Case Study

How a Dairy Plant Transformed from Manual to Fully Automated

An automation infrastructure overhaul and new e-records and reporting are optimizing operations and Grade “A” PMO compliance for its milk powder plant.

By: Sheila Kennedy, Contributing Writer, The Journal

The acquisition of an entirely manual milk powder plant created a unique but welcome challenge for a national dairy producer: how to transform the facility into a fully automated manufacturing operation with improved milk production, advanced water conservation, and modem electronic records and compliance reporting, all while achieving its financial goals The outdated plant’s throughput was hampered by challenges with operator traffic flow, product storage capacity and the timely unloading of milk. Its legacy milk handling, processing and cleaning systems were driven by labor-intensive processes, introducing the potential for inconsistencies in product quality, yield, and traceability. The paper-based records and chart recorders used to track crucial Grade “A “Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) compliance were vulnerable to loss, damage and human error. To solve these problems, the dairy producer engaged the services of St. Louis, Missouri-based Rockwell Automation Gold System Integrator, Malisko, helped design, develop, document and implement state-of-the-art process control and automation solutions along with electronic data collection, storage and reporting capabilities. The difference between the before and after state is extraordinary and so are the benefits being realized at the plant.

Performance Optimization Opportunities

The dairy producer targeted manual processes for replacement and articulated high-level guidance on desired process control and reporting requirements. For example, reliance on paper records for PMO compliance had to be eliminated. “Old clean-in-place(CIP)and product storage records were on old circular chart recorders, which recorded limited data. Anytime there was a quality issue, someone had to dig through these records,” observes Dan Jacoby, automation solution consultant at Malisko.

The vision for the plant encompassed multiple layers of optimization, including:

• Increase capacity: Add additional milk receiving and storage capacity to improve operational efficiency and yield across the entire milk processing system
• Embrace automation: Greatly reduce the risk and dependence on operator control by incorporating
• Conserve water: Process cow water, which is condensate produced by evaporating skim milk into condensed skim, into legal, usable Pasteurized Equivalent Water (PEW) water for reuse in cleaning and product flushing
• Streamline data management: Implement a new, computerized data collection, storage, reporting, and records system compliant with PMO Appendix H (Pasteurization Equipment and Procedures and Other Equipment) Part V (Criteria for the Evaluation of Electronic Data Collection Storage and Reporting)
• Simplify compliance: Develop PMO-compliant solutions for CIP records, such as raw and heat-treated product storage tank temperatures, and for silo storage monitoring
• Expedite troubleshooting: Reduce troubleshooting time by designing operator interfaces that “lead “the operator to the likely source of a problem and providing more thorough and accurate system documentation
• Facilitate remote support: Provide remote access to the control system to enhance support and troubleshooting
• Verify system security: Establish a robust and secure network with the ability to tie into the antiquated legacy network

Strict cost and timeline limitations added complexity to the project. The chosen system integrator had to work within a limited capital budget and meet a very aggressive project schedule in the middle of a pandemic. Tight coordination of activities between multiple trades and engineering disciplines was required, and a phased start-up approach was necessary to a void adversely affecting plant production.

Capable Team Delivers Comprehensive Solution

The dairy processor selected Malisko as its integration partner due to the company’s capabilities and knowledge of dairy processing, particularly industrial networking, virtualization, reporting and PMO compliance. Malisko specified several Rockwell Automation solutions for the plant’s transformation, including PlantPAx, using Factory Talk View SE, FactoryTalk Historian, Asset Framework Event Framing, ThinManager, Allen-Bradley Controllogix, Flex I/O modules, and Stratix switches.

“Originally they were going to go with Allen-Bradley PanelViews, but we were able to help them realize the benefits of a Factory Talk View SE distributed system using a PASS-C server configuration,” says Jacoby. “That gave them a huge amount of additional capabilities – more HMIs in the facility, the ability to access any process from anywhere, and remote troubleshooting.”

The project took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. It kicked off in early 2020; start-up occurred in phases beginning in January 2021, and the biggest phases are already complete, including receiving bays and raw product storage, loadout bays and the PEW system implementation. Start-ups of product silos are in progress, including automating existing silos and starting up new silos.

Besides designing and delivering the advanced automation systems, controls, and data collection and reporting platform based on the dairy processor’s high-level functional descriptions, Malisko also documented the system architecture, functionality, operations and requirements; created all configuration and programming according to the client-approved documentation; and helped train the workforce on the system.

Impressive Impacts on Operations

The new solution achieved the stated goals and then some. For instance, after meeting with Malisko’s PMO subject matter expert for a complete review and verification testing of the new system for PMO compliance, the local state health inspector commented on how impressed he was with the solution.

“Now, by utilizing Factory Talk Historian Asset Framework and Event Frames, we are able to capture a full CIP matrix, including start. stop, step, alarms, nonconformances, KPls (temp, flow, conductivity) and more,” says Jacoby.

“For the product storage in silos, we are able to create a report from the minute the product enters the silo until it’s drained and a CIP is started. That is an essential piece for traceability,” he says. “Furthermore, the CIP data logging and e-reporting is system agnostic and can be applied to CIP systems of various configurations.”

Other significant achievements include:

• Increasing production uptime and processing capacity
• Providing a greatly improved system for milk receiving and storage
• Reducing shrinkage(product loss)with tighter process controls, visualization and alarming
• Delivering a verifiable electronic reporting suite compliant with PMO
• Reducing CIP cleaning cycle times and chemical usage while confirming effective equipment and process line cleaning
• Accelerating maintenance troubleshooting through “breadcrumbing,” intuitive messaging and notifications, and access to comprehensive system documentation
• Expediting decision-making through automated and on-demand reporting on CIP and silo monitoring
• Mitigating risk by providing a secure network system and secure access via a web portal

Optimization is Ongoing

The dairy producer now is focused on further operational improvements and has Malisko enhancing and expanding the manufacturing automation systems.

“Now we are working on decreasing shrink through the plant,” notes Jacoby. “We have the field instrumentation to monitor the process and we are historizing many data points (optic sensors, flow, valve positions, etc.) to verify that product has fully been flushed through the system before transitioning to drain.”

The digitally transformed plant is a quantum leap from its earlier, entirely manual state and already the benefits are manifold. The decision to acquire and upgrade the plant is delivering immense and increasing value to the dairy producer from both an economic, environmental, compliance, and health and safety perspective. Additional optimization initiatives will make the return on investment that much stronger.