The Saint Louis Sucre factory in Marseille, France processes and refines as much as 860 tons of sugar a day. Should there be a problem at the plant, approximately 18 tons of sugar then currently in production could be lost. In an effort to avert such a disaster, the plant recently began using mobile alarm notifications to monitor the material handling process.
The alarm notification system used at this plant is provided by Micromedia International, a strategic partner of WIN-911. The factory uses Micromedia’s ALERT alarm software, which is designed for the remote monitoring of automated systems. This software can be coupled with multiple platforms, including SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems. In this instance, the factory couples its Alert system with monitoring software from PCVue.
Prior to implementing this system, the refinery and manufacturing plant operators had been using the now-obsolete pager and lexicon system to respond to problems that occurred with the material handling process. This meant that factory operators had to receive the alert on their pager, memorize the alert, and then decode it using their lexicon. This process wasted precious time determining the nature of the problem, time that could have been used instead to actually fix the problem.
Since instituting this system, every time the material handling process encounters a problem, the alarm notification system saves factory operators an average of 30 minutes. Operators now receive the alerts in their entirety, complete with both the location and the scope of the problem, and are now empowered to proceed with vital repairs without wasting precious time memorizing codes and deciphering cryptic messages.
The end result is a closely monitored and controlled system that prevents interruptions in the production chain and prevents the unnecessary loss of valuable product.
For more information, please contact WIN-911’s partner Micromedia at http://www.micromedia-int.com/en/.