Factory

The facility ran a legacy distributed control system (DCS) that had reached end-of-life, creating material risk to gelatine production continuity. In specialty food and chemical manufacturing, process control integrity is non-negotiable — gelatine production is time-sensitive, quality-driven, and batch-critical, meaning any unplanned disruption can compromise product grade and downstream supply commitments. Aging control infrastructure limited operator visibility, constrained process flexibility, and left the plant exposed to failure-driven downtime with no viable in-kind replacement path. The business needed a full control system overhaul executed without sacrificing production output or A-grade product quality.

Rockwell Automation replaced the aging DCS with the PlantPAx® distributed control system, delivering integrated plant-wide control across the facility. Rather than treating this as a straight equipment swap, the project was structured around a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) phase, which identified and mitigated project risks before site execution began, compressing overall execution time. Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) was conducted prior to commissioning to validate system behavior in a controlled environment rather than on a live production floor. Operator training was embedded in the project timeline — not bolted on at the end — ensuring plant personnel were fully prepared before cutover. This sequenced, risk-managed approach moved from FEED through FAT to commissioning with production disruption as the primary constraint throughout.

The transition to the PlantPAx® system was completed with minimal downtime to A-grade product output, preserving both product quality and customer supply commitments across the changeover window. The structured pre-commissioning process — FEED, FAT, and operator readiness — proved effective in containing cutover risk.

• Product quality protected: A-grade gelatine production maintained throughout the migration period
• Downtime minimized: Careful planning and early operator engagement kept changeover disruption to a minimum
• Long-term production security: The modernized control architecture removes obsolescence risk and positions the plant for reliable operation for many years ahead

• Invest in FEED before breaking ground: Front End Engineering Design surfaces integration risks and scope gaps before they become costly on-site problems — critical for complex DCS migrations.
• FAT is not optional: Validating system behavior in a factory setting before commissioning eliminates a significant class of live-plant surprises.
• Operator involvement from day one reduces changeover risk: Early engagement ensures readiness at go-live, not just awareness.
• Treat A-grade product continuity as a hard constraint: Making product quality non-negotiable forces disciplined project sequencing and realistic scheduling.
• Legacy DCS risk is a strategic issue, not just a maintenance one: Delaying modernization compounds risk and narrows future options.