New automation software and fieldbus wiring for valves at Vinavil’s adhesives-manufacturing facility contributed to a 30 percent savings in cabling costs.

Vinavil reduced its cabling costs by 30 percent and dropped its startup and commissioning times by 50 percent, which contributed to the overall project savings. The company also realized maintenance and quality reporting savings through use of AMS Suite software, which is part of PlantWeb.

As a prelude to automating its Villa- dossola manufacturing plant, the company reviewed hardware systems and added value of available software programs.

A key reason that the adhesives maker chose Emerson's PlantWeb was its use of different open communications protocols. Vinavil adopted Foundation fieldbus for control applications and ProfiBus DP communications for on/off valves, sensors and motor control centers.

PlantWeb networks the DeltaV digital automation system and integrated modular software, including device manager software, with intelligent field devices such as temperature, pressure, flow and level instruments. The combination of performance monitoring and predictive maintenance helps avoid shutdowns, delivers improved reliability and increases quality.

With the new control system, Vinavil improved system availability and flexibility by simplifying management and maintenance of field instrumentation. Personnel, who are alerted when a device fails, can interrogate the unit remotely to determine cause of failure. The software's audit trail functionality, which registers all activities related to field devices, has simplified the record keeping required as part of Vinavil's environmental certification. In addition, the autotuning capabilities led to reductions in the time taken to tune a loop and contributed to greater product consistency.