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2016 Project Finalist

AUTEX S.A.

Project For: Cooperativa De Agricultores Federados Argentinos (AFA) - Aceitera Los Cardos

 

Ignition Solves 11 Key Problems

The client had the following problems:

  • SCADA systems for Extraction, Crushing and Refinery in stand-alone system and in different versions of IAS Wonderware version 3.0.
  • This system’s version only runs on Windows XP SP2. No higher version is supported, that´s why the operating system or hardware can't be upgraded.
  • Because the hardware can’t be upgraded, it is frequently broken and this increases downtime.
  • Serious problems with the consistency and coherence of historical data in each sector.
  • Historical data wasn’t centralized (stand-alone).
  • They didn’t have backup procedure information so the broken hard disk of any machine implied the loss of all the data saved.
  • The system maintenance was impractical because for every modification in one machine, it had to be repeating in every machine in the plant.
  • Real-time and laboratory data weren’t integrated in the SCADA system, so the plant operators had to have two applications opened to operate.
  • There wasn’t any chance that other people in the plant could see the SCADA system in machines that weren’t in the plant (limited clients only to the plant machines).
  • There wasn’t any related information with the user’s critical operations of the control system.
  • There weren’t any reports or statistics of alarms or equipment failures.
Ignition uses a Standard Single Site architecture with the following modules: Vision, SQL Bridge, Reporting, Historian and Web Browser, and a server machine with an architecture based on RAID 1 hard disks and one database, MySQL Server.

With this architecture, historical and real-time data were centralized in a single database and in a single system. This allowed a protected protocol of information that was unique and fast. It also allows high coherence and consistency of the stored data.

Using the “infinite clients” Ignition feature we could create new clients without spending any additional money. This task was impossible with IAS (Wonderware).

Having only one system with the SCADA, historical data, alarms and reports integrated in a single gateway, the maintenance schedule decreased drastically.

Because Ignition runs on any of the new operating systems, to change the old hardware and to upgrade the operating systems is no longer a problem. This is an advantage over other software in the market because it can run without any trouble in the plant machines, laboratory, supervisor and administration office, which have different operating system versions.

Thanks to the Ignition implementations, now the plant operator has all the information and control that he/she needs in only one easy-access and high-reliability system. Also, laboratory, supervision and management personnel have access to historical and real-time production data, production quality, historical users’ operations, and a high quantity of reports that make the decision-making process easier than before.

When our client saw the performance reliability that Ignition gave, it decided to migrate all of its data system to the Ignition application and even to add more features to the system. As the system grew up, we could see the stability and reliability that Ignition gave to the entire process. Using the Template, UDTs and Indirection tags allowed us to modify and to add new features in a rapid and simple way. Having a complete centralized system in only one server reduced notably the development hours, maintenance and costs. This allowed us to make remote assistance with zero-downtime. Our client now has a system with practically zero fail rates, data centralization, alarms and alarms history with a high availability, and consistency to its history and real-time data.

Presented By:

Alexis Nazareno Chialvo

I’m responsible for the technical area of AUTEX S.A. and I’ve been working here for 13 years. I’m an electronic engineer and my area of expertise is automation and new developments. I have wide experience in HMI products since I’ve specialized in different brands and I’ve worked for several years with these products. Working with Ignition in our company was my decision and I’ve been in charge of the Ignition development and implementation team for two years.

Created By:

AUTEX S.A.

AUTEX is an Argentine Enterprise founded in 2002 and has provided engineering services and automation to various industries (food, drink, vegetable oil, dressing, cream, milk, sugar, biscuits, candy, biodiesel, alternative energies, mining, cement, nuclear energy, aerospace, etc.) in Latin America and Europe. AUTEX has 20 technicians and engineers dedicated to development, testing, plant startup and maintenance of industrial control systems, using premium brands like Inductive Automation, Siemens, Rockwell/Allen-Bradley and more. It’s also one of the few companies that has three Ignition Gold Certified Specialists in Argentina. Besides these automation services, AUTEX has technicians certified in other products and services like Profibus DP or PCS7.

Website: www.autex.com.ar

Project For:

Cooperativa De Agricultores Federados Argentinos (AFA) - Aceitera Los Cardos

Agricultores Federados Argentinos S.C.L. (Argentine Federated Farmers) is the main agricultural cooperative of first degree in Argentina and one of the biggest and most thriving in Latin America. The 36,000 associate producers have a structure of 26 Primary Cooperative Centers that together with the sub-centers, offices, and representations allows the entity to have a strong presence in 130 locations of nine Argentine States. Los Cardos Center is located in Santa Fe State (Argentina), and has a plant of oilseed industrialization with capacity to collect 120,000 tons. Currently, “Aceitera Los Cardos” performs the following industrialization processes: crushing and soybean oil extraction solvent; production of protein pelleted soybean flour, medium and high protein; refining of soybean, sunflower and rapeseed; production of liquid lecithin dehydrated.

Industry:

Food & Beverage