As the world’s leading paint and coatings company supplying specialty chemicals to the some of the planet’s biggest names in food and drink as well as household brands such as Dulux and Sikken, it is imperative that you run your production as efficiently as possible. For AkzoNobel, this means implementing the latest industrial IT technology to ensure its automation runs as effectively as it can.
Controlling an ever-changing shop floor with several processes under one roof, it was essential to have a control system which could cope with all of them, and not fall foul to downtime. New production lines, evolving equipment and increased tanks and mixing vessels meant the West Midlands (UK) based facility was continually changing. AkzoNobel needed an industrial IT system that was flexible, accurate, efficient and stable.
AkzoNobel chose Wonderware InTouch in 2001. InTouch is the world’s number one human machine interface (HMI) software, currently utilised in over one third of the world’s industrial facilities. Over a decade later, it is still enabling users to interact, monitor, analyse and obtain industrial control of its plant operations. Product operations can be synchronised with business objectives, maximising productivity, optimising user effectiveness, increasing quality and lowering operational costs.
Brian Lee, UK Engineering Project Manager for AkzoNobel, said “Our main objective throughout any period of change is to minimise the risk to production. Whilst doing this, we need to have the flexibility to make recipe modifications or upgrades. The suite of products we have from SolutionsPT provide us this reassurance”.
Although every batch of chemicals produced at AkzoNobel has to be uniform, it is not uncommon for new versions to be introduced. This means that more processes are required, making an already complex recipe system, more challenging.
Enter Wonderware InBatch 2012 R2, a solution to optimise real time performance, designed for complex batch processes. Whether you are working with a simple recipe or a more complex batch application which demands flexibility, InBatch cannot only ensure the uniformity of a recipe, but also allows the flexibility to test new recipes safely and without disruption.
It also proves invaluable in being able to trace the exact provenance of every single batch, recording exactly what went into it. Wonderware InBatch also helps AkzoNobel achieve recipe standardisation. If incorrect batches are made, this will result in wastage and incur disposal costs as hazardous waste cannot be simply sent to landfill, but is subject to stringent regulations.
Understandably, fines are also enforced by customers for sub-standard, incorrect, or late products, illustrating once again why it is imperative for recipes to be consistently correct, the first time. As with any manufacturing business, the cost of downtime can have dramatic results, so AkzoNobel needs to ensure 24/7 uptime. Any loss of production would not only have serious financial implications, but the knock-on effect to the supply chain would be even more catastrophic.
“Over the years we have seen a lot of changes in the industry and we are constantly creating variants of the same products. For example, the move towards more water-based products several years ago meant that we had a lot of re-thinking to do in terms of recipes,” added Brian.
Next Week: Find out more about how AkzoNobel have saved costs and reduced maintenance time
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