Automation Plus led a large process automation greenfield project that was critical for our clients business. The client (name confidential) was building a brand new facility east of Tokyo (Japan) and the process automation was the cornerstone to the success of the project which was planned for increased market share, reduction in resources required to run the facility, and to have a showcase facility /world leading factory in the chemical market. The control system featured Yokogawa Centum as the Core DCS with 16 various vendor controlled pieces of equipment with Siemens as the primary platform. In addition to controlling the process as designed, the control system had additional ties to other equipment existing in the plant that required our engagement.
Automation Plus was engaged by the client through our thought leadership recognition and awareness in the Grain processing and manufacturing space. The client based solely in Japan with no US operations reached out to the University of Illinois (UI) requesting a reference to a world class engineering and automation partner to assist them in this project. UI referenced them to us as that partner.
The original planned engineer/integrator was unable to provide the support and services the client required and lacked extensive expertise in systems and programming required by the customer. Our client asked if we could engage both on the engineering and programming. The project began with a multi-day meeting at the clients headquarters in Japan and grew from that. In addition to controls design and programming Automation Plus provided process engineering and design review and oversight on the project, including optimization of their existing process for higher quality and lower cycle times. The project encompassed a 2000 point distributed system, vendor equipment integration, with all programming in Kanji the native language of Japan. In order to provide that native language our engineers created two system in our US based center of excellence, one system in Kanji and one in English for modifications, program development and SFAT.
Automation Plus was able to use our teams’ process control experiences and in-depth knowledge of the process to deliver this project successfully to a satisfied customer. We completed over a month of on-site startup and commissioning which included multiple engineers working alongside the customer for successful delivery in Japan.
In addition to the savings on system integration cost, the client could maintain their original schedule which drove business success. At a team celebration, after the successful startup, senior management of our client recognized our team as a true partner, and he viewed us as a member of his organization presenting our team a commemorative trophy which is proudly displayed today for all to see.
LOCATION: Tokyo, Japan
TOTAL PROJECT CAPITAL: $100MM
