“With Wonderware Equipment Operations Module, improved raw material and product tracking gives African Explosives Limited a far greater degree of quality control, enabling the company to maintain product consistency and process improvements.”

Ronald HugginsControl Systems Engineer

African Explosives Limited Gives Its Customers More Bang for the Buck with Help from Invensys

Goals• Thecompanyneededtoaccuratelytrackraw

materialsandfinishedproductsthroughanautomatedbatchtrackingsystem

• Withasystemfeaturingthecollectionoftrackandtracedata,AfricanExplosivesLimitedwantedtoensureproductqualityandeliminateproductdefects

Challenges• Thecompanyneededtoavoidmajorproduction

disruptionsbyensuringarapidimplementationofthenewsystem

• Maintainingthecompany’shighsafetystandardsandproductconsistencywerethetopprioritiesforanytechnologychangeover

Solutions and Products• WonderwareEquipmentOperationsModule• WonderwareHistorian• WonderwareSystemPlatform• WonderwareIndustrialApplicationServer

Results• AfricanExplosivesLimitednowhasanaccurate

andreliabletrackingsystem• TheInvensystechnologysolutionhasimproved

thecompany’scompetitivepositioningbyenablingittodeliverhigh-qualityexplosivestotheminingandconstructionindustries

• Eliminationofpaperworkhasresultedinasignificantreductioninerrorsassociatedwiththepriormanualreportingsystem

INDUSTRY:METALS,MINERALS&MINING

African Explosives Limitedwww.explosives.co.za

Johannesburg , South Africa–Therearefewindustriesthatdemandmorefocusedattentionthanthemanufacturingofexplosivematerials.Reliability,accuracy,safetyandpredictabilitymustbetopofmindwhenproducingdetonatorsforcommercialexplosives.Detonatorsarethemostsensitivecomponentsresponsiblefortriggeringexplosivesandrequirethehighestlevelofprecisionandaccuracyduringthemanufacturingprocess.

Asaninternationalleaderandinnovatorincommercialexplosivesandblastingsolutions,AfricanExplosivesLimited(AEL)productsareusedinoperationsforminingeverythingfromcoal,nickelandcoppertopreciousmetalsandgemstonessuchasgold,platinumanddiamonds.AELmustfollowstrictproceduresduringthecriticalmanufacturingprocessofitsdetonators.

AELrecognizedtheneedforanautomatedtechnologysolutionthatcouldtrackandtracealloftherawmaterialsusedintheproductionprocessaswellasfinalproductdevelopment.Thegoalofthenewsystemwastoeliminateproductionvariabilitywhileprovidingtraceabilityofcomponentsthatwentintotheproductionofeachproductbatch.Aftercarefulevaluationofvariousbatchtrackandtracetechnologies,AELselectedtheWonderwareEquipmentOperationsModulefromInvensysOperationsManagementtoautomateitsmanufacturingprocesses.

How Do You Manufacture Explosives? Carefully.

AtAEL’sinitiatingsystemsproductionplant,thecompanymanufacturesdetonatorassemblieswhichrequireavarietyofrawexplosivematerials,delaypowders,delayelements,tubesandshocktubes,whicharenon-electricexplosivefusesorinitiators.Previously,thebatchtrackingofrawmaterialsandproductsusedinthemanufactureofdetonatorswasdonewithamanual,paper-basedsystemwhichwaspronetohumanerror.

Becauseofthecriticalnatureofexplosivesmanufacturingprocesses,AELrecognizedthatitwastimeforachange.Withthebusinessobjectivesofimprovingcustomerrelations,

enhancingthecompany’soverallcompetitivenessaswellasconsolidatingtheuseofrawmaterials,AELdecidedthatagreaterdegreeofautomationwasneededtoeffectivelyachievethesegoals.

NotonlydidthepotentialsolutionhavetomeetAEL’sstrictoperationalrequirementsforimprovingproductquality,suchaseliminatingtheproductionofpotentiallyfaultyproducts,italsohadtobeabletotrackbackfromthecustomertothespecificbatchprocesstodeterminethecauseofanyproductfailure.ThetrackandtraceproductionsolutionhadtoreducehumanerrorandassistintheproperevaluationofthepropertiesandperformanceofrawmaterialsusedinproductionofAEL’striggeringsystems.

“WithWonderwareEquipmentOperationsModule,improvedrawmaterialandproducttrackinggivesAELafargreaterdegreeofqualitycontrolenablingthecompanytomaintainproductconsistencyandprocessimprovements,”saidRonaldHuggins,ControlSystemsEngineeratAEL.

Invensys Technology Keeps Track of an Explosive Process

AELchosesystemintegratorAdvansysfortheimplementationbecauseofthecompany’sindustryexperienceinprovidingtechnologysolutionsforminingapplications,aswellasitsextensiveknowledgeofInvensysproducts.WiththeassistanceofAdvansys,AELselectedWonderware’sEquipmentOperationsModuletocapturereal-timeprocessdataandprovidedetailedbatchdatareportsforanalysis.

TheWonderwareEquipmentOperationsModuletrackseachrawmaterialthatisusedduringthemanufacturingprocess.Thesoftwarecapturescomplete“as-built”traceabilityrecordsforrapidresponsetounforeseenproductioneventssuchasproductrecalls.

PairedwithWonderwareSystemPlatform,acomprehensiveindustrialsoftwareplatformforSCADA,HMIandMESapplications,WonderwareEquipmentOperationsModuleprovidescomprehensivedatamanagementandseamlessinteractionwithHMIandotherplantfloorvisualizationsystems.Inaddition,itworksinconjunctionwithAEL’sinstallationofWonderwareHistorian,areal-timehistoricaldatabase,aswellasdual-redundantapplicationobjectservers.

“Theabilitytodevelopproductiontemplateswhichaddressthetrackingfunctionswasanimportantcomponent,alongwithreusabilityoftemplatesandobjects.TheseweretwoofthemostoutstandingfeaturesofferedbytheInvensystechnology,”saidBraamVenter,MegatronicsEngineeratAdvansys.“AnotherhighlightistheeaseofuseandtheabilitytointegratewithWonderwareHistorian.NETcomponents.”

Advansysimplementedatop-downapproachwhichincludedaddressingtheoperatorinterfacesconsistingofexistingWinCCFlexibletouchpanelswhichcommunicatewiththePLC.AlloperatorinstructionscannowberoutedthroughthePLC,usingstandardscreenswithtextfieldstoviewmessagesfromtheInvensystechnology.TheabilitytomanagetextmessagesandHMIdatafromwithintheWonderwareSystemPlatformhassignificantlyreducedimplementationandcommissioningtimes.

Real-timeprocessdataiscapturedateachproductionevent,whichcanbeusedtoanalyzemanufacturingbatchdatatoidentifyanyfaultyproductionprocess.Inaddition,aproductiondatabaseisusedtorecordrawmaterialuseandcanbeinputteddirectlybyproductionpersonneltobettermanagethevariousdelaypowderrecipes.ThisdatabasealsoisusedasaninterfacebetweentheInvensystechnologyandthescannersatvariousproductionscreens.

TheWonderwareEquipmentOperationsModuleisusedtodrivetheproductionprocessesviaaPLCandtheWinCCFlexibletouchpanels.TherelevantdataisthenloggedinaWonderwareProductionEventModuledatabase.Formulaandrawmaterialsdataisstoredinaproductiondatabase.AproductionWebsitehasbeendevelopedforrawmaterialandformulainputsaswellastrackinginformation.AnSAPinterfacetableisusedtocommunicateproductquantityproducedandtherawmaterialsconsumedduringmanufacturing.

Adatabaseconnectionviaa.NETobjectwasdevelopedbyAdvansystoeaseintegrationwiththeproductiondatabase.AscannerdriverwaswrittentoreadUserDatagramProtocol(UDP)packetsfromthescanner.UDPisasetofnetworkprotocolsusedfortheInternetthatenablescomputerapplicationstosendmessagesordatagramstootherIPaddressesonthenetworkwithouthavingtosetupspecialtransmissionchannelsordatapaths.Withthissimplifieddatasharingmethod,scannerdriversarenowabletoupdatetheproductiondatawiththescanneddata.

Production Tracking of Explosives Can Diffuse a Volatile Situation

ThenewrawmaterialandproducttrackingsystemfromInvensyshasenabledAEL’sinitiatingsystemsautomatedplanttomaintainitsreputationforappropriatelydealingwithmarketandtechnologicaldevelopments.Accurateandrapidtrackandtracemethodsarehelpingtopinpointandisolateproblemareasmorequicklyandallowthecompanytocontinuouslyimproveproductquality,evaluaterawmaterialspecificationsandminimizewaste.WiththehelpofWonderwareEquipmentOperationsModule,AELisabletodefuseirregularitiesquicklyandsafely,ensuringthemanufactureofhighqualityandextremelyreliableproducts.ThenewtrackingsystemfromInvensysenablesAELtoprovidethevitaltoolsnecessaryforminingcompaniestocontinuetouncovertheearth’snaturalresources,aswellasitstreasures.

Invensys,theInvensyslogo,ArchestrA,Avantis,Eurotherm,Foxboro,IMServ,InFusion,SimSci-Esscor,Skelta,Triconex,andWonderwarearetrademarksofInvensysplc,itssubsidiariesoraffiliates.Allotherbrandsandproductnamesmaybethetrademarksorservicemarksoftheirrepresentativeowners.

©2011InvensysSystems,Inc.Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthematerialprotectedbythiscopyrightmaybereproducedorutilizedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,recording,broadcasting,orbyanyinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromInvensysSystems,Inc.

Invensys Operations Management • 5601 Granite Parkway III, #1000, Plano, TX 75024 • Tel: (469) 365-6400 • Fax: (469) 365-6401 • iom.invensys.com

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