Laundry soap, like any other product, must be consistent to meet consumer expectations. With that goal, the maker of 90-year-old Persil washing powder has switched out its 15-year-old automation system for a high tech one.

The Lever Faberg plant in Warrington, U.K., has installed the DeltaV digital automation system, a key component of PlantWeb digital plant architecture from Austin, Texas-based Emerson Process Management. Its flexibility and adaptability enables the company to quickly adjust the existing manufacturing processes or introduce new products as required. The installation covers the slurry, tower and raw materials areas of the plant.

“The Warrington plant is undergoing a significant technological change, and the new DeltaV system will bring a huge number of benefits. These include improved quality of product and processes, reduced waste and rework, enhanced fault-finding and configuration, improved reliability and better user interfaces for plant operators and technicians,” says Ian Pickett, Lever Faberg's project manager.

Installation of the new system was straightforward and the project was split into phases to run concurrently with other engineering upgrades. According to Pickett, the conversion took place without any loss of production.