Schneider Electric’s food and beverage solutions are increasing the efficiency and sustainability of the industry, and the company’s dairy solutions allow users to seize new market and profit opportunities, thanks to zero waste and 100% traceable production. This is achieved through Schneider’s EcoStruxure Hybrid DCS, formerly known as PlantStruxure PES, which helps customers manage their dairy processes in an easy, smart and energy-efficient way. The new platform improves the production monitoring and control system, while making provisions for the company’s future expansion.
Dynamic and competitive, the current dairy market reflects an increased demand for safe and nutritious products. Innovation and flexibility are critical when growth hinges on the ability to meet consumer requirements, while striving for zero waste.
South African case study
Schneider Electric has excellent case studies from dairies as far and wide as the UK, USA, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and South Africa. Woodlands Dairy, one of the largest manufacturers in South Africa in dairy farming plant, food and beverage, bought a second-hand powder plant from Denmark. However the control system was outdated and not suitable for the modifications required to adapt the process to the company’s specifications. Top of the agenda was a single platform that could integrate all the disparate plants on site and preserve past investments in expensive assets and legacy systems, while making provision for future expansion.
Schneider Electric’s ArchestrA Systemp Platform consisting of the Application Server, InTouch HMI, Historian and Historian Clients trending and reporting tool was selected, as Woodlands Dairy had previous experience with these products. Other reasons included:
• Universal data connectivity that could cope with Woodlands Dairy’s variety of PLCs.
• Object orientated technology software that was more maintainable than its alternative and also promoted standardisation.
• A distributed system
• Easy to create reports and easy retrieval of historical data.
• Full redundancy.
• Scalability.
• The level of support available in South Africa from Schneider Electric.
The total implementation took about six months, half of which was spent on the new powder plant, which was commissioned first. While the powder plant was a greenfields project, the processing plant upgrade and expansion was done live during weekly shutdowns, and the standards developed for the powder plant were rolled out for these projects.
Other process areas were also upgraded and these included a new Clean in Place (CIP) station, a new cream pasteuriser/butter plant, an upgrade to the milk pasteuriser, new pasteurised milk silo and milk lines, new pasteurised cream silo and a new milk reception area with its own CIP station.
Bringing brownfield plants back to life Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
Today’s brownfield plants are typically characterised by outdated equipment and processes, and face challenges ranging from inefficient operations to safety hazards. However, all is not lost, as these plants stand to gain a lot from digitalisation and automation.
Read more...Power supply with scalability optimised Schneider Electric South Africa
Electrical Power & Protection
Schneider Electric has introduced the Easy UPS 3-Phase Modular to the South African marketplace. This robust uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is designed to protect critical loads while offering third-party verified Live Swap functionality.
Read more...Mesh networks: a multidirectional electrical superhighway Schneider Electric South Africa
Electrical Power & Protection
Today, many power industry stakeholders are faced with mounting requirements for improved grid reliability, resilience and distribution efficiency. It’s a challenge which requires power service providers to rethink their infrastructure. Enter mesh networks, which can overcome the limitations of traditional star networks.
Read more...Award-winning Gen AI solutions
IT in Manufacturing
Amazon Web Services recently hosted an exclusive event in South Africa on ‘Elevating Possibilities with Partners - a Showcase of GenAI Excellence’. This event brought together ten esteemed partners, including Synthesis Software Technologies, to highlight innovative advancements in the field of Generative AI.
Read more...Schneider Electric announces 2023 Global Alliance Partner Programme award winners Schneider Electric South Africa
News
Schneider Electric has announced the winners of the 2023 Global Alliance Excellence Awards. Throughout 2023, Schneider Electric’s Alliance Partners supported customers in the digitalisation of industrial automation, delivering value with innovative initiatives, solutions and services.
Read more...AI is driving data centres to the edge Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
The data centre has become the cornerstone that links our digitally interconnected world. At the same time, the rapid growth and application of AI and machine learning (ML) is shaping the design and operation of data centres.
Read more...Full-scale central control room simulator Valmet Automation
IT in Manufacturing
Valmet will deliver a full-scale central control room simulator to Nordic Ren-Gas, the leading Nordic green hydrogen and e-methane developer in Finland.
Read more...Re-imagining business operations with the power of AI
IT in Manufacturing
inq. has introduced a range of artificial intelligence solutions to assist organisations across industry verticals in optimising business operations and improving internal efficiencies.
Read more...Safe, sustainable cycling helmet technology Siemens South Africa
IT in Manufacturing
Lazer Sport, one of Europe’s leading cycling helmet manufacturers, has adopted the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio of industry software to bring to market KinetiCore, its new proprietary rotational impact protection technology.
printer friendly version