The Cadbury's chocolate factory in Port Elizabeth recently installed a third new chocolate crumb reactor and chose to combine this more advanced technology with its preferred supervisory control and data acquisition (scada) system from Adroit.
Cadbury's project manager Mike Ehrich explains: "The factory produces all Cadbury's chocolate for the South African market and even the slightest batching errors can cause significant product and raw material wastage. We therefore consistently look for innovative new products and methodologies to reduce these risks. The Adroit scada provides us with cutting edge innovation, and is also flexible enough for us to try some of our own ideas and innovations." The new scada system marked a change in the normal configuration including, the use of Control Logic PLCs, the change to Ethernet and fibre-optics for the field I/Os.
Cadbury's runs Adroit Version 6 on a Windows XP platform from its central management office which controls six different environments installed over the last eight years in the factory. The various powders used in the making of chocolate are weighed and blown into the reactor through valves. Cocoa liquor and water are then added. The reactor is run and vacuum removes moisture from the mixture producing a coarse powder. Vegetable fats are then added to produce the product. To facilitate the three operators being able to perform efficiently, each workstation is fitted with two 19" screens.
To increase the cost effectiveness of the Adroit scada system, the Adroit Marshalling Agent was extensively used to monitor the digital scan points thus allowing significantly more scan points to be monitored. The new facility has over 8000 scanned tags, 250 digital and 40 analog I/Os measuring and monitoring temperature, pressure and weight among other things. The information is stored in a Microsoft Access database.
The operators are notified of problems via the Adroit Alarming, which uses colour and pop-up boxes depending on the particular requirements of the environment. The operators then have the ability to 'drill down' through the various components to find where the problem actually is, thereby facilitating the fast and efficient location of the problem which can then be remedied expediently. The Adroit graphic interface was used for recipe set-up and process initiation.
Strong local support and the excellent customer service are the hallmarks of this successful, cutting edge seven month project. This recent Adroit installation comes on the back of the successful completion of Project Olympus several years ago, when Cadbury's set about creating a world class manufacturing plant with state-of-the-art facilities and manufacturing best practices and product. Adroit was then also selected as the window into this three storey (plus mezzanine levels) plant, which is largely unmanned.
Software-defined automation is overcoming hardware interoperability limits Schneider Electric South Africa
SCADA/HMI
Schneider Electric’s Kobus Vermeulen and Sydney Higgo explain how open communication standards and software-defined architectures are enabling industrial operators to integrate legacy equipment, new control systems, and cloud platforms without disrupting operations.
Read more...Cybersecurity must become part of the next era of industrial automation Adroit Technologies
IT in Manufacturing
The EU’s Cyber Resilience Act is setting a global benchmark for connected products, making cybersecurity a core engineering requirement in industrial automation. Adroit Technologies and Mitsubishi Electric explain how building security into controllers, PLCs and drives from the outset helps South African manufacturers protect production and meet international expectations.
Read more...Siemens modernises WinCC Unified engineering
SCADA/HMI
Siemens has launched SIMATIC AX WinCC Unified Elements, an IT-style engineering application for the WinCC Unified system that lets automation engineers build and deploy visualisation projects using code-based workflows, Git integration and AI-generated configuration
Read more...The control room used to run one plant, now it runs the world
SCADA/HMI
Industrial control rooms are evolving from single-site interfaces into network-wide command centres. Modern SCADA and HMI platforms now deliver real-time visibility, dynamic forecasting and cross-facility coordination, fundamentally reshaping how industrial operations achieve resilience.
Read more...Effective alarm management for safer, more productive operations Adroit Technologies
SCADA/HMI
Adroit Technologies addresses alarm flooding and nuisance alarms with its Adroit Alarm Management solution.The platform combines performance dashboards, mobile escalation via Adroit AIR, and an integrated digital logbook to turn alarms into actionable operational intelligence.
Read more...What you need is a nerve centre for your building Schneider Electric South Africa
SCADA/HMI
Schneider Electric’s Anoop Hariparsad explains how a building management system acts as a single nerve centre, cutting energy use and improving safety and guest experience.
Read more...How a digital foundation can overcome the LNG trilemma Schneider Electric South Africa
IT in Manufacturing SCADA/HMI
The LNG sector is racing to add capacity, but without a digital backbone, growth creates complexity rather than capability. Christophe Begat of Schneider Electric explains how connecting data, systems and analytics across the LNG value chain can resolve the trilemma of secure supply, lower emissions and tighter costs.
Read more...Building efficiency into cement production with SCADA and IIoT Adroit Technologies
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
For decades, Adroit Technologies has worked alongside leading cement producers, helping them gain greater visibility into their operations through advanced SCADA and IIoT solutions.
Read more...How integrated EMS platforms are redefining risk management in mining Adroit Technologies
IT in Manufacturing
As mining operations become deeper, more mechanised and increasingly data-driven, the role of technology in safeguarding workers has never been more critical. For Adroit Technologies, this shift has driven the evolution of its environmental management and safety system into a fully integrated, enterprise-level platform that supports both real-time safety and long-term occupational health.
Read more...Full HD industrial AI panel PC Vepac Electronics
SCADA/HMI
Powered by the NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX, the NIKY-2215-NX industrial AI panel PC provides up to 100 TOPS of AI performance through the module’s 1024-core NVIDIA Ampere architecture GPU.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.
printer friendly version