. Part of the process involves delivering oil and PB (peanut butter) paste from one area to another.

The hardware controlling the area was obsolete, not maintainable, and unreliable. There was a high probability of production downtime, affecting the entire bakery.   

Solution

We upgraded the oil & PB paste delivery control systems and designed a new control panel.

The new control panel included: a PLC, HMI, VFD’s, and I/O for multiple oil and PB tanks, steam, and sumps.

We integrated a new Ethernet switch and added new screen content to the HMI’s in the oven area. The PLC was connected to the plant network to provide data collection, delivery control optimization, and analysis.

Results/Outcomes

1. Increased uptime – due to new hardware
2. Ease of area maintenance – due to new hardware as well as programming that is consistent with other areas of the plant
3. Reduced cost for component replacement and inventory
4. Improved plant equipment status visibility – by connecting control system to plant network Provided client ability to use MES platform to pull data out for display, analyzing data, and making decisions on results. 

System Overview

This is a material transfer system that transfers the materials (edible oils and PB paste) from the outside delivery system (truck delivery) to the appropriate tanks. Both systems have:

• temperature controls,
• level controls,
• delivery pumps and
• valves.