Control system replacement for chocolate production
For almost 20 years, ICS Automation AG has been servicing various production plants worldwide for the manufacture of chocolate. ICS controls the process from the intake of the cocoa bean to the loading of the moulding equipment, which finally gives the chocolate the desired form.
- loading and unloading stations
- roasting plants
- tank storage systems
- mass lines
- dosing and mixing systems
- manual additions with barcode scanners
- pumping and weighing stations
- rinsing and pigging systems
- iIntegration of various third-party machines
- quality controls, Q-systems
- batch reporting
- advanced data evaluation
Project description
Year after year, various plants of that customer may be equipped and automated with an ICS process control system. A special highlight started in 2016 and included a complete control system replacement for the Lindt plant in Kilchberg, Zurich. The project was at periods worked on by 15 project engineers in parallel and implemented within one year. In addition to the replacement of the PLC controls, various new operator stations were installed and a process control system was introduced. A special feature was the depth of the integration into the ERP, which was a big challenge here. The one-year engineering phase was followed by the on-site modification, which was carried out within a few days and finished on schedule.
Requirements
- control system replacement to the latest PLC generation
- new process control system with SAP connection
- new process visualization with Aveva InTouch
- new SAP interface via iDocs & RFC
- new installation of the network
- data registration of all sensors & actuators in the Historian
- state-of-the-art safety standard for the plant
- historical production data
- complete traceability through process
- replacement of touch panels & scanners
- replacement of the operating PC's with Windows upgrade
- plant downtime of max. 2 weeks
- 24/7 support for the entire plant
Scope of supply
- recording of the existing functionality
- recording of specific customer requirements
- creation of a hardware concept
- concept phase for traceability
- creation of control and operating concept
- consulting for integration into SAP
- hardware design & modification
- software development for PLC, PCS and HMI
- development of a digital twin
- in-house test incl. SAP integration test
- installation and commissioning planning
- commissioning & modification on site
- operator training
- production support
- service & support with remote access
Hardware & control
- reuse of existing hardware incl. Profibus
- connection of > 5000 inputs and outputs
- replacement of 11 PLCs with Siemens S7-1518-4
- replacement of the operator stations with 12 new IPCs
- replacement of 25 touch panels
- connection of various barcode scanners
- installation of several Profinet networks for I/O connection
- modernization of network and IT environment incl. VPN access
- installation of 4 server systems with redundancy
- integration of 5 mass lines, total >150 process lines
- integration of tank farms with >150 tanks
- Historian for 64'000 data points
- audit trail through the entire process
We would be pleased to demonstrate our expertise and present our worldwide references to you.
We are at your disposal at any time for a presentation of our skills and show you development possibilities for your business by means of some reference projects. We are convinced that, thanks to our many years of experience in various industries, we combine the necessary skills to accompany you profitably.