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Wonderware and SITAM Increase Plant Treatment Productivity with the FROGSS Project
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Middleware, SDKs & Libraries
Applicable Industries
- Chemicals
Applicable Functions
- Discrete Manufacturing
Use Cases
- Process Control & Optimization
- Track & Trace of Assets
Services
- System Integration
- Software Design & Engineering Services
The Challenge
Bayer CropScience AG, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is a leading innovator in the fields of crop protection, nonagricultural pest management, seeds and plant biotechnologies. The company has invested nearly 10 million euro at La Dargoire over the last two years to provide the existing laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment. The Biology department has benefitted from this investment with the creation of a new, fully-robotized system for large-scale testing of the effectiveness of new molecules on plant diseases. The FROGSS (Fungicide Rotating Greenhouse Spraying System) project was born. Its functional scope concerning the steering monitoring solution remains to be defined. The company requested a tool that was able to change easily according to needs identified during the course of the project, without jeopardizing what already existed. Their options were quickly narrowed to a Wonderware solution which offered a modular and open architecture based on market standards.
About The Customer
Bayer CropScience AG is a subsidiary of Bayer AG, an international group with core businesses in the health, nutrition and high-performance materials sectors. With annual sales figures of about 6.4 billion euro (2008), Bayer CropScience is leading the way in worldwide innovation in the fields of crop protection, nonagricultural pest management, seeds and plant biotechnologies. The company offers an extensive range of complementary products and services for modern and sustainable agriculture, as well as solutions for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has invested nearly 10 million euro at La Dargoire over the last two years in order to provide the existing laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment. The Biology department has benefitted from this investment with the creation of a new, fully-robotized system for large-scale testing of the effectiveness of new molecules on plant diseases.
The Solution
The FROGSS project automates several processes including spraying of plant sets from a loading zone, drying of sprayed solutions in a drying tunnel, classification of plants, by disease, in trolleys, washing and storing of the sets used in a storage zone, transporting of sets to the various zones mentioned above, and identification of treated sets and pots. The sequencing of all of these treatments is called a “Run.” This automation process implements several elements: computers, automatic devices, conveyors, robotic arms, a LiquidHandler, trolleys, carts, doors, valves, cylinders, nozzles, elevators, lifts, shafts, motors, pumps, cells, barcode readers and DataMatrix code and readers. In addition to automating the process, traceability is accomplished throughout the entire installation from taking the set, to arranging the pots, including spraying. The IT architecture is built around a Wonderware solution that interfaces with the Bayer CropScience management system (BCS). The solution, developed with the Wonderware InTouch HMI (Human Machine Interface) and Wonderware Historian allows the following functions to be provided: Representation of the process structured in the form of block diagrams, Real-time acquisition of process parameters, Visualization of safety elements, Acquisition of safety data, Alarm management, Recording and sorting of past events or alarms and for those currently in progress, Management of manufacturing program parameters, Configuration for the “Run”, Traceability management, Exchanges with the BCS system.
Operational Impact
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