Leveraging production with process automation

The challenge: 

Combining new control systems with existing hardware to further increase production

The Kraft Heinz food company is the fifth largest manufacturer of food and beverages in the world, hosting more than 200 brands in its portfolio. Heinz-Georgievsk is located in Russia in the Stavropol region, which is between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Heinz Georgievsk ZAO has specialized in producing the company’s wellknown powdered baby food. 

At some point, Heinz Georgievsk decided to boost productivity and turned to ANDRITZ, who had already supplied contact drum dryers to this location in the past. At the end of 2016, contracts were signed to replace one of the existing drum dryers and also purchase a new, additional dryer, including a control system for this new unit. In addition, the customer decided to add a new control system for two of the manually operated drum dryers, so the need to integrate different generations of control systems turned out to be a big challenge.

Our solution: 

A cleverly engineered, tailored automation solution

To maintain productivity and simplify the work of the operators, the automation upgrade included three control cabinets and four Metris addIQ control systems. In addition, one SCADA system was supplied, making it possible for the management to both see and control all four ANDRITZ Gouda contact drum dryers at the same time and from the same control room. In addition to the data tracking system already installed at the touch panels, which are used to control the machines on site, the Metris addIQ monitoring system was applied. This system tracks the data from all four drum dryers at the same time, which makes it easier to compare the productivity of each machine. 

Commissioning of the drying lines was a special task as production had to be interrupted during the exchange of the machines and control cabinets. Within one single month, all four drum dryers were commissioned and the capacity stated in the contract was achieved easily.

Results: 

Guaranteed production transparency with integrated trending function

Following commissioning, all four ANDRITZ Gouda contact drum dryers – automated with a Metris addIQ control system – are now operating to the customer’s full satisfaction at Heinz Georgievsk. With the successful automation upgrade, production transparency is guaranteed and the intelligent machine control system reduces the manual workload to a minimum – in other words, the human resources available can focus on even more important tasks. One example of this is achievement of the required specific pressure/temperature curve in the heat-up phase of the drum dryers. 

Previously, the steam inlet valve had to be opened little by little over several hours, but thanks to the automation upgrade, the steam inlet valve now opens automatically according to a special algorithm, and scraping of the product off the drum also runs in automatic mode. As an additional benefit, a saving of 3.4% was achieved in drum washing time, which resulted in increased production hours. 

All machine process steps are displayed on the HMI and can be observed in every detail by the operator. All lines – new ones as well as the existing lines – use the same spare parts kept in stock, and three out of four also use the same standard electrical/automation documentation, thus making work much easier for the maintenance team. 

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