John Thompson & Sons, UK - Animal Feed Mill
John Thompson & Sons is Europe's biggest multi-species
animal feed mill producing 650,000 tonnes per year. The
AutoPilot4Feed system controls the whole production facility from
raw material trucks arriving on site to finished product trucks
leaving site.
Overview
The core of the AutoPilot4Feed control system at
John Thompson and Sons consists of 2 standard
Dell Server PCs with built in hardware redundancy to maximise
up time. One Server controls the mill with
communications to 50 remote PCs for operators and 18 PLCs of
various types. The second Server is a standby
replacement PC. The servers run Microsoft Windows 2008 Server
software while the 50 remote PCs run Microsoft
Windows XP or 7 Professional. The AutoPilot4Feed data is
stored in an Microsoft SQL Server database. This
data is replicated from the 'Control' PC to the 'Standby'
PC to ensure the 'Standby' is always up to date
should it ever be required to 'take-over' from the
'Control' PC.
The AutoPilot4Feed software is configured to control the
following areas of the plant :-
Main Gate in and out weighbridge.
4 Intake pits serving over 100 raw material
bins.
3 batch blending lines with 13 main scales , 4 hand additive
stations, 5 grinders and 5 mixing lines
with several liquid metering systems on each
mixer.
1 coarse mix continuous blending line.
10 pellet press lines with a variety of conditioners, pellet
presses, ripeners and BOAs routing via fat
coaters to over 200 finished product bins.
9 bulk outloading bays and 2 bag packing lines.
The 50 remote PC stations are situated through-out these
areas of plant and in the offices. Each PC is
assigned a type so it has alarm displays, mimics and menu functions
appropriate to the area. Each user has their own
user name and password which allows access to the required level
of menu functions and prevents
unauthorised access.
Main Gate Weighbridge
When trucks arrive at the main gate they are logged on to the
AutoPilot4Feed system. The weight and consecutive number are
automatically taken from the Avery weight indicators. Raw material
delivery truck drivers are given a magnetic swipe card and assigned
an intake pit and destination bins. A live display shows all trucks
currently on site and their status.
Intake
When a driver has their truck in position they swipe the magnetic
card at the unit situated next to the pit. Providing all details
are correct AutoPilot4Feed starts the correct transfer route to the
allocated bin and permits the driver to start tipping. All
deliveries are automatically allocated a lot number which is traced
right through to the finished product deliveries that leave site.
Traffic lights indicate to the driver when he can move into
position (amber) and tip (green).
Main Control Room
Four operator stations in the main control room allow two
operators to control the two main blending lines and the 3
bio-secure pellet press lines. Two stations have multiple screens
to allow the operator to view the whole process at a glance.
Orders required for production are imported automatically from
the Perito business system. These are then scheduled on to the
production plan using the Plan4Feed order scheduling system. This
allows the planner to simply drag and drop orders on to the
required production line. Each production line is represented by a
colour coded graphical time line. This clearly and concisely shows
the status of each production line and highlights any problems e.g.
late delivery, cross contamination or die change. Some orders are
automatically generated using the Kanban option. This creates new
orders for high volume products based on current stocks and
histrorical requirements.
The production is optimised by AutoPilot4Feed to keep the
press bins for the 10 lines topped up with feed. The operator, if
required, has ultimate control by moving production requirements up
and down the list. The weighing is optimised by balancing the large
inclusions over two or more weighers if possible. If more than one
bin on one weigher has the same ingredient both feeders can
be run at the same time. Accuracy is achieved by sophisticated
in-flight calculations and automatic jogging features.
Formulations are automatically imported from the FORMAT
International formulation system.
Ingredients are weighed in an order to help optimise the next
stage of grinding. The most difficult to grind materials are split
to be part weighed at the start and end of the batch.
Using AutoPilot4Feed's "Speed Batch" technology a new
batch starts to grind while the previous one is still being
transferred to the mixer. The grinder load is monitored to optimise
the feeder speed and gate opening. Sophisticated techniques
are used to monitor for worn beaters and blocked screens. The last
ten grind times are displayed on the graphics to clearly show
grinder performance.
Batches can be crossed over from one blending line to another in
case of mechanical breakdown. AutoPilot4Feed automatically controls
this when enabled by the operator.
Hand additive ingredients are barcode scanned, checked and
logged before tipping. The hand additives hopper door is not
unlocked until the barcode is accepted ensuring mistakes are
prevented. Some hand additives are made up in advance using DSL's
integrated off-line weighing system Masterweigh NT. Masterweigh NT
generates barcode labels that can be scanned at the hand tip
stations providing full traceability for every lot of every
ingredient.
Pellet Press Control Room
Press runs are started very simply by clicking on the 'Go' button
on the screen. A form is displayed with destination bins, liquid
levels and pressing parameters e.g. temperature. Normally the
operator clicks the start button unless they need to change a
setting.
Self-learning steam control ensures the required temperature is
achieved rapidly. This is particularly important for the bio-secure
lines that require a minimum of 86˚C. Press run variables
e.g. temperature, amps and throughput are logged every 30 seconds
during a run for later analysis.
Some of the press lines are configured to allow new runs to
follow-on after the previous run without a full cleanout. Providing
the cross contamination criteria are satisfied, the fast
change-over can be enabled by the operator. The new product is
tracked through the production line and settings are changed e.g.
fat levels as the new product progresses through the plant.
Packing
Finished product can be transferred to the packing lines using a
simple "Start" button from the graphics. Stocks are deducted from
the bin using a bag counter. Product information is automatically
sent to the Domino in-line inkjet spray printer and the Domino
label printer (including product declaration infomation imported
from the FORMAT formualtion system).
Bulk Outloading
Trucks are assigned orders for collection using a remote station
in the dispatch office. When a truck arrives at an outloading bay
the operator or driver types in the registration number which
displays a list of orders for collection. Each order is selected in
turn. The filling of each compartment is automatically controlled.
Accuracy is achieved using similar weighing techniques to the
blending. The exact weight of each order is checked, logged and a
ticket printed making it simple and fool proof.
A truck is shown above
being outloaded with an LED display in the top right corner to
display to the driver the current status of the operation.
Main Gate Weighbridge
Trucks departing from site have their final weight taken and a
ticket printed. Finished product trucks are checked that they are
within tolerance of the sum of the individual order weights. This
helps prevent mistakes and fraud. Truck delivery data is exported
for use by the office computer system.
Remote Support
Remote support allows remote users to 'take over' an
AutoPilot4Feed PC as if they were sitting in front of it.
Using standard Microsoft Windows and internet technology the
AutoPilot4Feed system at John Thompson and sons can be accessed
securely by DSL and authorised engineers from anywhere in the
world. A remote connection provides access that allows
modifications and fault diagnosis to be performed quickly and
efficiently. DSL have fully trained engineers available 24-hours a
day 364 days a year in order to minimise any downtime.
Comments
"DSL exceeded our expectations in the level of integration
provided, allowed us to analyse plant bottlenecks and make further
changes to greatly improve the plant performance.
The guys at DSL are very experienced and combined with a high
level of practical knowledge gained in other mills, they are able
to quickly resolve issues."
Aidan Mitchell; Operations Director