Tri Tech Automation replaced an existing panel for a customer in the mining and cement industry in less than 4 months during the peak of the 2022 supply chain shortage. Tri Tech Automation was able to leverage their new inventory stocking program to ensure they had the material needed to complete this project within the project’s aggressive schedule.
A repeat customer of several years approached Tri Tech Automation in June 2022 in need of a replacement for an existing control panel.
The customer had a plant shutdown scheduled for 4 months from the start of the project and needed the panel onsite and ready for installation by then.
During this time, the supply chain issues were causing lead times on all hardware to increase exponentially, which was creating significant delays in automation projects across the industry, but Tri Tech Automation confidently took on the project.
The lack of availability of components required the Tri Tech Automation team to find many innovative and creative solutions to ensure the solution met the project requirements and could be delivered on schedule.
For example, there was one issue with the lead time on the 3-meter Flex5000 interconnect cable needed for the replacement panel.
Due to the limited time allotted for this project, they were not able to wait for the cable to come in. The design and fabrication teams brainstormed to find what would work technically while giving the customer the best possible outcome.
They decided to change the design of the Flex5000 IO racks from a horizontal to a vertical arrangement. This method allowed them to utilize the 1-meter cable available while maintaining the requirement for them to be arranged near the top of the enclosure.
Right before the start of fabrication, the customer recognized there was not enough space for the enclosure they had originally selected. This required an entire redesign of the project.
Dan Baldwin, Electrical CAD Designer at Tri Tech Automation, was able to get the redesign done in a week, and no issues were reported with the redesign after it was issued for customer approval.
“This is a great example of what we are capable of when we work together as a team. I believe that one of the greatest measures of our personal success is the impact we have on the success of others.”
-Luke Manier, Vice President of Operations at Tri Tech Automation
Tri Tech Automation’s inventory stocking program gave them the ability to complete this project within the allotted time.
To maintain the existing cables from the field, Tri Tech Automation had to arrange certain devices in the panel near the top of the upgrade.
The main driver of the project was to reduce the risk of unplanned downtime by modernizing an obsolete PLC system. Tri Tech Automation provided a modern Rockwell Automation CompactLogix based system.
Tri Tech Automation was able to successfully ship the finished project 3 days before its deadline despite any supply chain issues.
After the redesign was approved, everything during the building process went smoothly.
“Once everything was built, I was able to talk with the shop guys and spend some time going through every wire to build that real-world connection from the drawings on a computer screen to the physical equipment,”
-Dan Baldwin, Electrical CAD Designer at Tri Tech Automation
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