Rapid Execution for Design and Build of a Control Panel During Supply Chain Shortage

The Situation

A repeat Tri Tech customer in the mining and cement industry approached us in June 2022 during the peak of the Covid-related supply shortages. This customer wanted to replace an existing control panel in advance of a plant shutdown – already scheduled to begin just four months later. They needed their new control panel onsite and ready for installation by then to make the shutdown go smoothly.

On top of an already tight timeline, supply chain issues were causing an exponential increase in lead times on all hardware, creating significant delays in automation projects across the industry.

The Customer’s Need

The customer’s main need when they approached Tri Tech was to reduce the risk of unplanned downtime during their scheduled plant shutdown. To do this, they needed to modernize an obsolete PLC system at the plant. Unfortunately, the lack of availability of critical components was a serious issue, jeopardizing their ability to meet the aggressive timeline. The lead time alone on a three-meter Flex5000 interconnect cable needed for the replacement panel was far beyond the four-month deadline. Time was of the essence, and they needed a solution that didn’t involve moving their deadline to wait for the cable to come in.

On top of all that, there was another last-minute curveball: the customer realized that there was not enough space for the enclosure they had originally selected, impacting any future design plans. But as a repeat customer of Tri Tech, they reached out to us and we confidently took on the project.

The Tri Tech Solution

First, Tri Tech’s design and fabrication teams brainstormed solutions to determine what would work technically, while also giving the customer the best possible outcome within their given timeframe and space confinements. Because the customer had recognized right before the start of fabrication that the enclosure would not fit in the space they had originally selected, Tri Tech had to literally think outside of the box. Thanks to the hard work of our Electrical CAD Designer, Dan Baldwin, we were able to get the redesign to the client in less than a week. We recommended changing the design of the Flex5000 IO racks from a horizontal to a vertical arrangement, allowing them to utilize the one-meter cable available rather than wait for the delayed three-meter cable. “Once everything was built,” Baldwin said, “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.” The creative solution also enabled us to maintain the requirement for cables from the field to be arranged near the top of the enclosure. Once this stage was set, Tri Tech provided the customer with a modern Rockwell Automation CompactLogix based system as the new PLC for the plant.

In the midst of all this, there was still the question of supply chain delays to address. Luckily for the customer, Tri Tech Automation had implemented a new inventory stocking program to ensure they had the material needed to complete this project within the project’s aggressive schedule. We were able to leverage this to the customer’s advantage, providing key inventory that would have otherwise been impossible to obtain in time for the project’s completion.

The Results

This project required the Tri Tech team to seek innovative and creative solutions to ensure the system met the project requirements and could be delivered on schedule. After the initial redesign was approved, everything during the building process went smoothly. The end result? Not only did Tri Tech manage to complete this project in the short turnaround time needed by the customer, we finished it ahead of schedule – successfully delivering the finished project to the customer three days before the deadline.

Tri Tech’s foresight in creating an inventory stocking program gave us a critical advantage in completing the project within the allotted time. As Managing Director Luke Manier said, “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.”