37FALL 20 02 • h o t l i n k sh o t l i n k s • FALL 20 0236

C A S E S T U D Y

French Dairy Milks Profits from

Automated Process SolutionSolutions from Invensys ProductionManagement companies deliver newlevels of efficiency.

ALSACE LAIT, A FRENCH DAIRY,HAS CREATED A REPUTATION FOR

HIGH-QUALITY PRODUCTS AND WORKS

HARD TO MAINTAIN THAT REPUTATION.Alsace Lait specializes in the pro-

duction of fresh dairy products, includ-

ing fresh milk, ultra-heat-treated milk

(a longer-lasting milk that doesn’t need

refrigeration), cream, cheese and drink-

able yogurts. The company’s commit-

ment to quality has earned its

private-label brands international

renown with many retail customers.

The reputation for quality starts

in Alsace Lait’s production facilities,

where the focus is on product

quality and flexible manufacturing

processes. This implies improved quality

assurance and optimization with

absolute integrity and consistency of

product manufacture. Building the

quality image for premium products is

key to further develop customer loyalty

and market share.

The flexibility of the production

machinery and process equipment is

also critical to satisfying customers’

palates. The ability to turn around

new products in a quick fashion enables

Alsace Lait to meet rising consumer

expectations that call for new taste

experiences.

Helping the company meet its qual-

ity commitment is Alsace Lait’s new

manufacturing facility near Strasbourg,

which was built after a fire destroyed the

old one in 2000. The new facility features

a state-of-the-art automated processing

solution from APV, which was selected

based on its ability to offer a unique

combination of information technology,

automation and process solutions.

It focuses on delivering improved effi-

ciency at every stage of the business.

APV is a member of the Invensys

Production Management family of

brands.

Rebuilding theBusinessF O L L O W I N G T H E F I R E , A L S A C E

LA I T R E S U M E D M A N U FAC T U R I N G

HLS_Fall2002_36_39_APV.qxd 9/3/02 1:46 PM Page 36

W I T H I N T WO M O N T H S . Its key prod-

ucts—fresh milk, liquid cream, fermented

milk and drinkable yogurt were once again

being delivered to store shelves.

A new production facility was

needed, however, and the goal was to build

it by the end of the year.

APV was selected to provide the

process manufacturing solution. APV’s

track record of combining its extensive

process experience with seamless automa-

tion solutions and vertical integration to

its customers’ production planning and

business systems was especially attractive

to Alsace Lait.

The project included several opera-

tional requirements:

• A complete tracking system that

could trace production from raw

milk reception to final palletized

product

• Reduction of operating waste and

production losses

• Optimization of working capital and

production planning,

and resources to ensure a

quick return on project

investment.

APV believes that one of

the key criteria for a successful

solution concept is to syn-

chronize the requirements of the

involved customer’s user groups, including

production management, the information

technology department, operators and

maintenance personnel. Because every

user group has specific expectations, but

different knowledge backgrounds, this

exercise is important to help every stake-

holder visualize the many demands on the

system and direct them toward developing

a common goal.

In the case of Alsace Lait, the goal

was the foundation of a manufacturing

execution system (MES), which facilitates

a simple, easily maintained and operator-

friendly technical integration between the

process control and the enterprise

resource planning (ERP) system on the

business side.

However, every MES is only as good

as the data provided by the process meas-

urement and instrumentation equipment.

To assist Alsace Lait in this area, APV relied

on its extensive process know-how to

ensure an optimized data input to the new

MES.

The System ArchitectureT H E R E S U LT O F T H E E A R LY P R O J -E C T C O L L A B O R A T I O N B E T W E E N

A P V A N D A L S A C E L A I T I S A M E SS Y S T E M B U I LT O N WO N D E RWA R E ®FAC TO RYSU I T E®, W H I C H P ROV I D E S

A VA R I E T Y O F S O F T WA R E C O M P O -N E N T S . The IndustrialSQL Server™

real-time relational database acts as

the backbone for all plant data includ-

ing historical data on each product

batch.

All information is available for

production management and cost

controlling. This allows efficient

production cost analysis and opti-

mized use of raw materials and

energy resources. Downtime and

production balances can be moni-

tored and analyzed for months or

years, allowing for short- and

long-term process improvements.

Wonderware InTrack™ is

the cornerstone of the MES sys-

tem. Its genealogy records provide

a complete history of all materials

consumed during a product‘s manu-

facturing process. The production history

adds other facets to the historical record,

such as the machines used, shifts, users

and their capabilities, quality records and

links to continous process data. All of this

provides a complete picture of the manu-

facturing history of an individual lot, part

or component.

Wonderware InTouch® for Factory-

Suite provides the visualization for a

plant- and operator-centric manufactur-

ing information system. Several InTouch

clients (monitors) provide operator guid-

ance for plant access, display of real-time

and historical trends, alarming, recipe

management, et cetera.

The control system represents a per-

fect illustration of the latest industry

trend, which focuses on connectivity, stan-

dards and open PC-based control that

reduces complicated interfaces between

the control system, visualization and the

MES layer. Therefore, the APV system does

not use programmable logic controllers,

but four Invensys Intelligent Integrators.

The Intelligent Integrator is a rugged

industrial PC in a compact, electromag-

netic-interference-protected metal hous-

ing that supports DIN rail mounting. It

runs the Microsoft Windows NT operating

system with Wonderware InControl™ and

APV ACCOS Paracode.

The four Intelligent Integrators con-

trol 6,000 I/O points including 1,600

valves, 260 sensors/actuators (tempera-

ture, pressure, flow) and 50 pumps.

Connectivity to these field devices is

provided by means of a Profibus DP/PA

fieldbus and an As-i network for the

valves. This allows a decentralized control

concept with a “zero-control cabinet”

strategy, which greatly simplifies cabling

and installation.

Ethernet TCP/IP is used to commu-

nicate between the Intelligent Integrators

and the Wonderware supervisory system.

Alsace Lait appreciates the advantages of

the Intelligent Integrators compared to

conventional PLCs. Some of the benefits

include a universal industrial PC, reduced

spare parts, simulation and training avail-

ability on the same unit, remote diagnos-

tics and maintenance, seamless integration

with FactorySuite and reduced mainte-

nance costs. In addition, because of the

system’s open architecture, third-party

software can be added very easily.

The implemented architecture ensures

that real-time information is available from

raw material to finished goods and deliv-

ered to the operators, production plan-

ners, process engineers, maintenance

personnel and plant management. It

enables them to make the right decisions

quickly.

The production control and MES

functions of Wonderware are comple-

mented by two specialized APV software

packages: CIP Expert and Maintenance

OnLine. The former controls the opera-

tion of the CIP stations, and the latter pro-

vides for preventive maintenance. CIP

Expert compares real-time cleaning data

with historical trends, enabling the opera-

tor to adjust process parameters to

improve performance. Maintenance

OnLine allows for optimum utilization of

installed equipment and ensures that

resources are concentrated where the need

is most critical.

Customer AdvantagesN O W T H AT T H E N E W F A C I L I T Y I S

UP AND RUNNING, PRO CESSING 110M I L L I O N L I T E R S O F M I L K A N N U -A L LY, A L S AC E L A I T H A S C O M P I L E D

A LIST OF B OTH DIRECTLY MEASUR-A B L E A N D I N D I R E C T A D VA N TA G E S

R E C E I V E D F R O M I T S N E W P R O C E S S

AU TO M AT I O N S Y S T E M . The company

believes that the indirect advantages are

just as important as those that are easy to

identify, because they contribute to its

long-term viability in the marketplace.

The directly measurable advantages

include:

• Reduced material losses for raw

milk, intermediate products and

fruit concentrate, based on product

tracking and associated detailed

mass balances;

• Better synchronization of produc-

tion capacity with orders due to

constant analysis of inventories,

priority planning and inventory

optimization;

• Reduced manufacturing costs based

on improved availability of machin-

ery and equipment caused by down-

time analysis, preventive

maintenance, reduced throughput

time and CIP optimization.

Indirect advantages include:

• Automatic quality assurance based

on complete history of all materials.

This ensures integrity and consis-

tency of products and enables long-

term customer loyality/trust.

• Reliability of production tracking.

Detailed customer information can

be supplied to supermarkets as part

of the extensive reporting capabili-

ties. Appropriate reporting is also

generated to reduce costs in

conjunction with governmental

requirements.

• The improved company-wide

data quality allows for continuous

optimization of processes and

equipment.

The Alsace Lait installation underlies

APV’s objective to design every element of

the plant for efficiency. From a single valve

to the systems that operate them, every

component within the plant is focused on

optimum performance to make the overall

business more profitable for today’s mar-

kets and to maintain a sustainable compet-

itive advantage well into the future.

THE END

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