Single Platform Brings Greater Efficiency

Project Scope

• Tags: 98,000
• Screens: More than 300
• Clients: More than 48
• Alarms: More than 400
• Devices used: 15 ControlLogix
• Architecture: Standard, with remote Edge
• Databases: 2 (Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Enterprise)
• Historical data logged: 3.8 per second, 7,800 tags

Project Overview

This Ignition project encompasses all of the control for cheese manufacturing and retail cheese packaging at Meister Cheese, responsible for converting 225 million pounds of milk per year into final products. All of the automated processes from milk receiving through final packaging are included, and the project supports scheduling, traceability, and reporting systems that have streamlined manufacturing and back-office processes.

Problem

Meister Cheese had only a handful of control stations prior to moving to Ignition, and manually ran operations with little ability to audit or report. Traceability of the manufacturing process was completed with paper logs and forms.  

Solution

Meister Cheese completely converted its manufacturing operation (including the whey plant and wastewater treatment plant) to Ignition, and now depends heavily on its online recipes, forecasting, scheduling, lot traceability, reporting, SPC charts, historian, and auditing. The manufacturing processes included are milk receiving, microfiltration, pasteurizing, cheese vats, cheese tables, cheese towers, bulk packaging, retail packaging, and clean-in-place.  Additional systems that were automated include a LIMS system and an environmental quality system.

Results

Meister Cheese now uses more than 48 active clients in both the office and on the manufacturing floor to monitor and control its processes. Ignition has allowed for rapid change and the ability to manage this 24/7 operation. Both the office and plant personnel rely on Ignition heavily to monitor, schedule, control, diagnose, and report.