Client: Fortune 500 Consumer Products Company
Industry: Cosmetics
Key Skid System Features:
- Complete sanitary design compliant with FDA regulations
- 3 separate controls panels to facilitate a clean-in-place (CIP) operations across many different product skews
- Allen Bradly Control Logix PLC’s
- InBatch by WonderWare system platform
- Modular design for schedule compression and ease of installation
Core Skid Systems Challenges:
- Integration with a previously commissioned system that works in tandem with the new
system, but had several large unknowns at the beginning of the project - Integrating three separate PLC’s for 2 CIP systems with one gateway control system
- Extensive validation documentation to comply with FDA regulations
- Timeline compression during project execution
- Designing the two CIP systems to operate as one or independently
Solution:
To increase production efficiencies during product changeovers for a leading cosmetics company, EPIC designed, manufactured and integrated a Clean-In-Place (CIP) process skid. EPIC was challenged with integrating the new system with an existing CIP system to make the two units operate as one.
EPIC’s team of automation engineers integrated and programmed three separate control panels. One panel for each system and an additional gateway panel to make the two systems act as one were programmed with standardized architecture and integrated together.
To meet FDA compliance on sanitary process skids, the project management team prepared an extensive 8,000 page turnover package to aid in system validation. EPIC’s team was present through installation, commissioning and the validation effort.
Due to the projects stringent timeline the customer needed a company who could engineer, design, install and commission a complete turnkey process skid. EPIC’s in-house automation capabilities were instrumental in the overall success of the project. The system was delivered and commissioned on time within budget.
Impact:
- Existing CIP system was upgraded and tied into the new system
- Increased production flexibility
Reduction in time to washout between skews
EPIC SYSTEMS