Factory Automation

Products are extensively used in factory automation applications, from simple I/O connection to complex data-bus interconnection

  • Assembly plants, component manufacturers,
  • Pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, packaging
  • Detection of moving machinery
  • Power network monitoring
  • PLC interconnection
  • Alarm monitoring of portable machinery
  • Utility plant alarms
  • Effluent treatment plants
  • Security and access-control
  • Rotating and moving machinery
  • Alert and Evacuation alarm systems

CASE STUDY/AUTOMOTIVE FACTORY

A car and truck plant had an extensive Ethernet network throughout it’s site. Two buildings are separated from the rest of the site by a railway line, so ASDL telephone modems were used to conenct the network. This link gave poor performance for real-time data acquisition.

ELPRO Industrial Wireless Ethernet units were used to replace the telephone links and gave much improved operating reliability.

CASE STUDY/PHARMACEUTICALS

A pharmaceutical packaging company wanted wireless connection to a PLC on a rotary packer to transfer status and alarm data between the packer and rest of the factory PLC system. Unfrotunately the PLC on the rotary packer only had Profibus communications while the factory PLC systemused EtherNet IP

They selected ELPRO’s Wireless Gateway range. A Gateway with Profibus Master finctionality was installed into the packer and an EtherNet IP Gateway connected to the PLC network. The wireless system was later enlarged to connect other peripheral PLC-controlled drives to the main PLC network.

CASE STUDY/SPRAY CAN PRODUCTS

A large manufacturer of pressurized spray can products installed ELPRO Wireless I/O units as part of an emergency evacuation alarm system. The wireless units were installed quickly and at a much lower cost than a wired system. The system uses ELPRO’s unique WIBnet self-checking protocol to provide the high level of reliability and security required for this application.

Factory Automation References

Goodyear – Germany

Project Name:Factory Automation
End user:Goodyear, Fulda, Dunlop
Consultant:N/A
Contractor:N/A
Period:1990
Description:Brodersen has developed a series of application specific Ethernet RTUs with integrated log memory. These RTUs are installed on each of the heating presses at the various production lines. There may be up to 20 heating presses at each production line and at one production line up to a total of 120 heating presses. RTUs monitor production data such as temperature and pressure as well as status signals and alarms. Oracle DB server, WEB access 150 RTUs on Ethernet 10 * 2 zenon servers in redundant configuration, 15 zenon clients. In total more than 500 RTUs installed in several applications. Turnkey solution, including maintenance.

Linde – Germany

Project Name:Monitoring Tank Farm
End user:Linde
Consultant:N/A
Contractor:N/A
Period:2001
Description:Remote monitoring of mobile tanks using GSM. Measuring fuel level, site status and alarms. The system uses RTUCOMs with a Modbus interface to the customer’s HMI.

Dow Chemicals – Germany

Project Name:Alarm & Control
End user:Dow Chemicals
Consultant:N/A
Contractor:N/A
Period:2000, 2004 (update)
Description:Alarm monitoring system with approx. 200 RTUs, 1 zenon server and 2 zenon clients. Communication via RS485 and fiber optic links. Turnkey solution.

Bayer – Germany

Project Name:Factory Automation
End user:Bayer
Consultant:N/A
Contractor:N/A
Period:2001, 2005 (update)
Description:Monitoring and control of a tank farm. Redundant Optical Network with several repeaters. T-V approval for SELV declaration. Communication via RS485 and fiber optic links. Turnkey solution.

BMW München – Germany

Project Name:Factory Automation
End user:N/A
Consultant:N/A
Contractor:N/A
Period:1990, 2001 (update)
Description:Monitoring gas alarms in a hardening plant. Includes zenOn HMI and parallel display panel. Special data logging functions for BMW Quality Management. RS 485 Communication Network. Extended temperature requirements for RTUs. Turnkey solution.

BASF – Germany

Project Name:Process Monitoring
End user:BASF
Consultant:N/A
Contractor:N/A
Period:2000
Description:The system is based around monitoring colour production. It includes zenOn HMIs using RS 485 Network.

Hercules – Pulp & Paper Division, Europe

Project Name:Supply Chain Management – VMI solution, Tank Inventory
End user:Hercules
Consultant:N/A
Contractor:N/A
Period:2003
Description:

Brodersen has implemented a complete VMI solution, including both hardware and software for monitoring inventory levels in tanks. The Brodersen VMI system offers monitoring and control of tank installations using a highly flexible Web interface. Communication to central VMI server is via standard telephone network, GSM or GPRS.

35 RTUs, 1 zenon server, 28 users on WEB clients.


Kerry Ingredients – Ireland

Project Name:Production (Flow Metering)
End user:Kerry Ingredients
Consultant:IIC
Contractor:N/A
Period:2005
Description:Controlling the amount of water being used in production can result in large savings. Kerry Ingredients deployed Brodersen’s radio telemetry system based on Brodersen’s RTU and zenon SCADA software to log the hourly flow of water used in the key areas of the production process. A report on the daily flow is automatically generated by the system. This has enabled Kerry Ingredients to pinpoint the amount of water used in each process and resulted in annual savings exceeding EUR 100,000.

Shannon Vale – Ireland

Project Name:Production (Fridge Temperature Monitoring)
End user:Shannon Vale
Consultant:IIC
Contractor: 
Period:2000
Description:The monitoring of all production equipment in food production is paramount for safety reasons. Brodersen has supplied a number of RTUs and zenon SCADA to constantly monitor the refrigeration equipment at Shannon Vale, who market a variety of frozen chicken products in Ireland.

Barton Instrument Systems – UK

Project Name:Tanks
End user:Spencer Coatings
Consultant:Barton Instruments Systems
Contractor: 
Period:2005
Description:

One of the key components that must be managed in a manufacturing process is the raw material. Barton Instrument Systems manufactures sensors to detect the amount of fluid in storage tanks. Brodersen’s RTU and zenon SCADA are utilized to monitor and display tank levels NonStop.

Barton also uses Brodersen’s power supply units and industrial GSM and PSTN modems as part of the company’s remote tank monitoring solutions.


MI Services – UK

Project Name:Tanks
End user:Various
Consultant:MI Services
Contractor:JRP
Period:2005 to date
Description:MI Services offers a managed service for tank monitoring. Both users and suppliers can access the tank levels via MI Services Web Server. This enables suppliers to schedule their delivery and ensures a continuous supply of raw materials. Brodersen’s RTUs are installed all over Europe to facilitate this process.

OMYA – UK

Project Name:Tanks
End user:Various
Consultant:Brodersen
Contractor: 
Period:2002 to date
Description:Omya UK is a leading supplier of white minerals and chemicals both in the UK and around the world. One of the services that Omya offers its customers is to remotely monitor tank levels so that they can be refilled automatically, thus avoiding loss of supply. Omya standardizes on Brodersen’s RTU to perform remote tank level monitoring for all their customers in the UK.

Imperial Tobacco – UK

Project Name:Factory Automation
End user:Imperial Tobacco
Consultant:Brodersen
Contractor:Boulting, Sew Tech, Optimal Industrial Automation
Period:2005 to date
Description:Imperial Tobacco has production facilities all over the world. The zenon SCADA software has been chosen by Imperial Tobacco as the preferred SCADA software worldwide. Brodersen provides the training and product support for all Imperial Tobacco’s contractors who use zenon CE for machine control and zenon PC SCADA for site side monitoring and control.

Alpheus Environmental – UK

Project Name:Waste Treatment Machines
End user:Little Chef Restaurants
Consultant:Alpheus
Contractor:N/A
Period:2000 to date
Description:Alpheus specializes in water and wastewater asset management, including round-the-clock operation and maintenance. Brodersen’s telemetry system, based on zenon SCADA, and Brodersen RTUs are used to provide remote monitoring of the sites under the management of Alpheus. One such customer is Little Chef restaurants having waste treatment equipment installed in most sites.