Embracing A Plant-Based Future
To meet demand for its growing portfolio of plant-based product offerings, this global food & beverage conglomerate needed to add production capacity at one of its Northeast Ohio facilities. Navigating the complexities of this project required the help of a trusted integration partner with industry specific expertise in building automation.
As consumers seek out healthier, more environmentally conscious lifestyle options, demand for plant-based meat, egg and dairy alternatives is soaring. With a rich history of consumer-centered innovation, this multinational food & beverage company is leading the way in the development of plant-based foods for healthier living.
The company has been expanding its plant-based operations, and identified two areas of an existing facility that could be repurposed for manufacturing these in-demand products.
The Problem
Two new food-processing lines with all new process and environmental control equipment were being installed in 60,000 square feet of space in this Ohio manufacturing facility.
In this kind of environment, maintaining precise climate control is critical, and health and safety standards are stringent. Temperature and humidity levels that are outside specified parameters can significantly impact product quality, food safety, and production throughput.
The company needed a building-automation partner that could utilize Rockwell Automation control hardware and software with climate-control equipment that already had been specified and purchased, including four air handlers and two chillers.
Our Role
In accordance with its established global standards, the company specified Allen-Bradley (Rockwell) ControlLogix processors and FactoryTalk ME & SE platforms for critical environmental control automation. As a Rockwell Platinum System Integrator, RoviSys was in an ideal position to leverage these technologies as part of a control architecture that provided real-time visibility into the facility’s environmental conditions.
After an unproductive effort with another facility management controls provider, the customer engaged RoviSys Building Technologies, as part of an expanding relationship with the RoviSys enterprise.
The primary team of three dedicated engineers from the RoviSys Building Technologies Group (RBT) stayed with the project from the discovery phase through on-site commissioning. Throughout the project, RBT provided a single point of contact for the customer. RBT collaborated with multiple customer teams to fully understand goals and usability requirements that needed to be addressed in the integration.
Based on the success of this project, the company has engaged RoviSys Building Technologies for similar integration efforts in other facilities that are adding new production lines.
The Solution
The first order of business was getting familiar with the air-treatment systems specified by the customer. After completing the discovery phase of the project, RBT experts began engineering a control system architecture, building on RBT’s decades of expertise using Rockwell Automation products in food processing facilities.
The RoviSys Building Technologies team designed and implemented control panels that provide plant personnel with a clear, comprehensive view of environmental conditions across the new production lines. Graphical screen displays include real-time environmental information that operators and non-operators alike can understand and use to take action when needed.
The Result
Two new production lines are making approximately 150 tons of plant-based food per week, and every day, 15 to 20 people – including operators and maintenance personnel – utilize the control system to access and analyze critical information that had previously been unavailable. The integrated FactoryTalk platform alarms and notifies critical personnel using connected devices.
The RBT team completed the integration project on time and on budget, ultimately delivering a control solution that adheres to food processing standards and enabled this customer to bring an innovative product to market quickly. Based on the success of this project, the company has engaged RoviSys Building Technologies for similar integration efforts in other facilities that are adding new production lines.