Category: Food and Beverage , Building Automation

Catania Oils

Ayer, Massachusetts, United States

Challenges

Production Line Visibility - Needed real-time status of which production lines were operational vs. down across their manufacturing facility.
Resource Management - Required accurate tank level monitoring to optimize raw material ordering and manage storage space availability effectively.
Efficiency Analysis - Wanted to measure Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and identify manufacturing process improvement opportunities.

Results

Real-Time OEE Monitoring - Achieved comprehensive production efficiency measurement by tracking availability, performance, and quality metrics.
Loss Deployment Analysis - Gained ability to distinguish between machine-related losses and process-related inefficiencies for targeted improvements.
Predictive Maintenance - Transitioned from calendar-based to data-driven maintenance scheduling by correlating production data with CMMS systems.

“We collect data regularly through GENESIS. And so, we get data from every line, from every product, and from every shift, and that data is accumulated in the database and a report comes out every day for us to be able to determine how each one of those lines is running.”

— Dan Bracket, Vice President of Operations | Catania Oils

About Catania Oils

Catania Oils is a leading provider of conventional, non-GMO Project verified and organic oils for the ingredients, foodservice, and retail markets. The company is driven by their steadfast commitment to excellence and continuous improvement processes that deliver the highest quality of vegetable, olive, and blended oils to the industry and its customers around the world.

The company operates a high-tech manufacturing facility, a large distribution center, a quality assurance (QA) laboratory, a railroad and bulk processing area as well as multiple automatic production lines. In addition, Catania Oils also operates a fleet of tank and box trucks, allowing them to service customers throughout the United States.

— Dan Bracket, Vice President of Operations | Catania Oils

Operations Dashboard

Project Summary

Catania Oils knew they needed help in leveraging their data. Specifically, they needed to zero in on the informational insight that this data could provide for plantwide visualization into production. In particular, the company wanted:

To know the status of their lines - which lines are up and which lines are down.
To know the quantity of resources being used - specifically to know the tank levels to be able to order raw materials based on the availability of storage space.
To identify potential efficiency gains in their manufacturing processes so wanted to be able to investigate overall equipment efficiency (OEE) and to measure KPI performance
To have the capability of batch management and material handling.
To track the quantity of additives for regulatory purposes.
To know the quantity of manufactured products.

They therefore set out to look for an automation software that could capture the data and display it in a meaningful way for them to make data-driven decisions.

Catania Oils was introduced to system integrator Data Acuity, and as a longtime partner of Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions, Data Acuity chose GENESIS for the system automation software. Located in Hampton, New Hampshire, Data Acuity is an automation software company that focuses on the manufacturing, energy, and service delivery efficiency for Automated Systems. Their consulting services, the technologies they represent, and their engineering design efforts are all centered on focusing their clients’ resources on areas that will bring the greatest efficiency gains.

Operations Dashboard

Operations Pareto Chart/Loss Deployment Pie Chart

Solutions Deployed

GENESIS64™web-based real-time HMI/SCADA suite with WebHMI™
Hyper Historian™ high-speed, reliable, robust plant data historian

Operations Pareto Chart/Loss Deployment Pie Chart

Tank Level Overview

Realized Benefits

GENESIS software allowed Catania Oils to monitor overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and loss deployment to improve production efficiency. The key was to focus the right resources on the right problems and to use OEE for gaining insight.

As a metric, OEE provided a clear understanding of the difference between the quantity of sellable product that could be made versus the actual quantity produced. The primary insight gained from this metric was a full understanding of which resources needed to be assigned to which priority problems.

Using GENESIS, Catania Oils could measure production efficiency by breaking OEE into three components:

Availability – How much scheduled time equipment is actually running.
Performance – How close the equipment is running to its maximum possible speed.
Quality – The proportion of good units produced versus total units started.

Additionally, the company improved efficiency by monitoring loss deployment. With GENESIS, Catania Oils could determine:

The actual quantity of product produced.
The loss of efficiency attributed to machine or asset faults.
The loss of efficiency attributed to the process around the asset.

By monitoring both OEE and loss deployment, Catania Oils gained deeper insight into potential efficiency losses and could focus on the entire production process, rather than only on a single machine fault or quality defect—leading to even greater efficiency gains.

Tank Level Overview

Pump and Rail Operations

Conclusion

Catania Oils will continue to use Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions’ software to optimize their operations and are now using the software to look into predictive maintenance. By leveraging GENESIS’ real-time data and analytics, they are identifying patterns and trends that help anticipate potential equipment issues before they occur.

They are correlating their production information with the CMMS system in order to schedule maintenance actions predictively as opposed to scheduling maintenance actions based on a calendar. This proactive approach not only reduces unplanned downtime but also extends the life of critical assets.

The company plans to continue to grow their expertise and experience in using GENESIS for continuous improvement across all aspects of their operations.

Pump and Rail Operations