在食品制造环境中的生产数据实时可见性的过渡可能是一个艰巨的任务。但监督控制和数据收购（SCADA）平台正在为这种企业提供这种能见度和未来增长的基础：加州家庭食物（CFF）, a rice mill and storage facility that dries and stores more than 200 million lbs of paddy rice each year.
Based in northern California, the food manufacturer manages about 10 percent of the state’s rice crop each year, and has many moving parts at its facility, including receiving, mill operations and packaging. To provide better plant data recognition in real time and a foundation for future enterprise software integration, CFF selected归纳自动化基于SQL的点火SCADA平台。
“我们正在经历升级我们所有设备和自动化系统的多年过程，点火是一个很大的部分，”CFF的工程和安全经理Dave Volkman说。“它将允许我们控制通过包装和装运门的一切 - 所有系统都是一个系统。”
Modesto, Calif.-based system integrator工业自动化集团正在帮助CFF实现归纳式自动化的SCADA平台，并为更广泛的监控堆栈启用额外的软件模块，包括视觉，报警，报告和历史模块以及SQL桥。归纳式自动化平台还提供基于更好地集成到企业资源规划（ERP）系统的基础。
“在工厂监控平台之前，只有运营商才能进入设备和生产号码，”工业自动化集团工程师奥斯汀巴瑟洛米斯（Astin Bartholomaus）说。他补充说，CFF希望有更多的可视性，并获得能够查看导致警报和停机时间的能力。
例如，SQL Bridge模块通过双向镜像提供可编程逻辑控制器（PLC）与数据库同步，并注意到PLC或数据库中的任何值更改。桥模块通过标准Web技术和其他数据库兼容的前端启用此功能。
将电感自动化的历史引擎与其基于SQL数据库的平台相结合，使能CFF监控 - 包括Orb Tank Management系统，铣削，称重秤和其他集成视图。
Streamlining the food stream
CFF收到卡车送出的大量水稻水稻，在设施的规模房屋上重量这些货物。司机接收票证并将负载路由到特定的接收坑，米通过秤仪去除空白和吸管。
SCADA平台的桥梁模块通过查询来自Scale House数据库中的数据来创建Pit票证的数据来简化此过程。“在平台到达之前，这是一个手动过程，”沃尔克曼说。“现在，我们的接收过程已经变得更加顺畅，更加组织。”
CFF的铣削过程具有多个设备，位于三个故事中，以清洁米内核进行包装。设备包括Husker，Destoner，Scalperator，Predleaner，Sizer，分拣机和清洁剂。
The Vision Module in Inductive’s platform provides operators the ability to control milling and packaging equipment from tablets. Its reporting capability produces details about metal detector rejects, as well as inventory reports for finished-goods tanks and second-heads tanks, paddy receiving scan times and the packaging lines. Plus, the system now provides yield reports for different varieties of rice.
“之前，我们总是在控制室，”CFF的进程转移监督员Efren Maldonado说。“现在我可以抓住平板电脑，无论我需要去哪里控制所有相同的进程。”
“The platform allowed CFF to remove Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and Word documents that the operators had to use every day,” Bartholomaus says. “Reports are now found in one central location.”
Manual entry is limited and features operators copying numbers from the SCADA platform’s reports to forms designated by quality assurance and operation personnel.
对于大多数综合性的报告the facility, packaging production also runs better because of improved real-time communication from processing. While the milling process is constant—three shifts at eight hours per day—the packaging department accommodates that volume with five packaging lines. The new platform allows packaging line control and reporting, with operators now able to view tank status, level and product type from the finished goods tanks.
“In 2019, we’ll also revitalize our packaging department,” says John Konkle, director of operations for CFF. “The upgrades will add more automation and controls that we plan to connect into the SCADA platform to do the data collection and the analysis work.”
除了在其包装，接收和铣削过程区域的升级外，CFF还在研究不同ERP系统的初始阶段，并调查更好的整体设备有效性（OEE）报告。根据工业自动化组的说法，目的是将SCADA平台与ERP系统进行准确地跟踪产品，以便在整个铣削过程中追踪产品。
