Why Managing Outdated Technology Matters to Manufacturers

From Polytron

For a manufacturer of drywall finishing products, using obsolete Allen‑Bradley^® PLC-5^® controllers on its production lines, was becoming a bigger risk as aging components began to fail more frequently, and spare part availability continued to dwindle. To combat these issues, the company worked with Rockwell Automation system integrator Polytron

The firm upgraded obsolete PLC-5 controllers to new Allen‑Bradley ControlLogix

The Project

In 2020 and 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many people to spend significantly more time at home. As a result, demand for home building materials skyrocketed as people sought to enhance their living spaces and new-home starts rapidly increased.

For one manufacturer of drywall finishing products, this surge in demand was a dream come true, except for the fact that increasing production quickly magnified obsolescence issues with their production lines. As their spare part stockpiles dwindled and it became increasingly difficult to get parts, the risks of not upgrading their obsolete hardware intensified.

With multiple manufacturing facilities requiring different levels of modernization, the company’s leaders set out to find an experienced integration partner to implement an obsolescence management program. The Polytron team had maintained a relationship with key contacts at this company after installing a few new lines at its facilities previously, so 8t asked for a proposal to perform these upgrades. We were eventually awarded the project and started by meeting with key stakeholders at the manufacturer’s facility in the metro Atlanta area to understand their concerns.

Capitalizing on a Controller Upgrade

Although this project was initiated by component obsolescence, with the main goal being to replace the PLC-5 controllers with new ControlLogix systems from Rockwell Automation, it also served as a catalyst for stakeholders at each facility to identify opportunities for process improvements. Those included the following:

• Revamping decades-old HMIs to incorporate a cleaner, more modern look and feel for operators.
• Adding new drives and upgrading some communications to Ethernet for better control and accessibility during the batching process.
• Putting in a new sink pump that enabled plant personnel to verify each batch for consistency and texture before diverting to packaging.
• Automating recipe management to improve quality and minimize waste.

Upfront Planning to Minimize Implementation Downtime

As we started work at the first facility, we realized many changes had been made to the control system over the years, leading to a piecemealed system with various undocumented components. We also had to decipher a lot of old code so we could successfully convert it for the new ControlLogix system.

Since our downtime window for making all the necessary upgrades was limited to just one weekend, we had to invest a lot of time upfront into understanding the existing system and how it performed with the operators.

To ensure a smooth process for the HMI upgrades, we hosted multiple workshops at our office where we first white-boarded their engineers’ ideas. Our team then developed the new HMI and hosted their operators onsite for a working session where we used the new screens and listened to their feedback. After multiple iterations of this process, we knew everyone was comfortable with the new HMI and we were confident it would meet the needs of all stakeholders and be easy for operators to adopt.

We also had to carefully plan our selected downtime window for a couple of reasons. First, the customer needed to build up a product stockpile to keep up with demand. Second, we ran into some COVID-related supply chain issues with obtaining hardware and needed to be sure all components were in hand and verified before installation.

Leveraging Efficiency Gains in Facility #2

Once we completed work at the first facility, our team began applying the lessons learned to the second facility in Indiana. While this facility had three lines instead of one, the scope of work for each line was similar to the work done at the first facility. As a result, we gained efficiency on this project by keeping the same project team together and using what we learned from the first facility.

For example, flowmeters are used to track the amount of each ingredient going into a batch, and a high-speed counter card totalizes ingredient flow. When we upgraded the high-speed counter cards at the first site, we found their flowmeters didn’t work with the new high-speed counter cards selected. After troubleshooting, we replaced the high-speed counter cards and adjusted the programming, which resolved the issue and saved us time and money at the second site.

Similarly, we worked with the client to adjust the install schedule of each site to allow us to use the same installation contractor, leveraging learnings from the first installation to prevent construction delays and change orders on the second facility.  

Operator Training and Knowledge Transfer

To avoid post-implementation issues and increase worker ownership of the new system, we facilitated sessions for the operators to see and interact with the updated HMI prior to start-up. We provided visibility into the system changes upfront via hands-on training sessions held in our office for both operators and engineers.