Replacing obsolete controls while developing a phased retrofit strategy to reduce risk and protect continuous cheese production.
When obsolete controls threatened the long-term reliability of Tillamook Creamery’s cheese production equipment, Concept Systems was brought in to develop a modernization strategy. What began as a Remote I/O retrofit evolved into a phased controls upgrade designed to reduce migration risk while protecting continuous production.
The Problem: Obsolete Controls in a 24/7 Operation
Tillamook Creamery needed to modernize the controls supporting eight Block Towers used in the cheese production process. Two Remote I/O enclosures tied together the I/O for the towers and still relied on obsolete Texas Instruments hardware, while the facility’s PLC had already been migrated to an Allen-Bradley ControlLogix platform.
The original plan was to replace the outdated hardware with Allen-Bradley FLEX I/O. However, each Remote I/O enclosure contained more than 300 I/O points, making it difficult to migrate and test every connection within the short maintenance windows available.
Downtime presented an additional challenge. The plant operates continuously, and extended production interruptions can require milk to be transported elsewhere for processing. The retrofit therefore needed to address obsolete equipment without introducing unnecessary production risk.
What’s a Block Tower? Cheese curds are stacked inside the tower, where their weight helps form a solid block before it is cut and sent to storage for aging.
The Solution: A Phased Controls Retrofit
Concept Systems began by evaluating the existing I/O and developing a migration strategy around Tillamook’s limited maintenance windows. During the project walkdown, engineers identified that a significant portion of the Remote I/O served the Operator Panels and Valve Panels at each Block Tower.
Rather than immediately replacing the two Remote I/O enclosures, Concept recommended upgrading each Block Tower Operator Panel to a touchscreen HMI and each Valve Panel to an Ethernet-based valve bank first.
Reducing Risk Before the Final Migration
The Block Tower upgrades could be completed sequentially, allowing only one tower to be taken offline at a time. This gave the project team greater flexibility to work within available maintenance windows while keeping the remaining production equipment operational.
Completing these upgrades first also removed approximately 400 discrete I/O points from the Remote I/O enclosures. Instead of eventually migrating more than 300 points per enclosure, the remaining scope was reduced to approximately 100 points per panel.
By increasing the initial scope, Concept reduced the complexity and risk of the future Remote I/O migration. Detailed field verification, engineering preparation, and drawings provided a repeatable execution plan for completing each upgrade with minimal impact on production.
The Results
The phased controls retrofit provided Tillamook with a lower-risk path for modernizing obsolete equipment while minimizing the impact on continuous production.
- Successfully upgraded seven of the eight Block Towers during the documented project phase
- Reduced the future Remote I/O migration by approximately 400 discrete I/O points
- Created a repeatable upgrade strategy designed around limited maintenance windows
- Reduced the risk of unplanned production downtime during future controls migration
- Achieved a 9-month return on investment
Project Details
Team
Client: 2
Concept Systems: 2 engineers
Requirements
Replace outdated hardware with minimal impact on production
ROI
9 Months
Technology Used
• Allen-Bradley ControlLogix
• FlexTM I/O
Concept Systems Time On Site
5 Months
Modernize obsolete controls while extending the life and reliability of existing production equipment.