New Ag Terminal With Process Automation Opens New Markets for Midwest Farmers Cooperative

To lay the foundation for a fully automated terminal, Wachter and MFC decided to deploy a centralized, scalable PlantPAx DCS. “This was the first time MFC was deploying a centralized, DCS in a terminal,” said Daniel Alvarez, automation software systems consultant at Wachter and a lead on the project. “We knew that the PlantPAx modern DCS would be easy to design and deploy quickly, helping to get the terminal operating sooner.”

When designing the control system, Wachter leveraged the Rockwell Automation Library of Process Objects. The pre-built, pre-engineered and tested process objects allowed Wachter to quickly design and deploy the system. The Rockwell Software^® Studio 5000^® Logix Emulate^™ software application enabled the Wachter team to validate, test and optimize code without hardware. This reduced design time by around 25 percent, and allowed the team to gather buy-in from MFC stakeholders and train operators.

With an EtherNet/IP^™ backbone, the modern DCS integrates smoothly with the plant’s new machines – such as conveyors and dryer systems – to efficiently monitor and visualize the terminal from inbound to outbound. This comprehensive view enables operators to control all areas of the terminal through only three workstations located at receiving, weighing and loadout. Typically, older terminals would require multiple operators to manually manage the process.

The new system also smoothly manages enterprise-level monitoring, data storage and alarming. The system’s connectivity to the enterprise-level monitoring also enables remote access. If an issue arises, Wachter can remotely access the control system for maintenance and troubleshooting, reducing costs and time for both.

Automation Brings Higher Margins

The greenfield terminal is operating with no major downtime events to date. The rail-line access allows MFC to bring their corn and other grains to more national and global markets, from California and Mexico to the East Coast, at higher profit margins.

In addition, MFC is reaping benefits across the board from their first centralized DCS and fully automated terminal. Production moves more quickly and efficiently compared to older terminals, and remote monitoring reduces downtime and saves MFC thousands of dollars on any maintenance issue.

The biggest benefit to MFC? Rapid project development and expedited commissioning. MFC began building the terminal in December 2015. Wachter began designing the upfront engineering and design in March 2016. By the end of October, the system was deployed and began validating processes in less than two weeks.

“Our operations, management and leadership teams have varying levels of automation experience, from little or none, to full-on, wholly automated facilities,” said Eric Werth, manager for the MFC Syracuse terminal. “With the PlantPAx system, Wachter helped us go from design to operations at the same location, within a year – helping our patrons reach a bigger customer base faster than expected.”

The new terminal has a capacity of 2.75 million bushel, which could more than double if warranted. The receiving end has the capacity to take in 1,000 bushels every two minutes, and receives an average of 300 trucks per day.

MFC plans to standardize on the PlantPAx system across facilities, as the co-op builds future terminals and upgrades existing ones.

The results mentioned above are specific to Midwest Farmers Cooperative’s use of Rockwell Automation products and services in conjunction with other products. Specific results may vary for other customers.

Logix Emulate, PartnerNetwork, PlantPAx, Rockwell Software and Studio 5000 are trademarks of Rockwell Automation Inc.

EtherNet/IP is a trademark of ODVA Inc.