Chobani

When Chobani expanded its yogurt manufacturing operations into Australia following its 2011 acquisition of a Victorian dairy company, the company faced a fundamental scaling challenge: building a fully automated greenfield facility while simultaneously upgrading an existing plant, all under strict project timelines tied to global supply agreements. Failure to meet those agreements carried significant financial penalties. In food and beverage manufacturing, where yogurt production runs as a continuous — not batch — process, any unplanned downtime forces a full line shutdown, cleaning, and restart. The stakes of getting automation wrong were therefore high from day one.

Chobani engaged Metromotion Controls, a specialist systems integrator, to design and implement the $30 million facility using Rockwell Automation technology throughout. The architecture was built on five independent ControlLogix® controllers, each assigned to a specific process role — raw milk processing, pasteurising, cleaning-in-place (CIP), fermentation, and filling. FLEX™ I/O modules on modular skids relay process data back to each controller over EtherNet/IP, creating a single unified network for all devices. Motor control relies on Allen-Bradley PowerFlex® 750-Series drives housed in a centralised motor control centre. A web-based interface enables remote diagnostics, allowing engineers to access any device on the network and retrieve detailed diagnostic data without being on-site. The same architecture was applied to standardise and automate the existing Victorian plant.

The unified Rockwell Automation platform delivered measurable operational improvements across three areas:

• Reduced unplanned downtime: Remote access to device-level diagnostics allowed engineers to identify and address issues before they caused line stoppages, which was critical given yogurt production's continuous-process nature.
• Faster commissioning: Equipment changeouts and new additions were completed without significant engineering delays, saving time on each upgrade cycle.
• Spare parts within budget: A Parts Management Agreement with Rockwell Automation and NHP kept critical spares on-site, funded through the maintenance operating budget rather than requiring large capital outlays.

Qualitatively, standardising on a single automation vendor simplified maintenance training and support across both plants.

• Single-vendor standardisation reduces operational complexity: Chobani's decision to standardise on Rockwell Automation across both plants simplified maintenance, spare parts sourcing, and staff training significantly.
• Architecture should reflect process structure: Assigning dedicated controllers to discrete process stages (CIP, fermentation, filling) makes troubleshooting faster and contains failure impact.
• Remote diagnostics are non-negotiable in continuous-process manufacturing: In any environment where downtime triggers a full restart, the ability to diagnose issues remotely before they escalate is a direct cost-control lever.
• Supply agreements should drive automation timelines: Contractual penalties for supply failure make the business case for automation investment concrete and time-bound.
• Service agreements belong in the initial project scope: Chobani's Parts Management and Assurance Agreements were structured from the outset, not added reactively after a downtime incident.