IDM ¦ Technology/IT
8 · February 2020 ¦ international-dairy.com
Configuration diagram of the fully modernized automatic control equipment for
milk and mozzarella production at Brimi. The Simatic PCS7 process control system
from Siemens makes Milchhof Brixen fit (once again) for a successful future. (Image:
Pavis Engineering)
innovation cycles were not in step.
Consequently, it made little sense to
continue optimizing parts of the existing
installation, while knowing that
this could not be a lasting state, and
had blocked innovation to a certain
extent. The management needed and
wanted to take action and find a future
proof solution. The decision lay
between a completely new construction
and the comprehensive modernization
of the existing process control
system on the basis of earlier versions
of Simatic PCS7 and Simatic WinCC
from Siemens.
Step-by-step to the state of
the art
As a completely new construction
would have meant a halt in production
of unpredictable length, it was decided
to go for the alternative of modernization.
Pavis Engineering GmbH of
Ravensburg, a well-known company
in the dairy sector, was entrusted with
the planning and implementation. Its
concept of upgrading the existing partial
solutions on a step-by-step basis
to reach a largely integrated, uniform
solution with Simatic PCS7 version 8.2
was found to be more convincing than
six other solutions. It should not impair
ongoing operations unduly and should
also keep costs within budget. Pavis Engineering
has been a Siemens Solution
Partner – Automation Drives for many
years. It has specific expertise in the
fields of advanced factory automation,
From the central control station, production managers now have all the parts of
the plant in view, and the uniform look and feel of the Simatic PCS7 process control
system makes operator control and monitoring easy. This ensures maximum
output with consistently high, traceable quality. (Image: Siemens)
industrial communication and handling
the Simatic PCS7 process control system.
Pavis’s customers are manufacturers
and suppliers in the food and beverage
industry, in particular breweries,
dairies, and the worldwide chemical
and pharmaceutical industries. Pavis is
located near Ravensburg, Germany. For
its customers, it develops process technology
automation solutions covering
the creation of concepts, through the
implementation and commissioning to
the after sales service.
Markus Stecher, head of the retrofit
project and IT at Brimi, said, "We deliberately
looked for a mid-sized partner
on a similar wavelength to ours,
which acted quickly and flexibly when
necessary." The existing systems and
know-how of the company’s employees
favored a Simatic PCS7 solution. The
decision was also made easier by the
written assurance from Siemens that
the hardware and software of the process
control system could be upgraded
until at least 2035, which secured the
investment over the long term.
After an analysis of the actual state
and with Brimi’s specifications, the specialists
from Pavis Engineering brought
those parts of the systems that could
be upgraded in several steps to a state
that could be updated to Simatic PCS7
version 8.2. Individual plant sections
were also reconstructed by suppliers