realizacje

Stepan employees during production preparation

Stepan, the chemical company , is the world’s largest producer of aromatic polyester polyols. Production plants are located in North America, China, Germany and in Poland – in Brzeg Dolny.  Based on decades of experience and knowlegde as well as thanks to the the usage of innovative technological solutions, Stepan offers products of the highest quality, ensuring ease of processing  and excellent properties of final products. Our offer for local and global customers includes polyester polyols for production of: composite and insulating panels with a core of polyisocyanurate PIR foam, insulating spray foams,  technical insulation, C.A.S.E. (Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants,Elastomers), flexible foams.

The decision to implement the new system took into account the optimization of production costs, reduction of maintenance costs, and the need to reduce the cost of production of the old control system, but above all, the scalability of the solution on terms of plant expansion.

Control-Service employees during the work on project

The only solution already proven to meet the operational objectives and policy of advanced process safety was considered. Wonderware is a standard in Stepan factories all over the world, therefore, Wonderware products became the main components of the control system.

Stepan engineers were looking for a system integrator to cooperate in the project. One of the criteria was to have adequate competence, to use global standards and to use programming methods that would allow efficient programming and implementation of the advanced control system. Control-Service company met all these criteria and that is why it was entrusted with the implementation of the system.

Wonderware InBatch, while executing production, sends control signals to the devices and monitors their status, reacting dynamically to the occurring events. Having a complete system model containing information about raw materials, InBatch is responsible for all aspects of batch management including: selection of devices and starting batches on particular devices, process control, blocking and releasing devices, history of batches, material consumption, production, real-time management of batches and precise reporting of production in order to optimise it.

Production process simulator created by Control-Servce

KEY ASPECTS OF SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION:

Use of appropriate software:

‘Wonderware InBatch is an ideal solution for process manufacturing in such industries as pharmaceutical and cosmetics, household and industrial chemistry
as well as food production. Customers using Wonderware InBatch increase the utilization of their machine park, improve operational efficiency and shorten the time to market for new products.’– Arkadiusz Rodak, Product Manager, ASTOR

Cooperation with competent Stepan engineers:

‘Cooperation with Stepan engineers was very fruitful. Their knowledge and experience, perfect understanding of the process, openness to new solutions and focus on common goals made the implementation a success.’ – Damian Majchrowski, Control Systems Sales  

System integrator flexibility during project implementation:

‘We get support from them whenever we need it, whenever we ask for it. Thus for us, Control Service is not just our supplier, but our trusted partner.’– Luis Felipe Rangel, Process Controls Engineer at Stepan company

Creation of software simulating the operation of the entire production plant:

‘Control-Service developed the simulator according to our guidelines: they made it so good, it replicates the plant operation so realistically, that we could thoroughly test everything and improve the parameters of the production process. The result of system optimization, using the simulator, was shortening of the production cycle time and improvement of product quality. (…) The first batch of product after replacing the system with the new one was of better quality than the same batch produced using the old system.’ – Luis Felipe Rangel, Process Controls Engineer at Stepan company.

VIDEO FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION:

We invite you to watch the movie that briefly describes the implementation of the new system: