PROCESS INDUSTRY OEM DISCOVERS EASE OF INTEGRATION WITH ALLEN-BRADLEY PRODUCTSSolutions
• Logix Control Platform
o Fully integrated, scalable solutions for a range of automation disciplines including discrete, motion and batch control applications
o CompactLogix Programmable Automation Controllers leverage a single control engine, networking technology, configuration environment and communications services that help enhance functionality, scalability and flexibility
• Intelligent Motor Control
o Four types of PowerFlex drives provide necessary performance and flexible control for a variety of horsepower needs
• Essential Components
o Allen-Bradley industrial components help provide enhanced reliability and lower maintenance costs
• Flex Factory Panels
o Panel-building capability, bundled products and enhancements delivered by Rockwell Automation Engineered Solutions
o CompactLogix controllers, PowerFlex drives and industrial components make up the complete control system installed in New Brunswick Scientific’s Flex Factory panels
Results
• Increased market share, new customers and worldwide acceptability for New Brunswick Scientific
• Enabled compliance with stringent 21 CFR Part 11 compliance requirements and followed the ISA88 standard
• Improved control system scalability and reliability by switching to Rockwell Automation control technology
Background
The world of advanced biotechnology equipment is by no means an easy business to enter, let alone to establish leadership in. One company that has managed to succeed on both accounts is New Brunswick Scientific (NBS), which started as a two-man shop in 1946 and today is a respected world leader in biotechnology laboratory equipment. Through its 61 years of innovation, Edison, N.J.-based NBS is proud to have designed and built standard-setting advanced biotechnology equipment for culture growth, detection and storage.
With a comprehensive line of fermentors and bioreactors, NBS supports the groundbreaking advances of its research and development customers in the household, personal care and life sciences industries. The company produces a growing number of large scale fermentors and bioreactors per year, each uniquely designed to meet an end user’s specific process requirements. These stainless steel vessels - which resemble small rocket ships - vary in size from 75 liters to 3,000 liters in volume and up to 7.62 meters tall.
Challenge
NBS manufactures its bioreactors and fermentors using a standard design. They have historically offered various customization options that required specialized programming and time-consuming integration into the control system architecture. This extra time and effort for programming and configuration would often result in increased engineering costs and could delay time-to-market.
At the same time, NBS was receiving an increasing number of requests from customers for a more open control platform that was easier to operate, maintain and troubleshoot. Customers were also requesting a control system that offered greater expansion, flexibility, improved reliability and could meet both 21 CFR Part 11 requirements and the ISA88 standard.
In evaluating its upgrade options, NBS noted the need to accommodate customer requests and minimize end user changes. Although the existing control system was delivering adequate performance, NBS realized the pressing need to move to a more flexible control platform that could meet its customers’ specific ease-of-use and ease-of-integration demands.
To meet its needs, NBS replaced the existing control system on its fermentors and bioreactors with the Rockwell Automation Logix Control Platform. What made it an easy choice was the fact that many NBS customers had specifically requested Allen-Bradley products because they were already using Rockwell Automation technology in other areas of their manufacturing facilities. This familiarity would mean considerably less training and easier integration into their existing production processes.
Solutions
In August 2006, NBS partnered with Rockwell Automation to upgrade its control system with the Logix Control Platform. The upgrade package included the Allen-Bradley CompactLogix™ controller, PowerFlex® AC drives, PanelView™ Plus operator interface and a full range of Allen-Bradley industrial control components. System programming was accomplished using Rockwell Software® RSLogix™ 5000 software.
“After we made the change to Rockwell Automation products, we knew we had to do it for all of our customers, not just one or two orders,” said Rafael Kopla, engineering manager of software and hardware development and design groups, New Brunswick Scientific. “Rockwell Automation provided the type of products we were looking for and a worldwide market acceptability that we admired.”
Mike Belen, senior sales engineer, Rockwell Automation, took the NBS team to the Rockwell Automation Flex™ Factory facility in Cleveland, Ohio. They met with Rockwell Automation batch and ISA88 specialists, who advised NBS on how to transform the NBS code to meet the ISA88 standard. The NBS team also toured the Flex Factory, where they were shown where the panels would be manufactured, and how the team would meet the delivery deadlines, while also satisfying the required regulations and industry standards.
“There were some technical issues with our current design and we thought it would be helpful if we could design each machine to integrate with a Rockwell Automation system,” said Brad Stasny, product manager, New Brunswick Scientific. “Rockwell Automation simplified our control scheme, strategy and architecture.”
The Allen-Bradley control system, housed in stainless steel panels, help provide easy integration into the end users’ batch process to control temperature, pressure, humidity and other process elements. Rockwell Automation provides NBS with complete system integration capabilities, including component assembly, configuration and testing of each panel.
When the media culture grows as part of the end user’s fermentation process, the size of the vessel also increases. As a result, more horsepower is needed to complete the process. To meet the application’s need for increased horsepower, NBS engineers used four different horsepower ratings from the PowerFlex family of drives.
As part of the Rockwell Automation Logix Control Platform, CompactLogix and other Logix controllers from Rockwell Automation share a common control engine, networking technology, configuration environment and communications services that help enhance functionality, scalability and flexibility, while helping to reduce costs. The controller also provides a variety of benefits ranging from more rapid response for optimized system control to the ability to transmit operating data and alarm signals for more responsive troubleshooting. The platform is compatible with the ISA88 standard and can be implemented to enable a 21 CFR Part 11-compliant solution.
A broad range of Allen-Bradley industrial control products also are included in the control package, including relays, sensors, terminal blocks and I/O. The products help provide high reliability, low maintenance costs and wide availability through the Rockwell Automation worldwide distributor network.
Results
The new Allen-Bradley control panels first shipped to NBS in March 2007. Since then, the company has experienced multiple benefits, including faster assembly and more simplified programming and configuration. The CompactLogix controllers are available with a compact flash card, that helps reduce the cost of the tools that NBS needs to deploy in the field. Additionally, an NBS service professional is no longer needed to update a program. Now, the company can send out the compact flash card with instructions and end users can update the programs in-house, saving time for the customer and lowering maintenance costs for NBS.
For end users, the new control system delivers exactly as promised. Standardizing on Allen-Bradley components has helped to minimize the technology learning curve, improve troubleshooting and enable easier integration.
“The overall benefits of the Rockwell Automation technology are well worth the initial investment,” said Stasny. “We are now able to provide our customers the exact solution they have requested. Any time we’re able to help reduce complexity, reduce cost and speed delivery for our customers, we significantly enhance the long-term value of their investment as well as ours.”
In the future, NBS plans to apply this same platform to its 510 series of benchtop bioreactor and fermentor lines, 20 to 40 liters in size. Since CompactLogix will be used again, customers will experience minimal changes to their documentation, thus offering seamless scalability.