April 10th, 2024

Smart Instrumentation for your Digital Transformation

Instrumentation should always be part of your process design. With good instruments in place, you can ensure your system operates within normal ranges. Additionally, because product and employee safety are critical in manufacturing environments, proper instrumentation can create alarms, shut down systems, and take measures to enhance safety.

Every manufacturing facility wants to be more efficient. Monitoring production throughput is crucial for operational efficiency and provides an effective means to track utility costs and raw material usage.

Manufacturers need the right number of instruments and enough data to create predictive models. This is one of the key areas CSI is working on related to the digital transformation trend in manufacturing. Instrumentation can make machines smarter and optimize their efficiency.

For example, instead of performing preventive maintenance every six months to a year to replace seals on heat exchangers according to a schedule, algorithms based on pressure, flow, and temperature can predict when a gasket should be replaced. This can result in lower operating costs and increased machine uptime.

Moreover, having a bit of extra instrumentation eliminates the need to hire a firm to replace gaskets prematurely or spend money on labor and materials every three months when equipment could last six months.

Clean-in-Place Instrumentation

Advanced instrumentation also benefits clean-in-place (CIP) systems. CSI's flagship product, CIP 2.0, incorporates a range of instruments and is designed to enhance the cleaning process, reduce downtime, and increase efficiency.

“We are constantly pushing CIP 2.0 to be a smarter and more predictive machine,” said Trent Bullock, Director of Engineering Services. “90% of our CIP projects include engineer-to-order specifications, so a customer can come in with a blank sheet of paper or an idea for a design and we will engineer to be as smart as their budget or schedule allows.”

Internal health checks

Instrumentation technology is improving and now provides more self-diagnostics. That’s good news for end users implementing digital transformation projects. Newer instruments can conduct internal health checks and provide status updates to PLCs, indicating whether the equipment is operating within its specified range or if there is an issue with a machine or part that needs replacement.

Accurate readings are crucial. The latest instruments include an internal calibration check. They can be triggered to run the health monitoring feature and provide a detailed report. This is the type of cutting-edge technology CSI controls engineers have been working on when designing new systems to support digital transformation projects for their customers

Instruments are connected to a PLC that collects information and puts it on trend charts or sends a message to the control system to trigger further actions. In the past, the data remained isolated and was not transmitted to the operations team or other facilities. Today, that data can be accessed and utilized for process improvements.

IO-Link and HART are communication protocols that can be used with existing wiring for these instruments. These additional data points, crucial for health monitoring and device configuration, can be stored in the cloud. The rise of digital transformation, also known as Industry 4.0, paves the way for data mining and creating actionable plans.

Return on investment

CSI can help customers with ROI through various approaches. Often on the engineering side, CSI engineering services will assist clients in building a business case to realize ROI. This involves retrofitting designs or processes to boost throughput or reduce cleaning downtime, leading to tangible ROI.

"When we narrow it down to instrumentation, ROI often comes from increased accuracy. For instance, using an older meter on a filler might slightly overfill bottles, giving away product for free. By upgrading to a more precise instrument like a mass meter, product overfill can be minimized, resulting in a relatively quick ROI, even with a modest investment,” said Trent Bullock, Director of Engineering Services.

Instrumentation can also contribute to ROI by optimizing utility costs. When a flow meter or pressure transmitter is used on a pump, the pump speed can be adjusted based on process requirements and monitored. This can eliminate the need to run a pump at full speed all day. By using the right instrumentation, the pump can operate at a lower capacity to get the job done. This will reduce wear and tear on the pump and motor and provide electrical savings.

Almost every CSI customer has one or multiple air compressors supplying their facility as a utility. Take for example, a 25-horsepower air compressor. By implementing a variable frequency drive (VFD) – which can cost an additional $3500.00 upfront cost - to allow the compressor to adjust its speed based on operational needs this plant could realize significant annual savings of $6,000. In fact, the VFD could pay for itself in less than a year and offer both energy and cost savings.

End users should consider the overall cost of ownership of any systems they purchase or design. Investing a little more upfront in instrumentation or a more robust system design could lower ROI in the long run.

Automated CIP delivers smarter predictivity

Ensuring the safety and efficiency of food and pharmaceutical processing is paramount for all processing plants. In this context, Clean-in-Place (CIP) is instrumental in enhancing production optimization. Specifically, tailored CIP systems for industries like food, dairy, beverage, and pharmaceutical processing offer a streamlined and reliable method for maintaining product quality and integrity without compromising safety.

At the heart of CIP systems lies sophisticated instrumentation, tasked with the crucial role of monitoring, controlling, and optimizing the cleaning process. Instruments meticulously measure and regulate key CIP parameters—temperature, flow rate, pressure, and chemical concentration—guaranteeing that each cleaning cycle meets stringent repeatable hygiene requirements. This precise control is instrumental in preventing the underuse or overuse of resources, such as cleaning agents and water, ensuring that the cleaning is both effective and resource-efficient.

CSI CIP 2.0 leverages advanced instrumentation to monitor critical cleaning parameters meticulously. This not only facilitates adherence to stringent standards but also enables the conservation of valuable resources, such as water, electricity, and cleaning agents, with the added benefit of potential water recovery.

A better system design requires more instrumentation and equipment. CSI can help you with that. Often, we can develop a system that will pay for those additional features in a relatively short period of time.

CSI’s expertise in instrumentation, along with product offerings like CIP 2.0 technology, provides smarter predictivity for the digital transformation of your operations.

CIP 2.0 from CSI leverages advanced instrumentation to monitor critical cleaning parameters meticulously. This not only facilitates adherence to stringent standards but also enables the conservation of valuable resources such as water, electricity, and cleaning agents, with the added benefit of potential water recovery.

It takes more instrumentation and equipment to have a better system design. That’s where CSI can help you. Often, we can develop a system that will pay for those additional features in a relatively short period of time.

CSI’s expertise in instrumentation, along with product offerings like CIP 2.0 technology, provides smarter predictivity for the digital transformation of your operations.

Want to learn more about CIP 2.0 from CSI?

Go to CIP 2.0

Contributing Author

Trent Bullock is the Director of Engineering Services at CSI. Trent graduated from University Missouri Rolla (UMR), currently known as Missouri University of Science and Technology, with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has vast industry experience in controls and automation, process engineering, manufacturing engineering, and OEM equipment development. His team is responsible for designing sanitary process and control systems for food, dairy, beverage, home personal care, biotech, and pharmaceutical industries. He is focused on providing support and technical expertise to both internal and external customers.

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