“With Wonderware Equipment Operations Module, improved raw material and product tracking gives African Explosives Limited a far greater degree of quality control, enabling the company to maintain product consistency and process improvements.”
Ronald HugginsControl Systems Engineer
African Explosives Limited Gives Its Customers More Bang for the Buck with Help from Invensys
Goals• Thecompanyneededtoaccuratelytrackraw
materialsandfinishedproductsthroughanautomatedbatchtrackingsystem
• Withasystemfeaturingthecollectionoftrackandtracedata,AfricanExplosivesLimitedwantedtoensureproductqualityandeliminateproductdefects
Challenges• Thecompanyneededtoavoidmajorproduction
disruptionsbyensuringarapidimplementationofthenewsystem
• Maintainingthecompany’shighsafetystandardsandproductconsistencywerethetopprioritiesforanytechnologychangeover
Solutions and Products• WonderwareEquipmentOperationsModule• WonderwareHistorian• WonderwareSystemPlatform• WonderwareIndustrialApplicationServer
Results• AfricanExplosivesLimitednowhasanaccurate
andreliabletrackingsystem• TheInvensystechnologysolutionhasimproved
thecompany’scompetitivepositioningbyenablingittodeliverhigh-qualityexplosivestotheminingandconstructionindustries
• Eliminationofpaperworkhasresultedinasignificantreductioninerrorsassociatedwiththepriormanualreportingsystem
INDUSTRY:METALS,MINERALS&MINING
African Explosives Limitedwww.explosives.co.za
Johannesburg , South Africa–Therearefewindustriesthatdemandmorefocusedattentionthanthemanufacturingofexplosivematerials.Reliability,accuracy,safetyandpredictabilitymustbetopofmindwhenproducingdetonatorsforcommercialexplosives.Detonatorsarethemostsensitivecomponentsresponsiblefortriggeringexplosivesandrequirethehighestlevelofprecisionandaccuracyduringthemanufacturingprocess.
Asaninternationalleaderandinnovatorincommercialexplosivesandblastingsolutions,AfricanExplosivesLimited(AEL)productsareusedinoperationsforminingeverythingfromcoal,nickelandcoppertopreciousmetalsandgemstonessuchasgold,platinumanddiamonds.AELmustfollowstrictproceduresduringthecriticalmanufacturingprocessofitsdetonators.
AELrecognizedtheneedforanautomatedtechnologysolutionthatcouldtrackandtracealloftherawmaterialsusedintheproductionprocessaswellasfinalproductdevelopment.Thegoalofthenewsystemwastoeliminateproductionvariabilitywhileprovidingtraceabilityofcomponentsthatwentintotheproductionofeachproductbatch.Aftercarefulevaluationofvariousbatchtrackandtracetechnologies,AELselectedtheWonderwareEquipmentOperationsModulefromInvensysOperationsManagementtoautomateitsmanufacturingprocesses.
How Do You Manufacture Explosives? Carefully.
AtAEL’sinitiatingsystemsproductionplant,thecompanymanufacturesdetonatorassemblieswhichrequireavarietyofrawexplosivematerials,delaypowders,delayelements,tubesandshocktubes,whicharenon-electricexplosivefusesorinitiators.Previously,thebatchtrackingofrawmaterialsandproductsusedinthemanufactureofdetonatorswasdonewithamanual,paper-basedsystemwhichwaspronetohumanerror.
Becauseofthecriticalnatureofexplosivesmanufacturingprocesses,AELrecognizedthatitwastimeforachange.Withthebusinessobjectivesofimprovingcustomerrelations,
enhancingthecompany’soverallcompetitivenessaswellasconsolidatingtheuseofrawmaterials,AELdecidedthatagreaterdegreeofautomationwasneededtoeffectivelyachievethesegoals.
NotonlydidthepotentialsolutionhavetomeetAEL’sstrictoperationalrequirementsforimprovingproductquality,suchaseliminatingtheproductionofpotentiallyfaultyproducts,italsohadtobeabletotrackbackfromthecustomertothespecificbatchprocesstodeterminethecauseofanyproductfailure.ThetrackandtraceproductionsolutionhadtoreducehumanerrorandassistintheproperevaluationofthepropertiesandperformanceofrawmaterialsusedinproductionofAEL’striggeringsystems.
“WithWonderwareEquipmentOperationsModule,improvedrawmaterialandproducttrackinggivesAELafargreaterdegreeofqualitycontrolenablingthecompanytomaintainproductconsistencyandprocessimprovements,”saidRonaldHuggins,ControlSystemsEngineeratAEL.
Invensys Technology Keeps Track of an Explosive Process
AELchosesystemintegratorAdvansysfortheimplementationbecauseofthecompany’sindustryexperienceinprovidingtechnologysolutionsforminingapplications,aswellasitsextensiveknowledgeofInvensysproducts.WiththeassistanceofAdvansys,AELselectedWonderware’sEquipmentOperationsModuletocapturereal-timeprocessdataandprovidedetailedbatchdatareportsforanalysis.
TheWonderwareEquipmentOperationsModuletrackseachrawmaterialthatisusedduringthemanufacturingprocess.Thesoftwarecapturescomplete“as-built”traceabilityrecordsforrapidresponsetounforeseenproductioneventssuchasproductrecalls.
PairedwithWonderwareSystemPlatform,acomprehensiveindustrialsoftwareplatformforSCADA,HMIandMESapplications,WonderwareEquipmentOperationsModuleprovidescomprehensivedatamanagementandseamlessinteractionwithHMIandotherplantfloorvisualizationsystems.Inaddition,itworksinconjunctionwithAEL’sinstallationofWonderwareHistorian,areal-timehistoricaldatabase,aswellasdual-redundantapplicationobjectservers.
“Theabilitytodevelopproductiontemplateswhichaddressthetrackingfunctionswasanimportantcomponent,alongwithreusabilityoftemplatesandobjects.TheseweretwoofthemostoutstandingfeaturesofferedbytheInvensystechnology,”saidBraamVenter,MegatronicsEngineeratAdvansys.“AnotherhighlightistheeaseofuseandtheabilitytointegratewithWonderwareHistorian.NETcomponents.”
Advansysimplementedatop-downapproachwhichincludedaddressingtheoperatorinterfacesconsistingofexistingWinCCFlexibletouchpanelswhichcommunicatewiththePLC.AlloperatorinstructionscannowberoutedthroughthePLC,usingstandardscreenswithtextfieldstoviewmessagesfromtheInvensystechnology.TheabilitytomanagetextmessagesandHMIdatafromwithintheWonderwareSystemPlatformhassignificantlyreducedimplementationandcommissioningtimes.
Real-timeprocessdataiscapturedateachproductionevent,whichcanbeusedtoanalyzemanufacturingbatchdatatoidentifyanyfaultyproductionprocess.Inaddition,aproductiondatabaseisusedtorecordrawmaterialuseandcanbeinputteddirectlybyproductionpersonneltobettermanagethevariousdelaypowderrecipes.ThisdatabasealsoisusedasaninterfacebetweentheInvensystechnologyandthescannersatvariousproductionscreens.
TheWonderwareEquipmentOperationsModuleisusedtodrivetheproductionprocessesviaaPLCandtheWinCCFlexibletouchpanels.TherelevantdataisthenloggedinaWonderwareProductionEventModuledatabase.Formulaandrawmaterialsdataisstoredinaproductiondatabase.AproductionWebsitehasbeendevelopedforrawmaterialandformulainputsaswellastrackinginformation.AnSAPinterfacetableisusedtocommunicateproductquantityproducedandtherawmaterialsconsumedduringmanufacturing.
Adatabaseconnectionviaa.NETobjectwasdevelopedbyAdvansystoeaseintegrationwiththeproductiondatabase.AscannerdriverwaswrittentoreadUserDatagramProtocol(UDP)packetsfromthescanner.UDPisasetofnetworkprotocolsusedfortheInternetthatenablescomputerapplicationstosendmessagesordatagramstootherIPaddressesonthenetworkwithouthavingtosetupspecialtransmissionchannelsordatapaths.Withthissimplifieddatasharingmethod,scannerdriversarenowabletoupdatetheproductiondatawiththescanneddata.
Production Tracking of Explosives Can Diffuse a Volatile Situation
ThenewrawmaterialandproducttrackingsystemfromInvensyshasenabledAEL’sinitiatingsystemsautomatedplanttomaintainitsreputationforappropriatelydealingwithmarketandtechnologicaldevelopments.Accurateandrapidtrackandtracemethodsarehelpingtopinpointandisolateproblemareasmorequicklyandallowthecompanytocontinuouslyimproveproductquality,evaluaterawmaterialspecificationsandminimizewaste.WiththehelpofWonderwareEquipmentOperationsModule,AELisabletodefuseirregularitiesquicklyandsafely,ensuringthemanufactureofhighqualityandextremelyreliableproducts.ThenewtrackingsystemfromInvensysenablesAELtoprovidethevitaltoolsnecessaryforminingcompaniestocontinuetouncovertheearth’snaturalresources,aswellasitstreasures.
Invensys,theInvensyslogo,ArchestrA,Avantis,Eurotherm,Foxboro,IMServ,InFusion,SimSci-Esscor,Skelta,Triconex,andWonderwarearetrademarksofInvensysplc,itssubsidiariesoraffiliates.Allotherbrandsandproductnamesmaybethetrademarksorservicemarksoftheirrepresentativeowners.
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Invensys Operations Management • 5601 Granite Parkway III, #1000, Plano, TX 75024 • Tel: (469) 365-6400 • Fax: (469) 365-6401 • iom.invensys.com
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