Solutions Common Control Platform

• Allen-Bradley ControlLogix programmable automation controllers leveraged across multiple production disciplines

Simplified Batch Management

• FactoryTalk batch software improved product consistency

MPS Engineered Services

• Rockwell Automation engineers integratedand delivered complete solution

Services and Support

• Local training for line workers and engineers on new system

• On-site support and parts management

Results Dramatically Reduced Downtime

• Production lines that were down for four or more hours at a time multiple times per week are now down once a month for an hour.

Higher Efficiency and Product Consistency

• New batching and recipe capabilities provide more consistent product, less waste, and higher throughput.

Easy Service and Upgrades

• Rockwell Automation service agreements make it easy to maintain the plant and add capabilities.

Background Denim North America manufactures the denim used by high profile clothingmanufacturers to make some of the most popular clothing in the world.Producing more than 75,000 yards of denim per day, Denim North America is one of the largest denim manufacturers in the United States.

To help keep pace with a new global economy, Denim North America needs to maintain continuous production on its machines, while keeping costs downand retaining product quality.

The Columbus, Ga.-based company worked with Rockwell Automation to design and implement an integrated control system across its process, materialhandling, packaging and other discrete applications. As a result, Denim NorthAmerica reduced product variability, minimized downtime, eased maintenanceand improved overall productivity across its entire facility.

ChallengeIn the late 1990s, Denim North America installed an ABB Advant distributedcontrol system (DCS) to manage the entire production line, from the beginningof the process where the yarn enters the ballwarper, to the dye range where it gets it characteristic denim color, to the weave room where it’s woven into bolts

Denim North America finds the perfect fit with Rockwell Automation

After a DCS migration to Integrated Architecture, denim manufacturer experiences dramatically higher efficiency and reduced downtime

The implementation of the line went smoothly, with Rockwell Automation engineers taking less than a week to get all of the newequipment wired and the production line up and running.

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of cloth, to the finishing range wherespecific customer finishes are applied.

As the DCS aged, it began to fail morefrequently, taking the production linedown for three or more hours, multipletimes each week. Technical support wasessential, but unfortunately the closesttechnicians were at least a two hour flightaway. With no local support, the failurescontributed to lengthy downtimes andsignificant expenses.

Additionally, because the DCS system’sbatch features were complicated anddifficult to work with, the company’s line workers had problems getting recipesto function correctly. This meant thatsometimes the process had to be managedby hand. Due to this, changes in color,materials or other product modificationsoften required manual adjustments to fillthe gaps. Because of the level of manualcontrol required, product consistency wasnot where Denim North America wantedit to be, and getting the correct color was a more difficult process than line workersand plant managers would have preferred.Quality levels and the amount of wastewere not up to Denim North America’sworld class standards, leading the companyto look for a partner that would help theplant rise to meet those standards.

“Things just weren’t working as well asthey should have,” said Elmer Rumsey,technical support engineer, Denim NorthAmerica. “To stay competitive, we neededto be the most modern and smoothlyfunctioning denim manufacturing facilityin the world and we weren’t yet there.”

SolutionRumsey and the Denim North Americamanagement team decided to migrate to an automated system that would deliverthe production uptime, efficiency andproduct consistency the company needed,while securing local support that wouldhelp it maintain a dominant market position.

Denim North America decided to get to the heart of the problem and replace theDCS system that was not living up to itspromise. The company conducted acomprehensive review and survey of itssystem, and catalogued its productionneeds. Denim North America wanted afully integrated system that would providecomplex batching and recipe capabilities,solving the quality and consistency issuesthat had proven to be problematic on thelast system. Because of the complexity ofthe old system, it was important the newinstallation be user-friendly as well.

Denim North America Denim NAevaluated several system design conceptsfrom Rockwell Automation and othervendors before deciding on a plan toconvert the line and install a newautomation control system, as well asprovide support after the installation wascomplete. After reviewing the options, thecompany decided to replace its DCSsystem with Allen-Bradley® ControlLogix™programmable automation controllers(PACs) – part of the RockwellAutomation Integrated Architecture™.Unlike conventional control architectures,ControlLogix and other Logix-basedcontrollers from Rockwell Automationleverage the same control engine,development tools, network and operator interface technologies, andcommunications services, making it a fullyintegrated, scalable control platform thatcan be used throughout Denim NorthAmerica’s plant.

“Our engineers have been using controllersfrom Rockwell Automation on the discreteside of our operation for years,” said Rumsey.“By extending this platform to our motion,batch, process, safety and drive applications,we have a more connected enterprise thatis much easier to operate and maintain.”

The new ControlLogix PACs connect viaControlNet™ to Allen-Bradley FLEX™ I/Omodules, PowerFlex® 700 drives and otherfield devices to coordinate the processapplications, including the mixing,

finishing and dying stages. They seamlesslycommunicate with programmablecontrollers in Denim’s material handlingand packaging applications for completehorizontal integration. The controllers alsocommunicate via EtherNet/IP to higher-level business systems to provide detaileddata on system status and reports on trendanalysis for plant managers.

Running on FactoryTalk® View SiteEdition human-machine interface software,Allen-Bradley touchscreen terminalsthroughout the plant provide a bright,graphical environment and. This userinterface helps engineers monitor systemstatus and control the entire line from anylocation for easy control and adjustments.

To eliminate manual adjustments andimprove batch-to-batch consistency,Denim selected FactoryTalk batchsoftware. The software has the ability to build signature templates and enforcecommand verification policies, whichimproves productivity, and the company’ssecurity and regulatory compliance efforts.This system is much simpler to use thanthe prior one at Denim and allows batchrecipes to be programmed into themachinery and automatically follow theinstructions exactly, rather than rely on the occasional variability of a humancontrolled batch. As a result, the softwaremakes a dramatic difference in the qualityof product, as well as overall productivity,since recipes are no longer adjusted byhand and each step in the process does notneed to be triggered by a human operator.

“What Rockwell Automation offered uswas the chance to bring our plant up to,and even beyond, the state of the art at anattractive price,” said Rumsey. “The systemaddressed all of our concerns, and theRockwell Automation post-installationservice and support is heads and shouldersabove any other supplier.”

Rockwell Automation’s engineeringexpertise played an integral part in thedelivery of the system, working withDenim North America’s plantmanagement and engineers to integrateand deliver the new line with the existingplant architecture. Rockwell Automation’sDelivered Solutions group evaluated theexisting infrastructure to develop a plan to install and integrate the newcomponents and software with minimaldisruption to plant operations. As a result,the execution of the project was quick

Implementing a single control platform across the plant floor hasprovided reduced spare parts inventory, more synchronized processesand lower maintenance and training costs.

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and seamless, and was fully operational in a matter of a few weeks.

In addition, the Rockwell Automationtechnical support team provided trainingfor the line workers and engineers, helpingthem become acclimated to the new systemand teach them how to leverage the newautomation features. Rockwell Automationalso was contracted to provide on-site supportand parts management, freeing plant workersto focus on customer orders, rather thanmaintenance issues and troubleshooting.

ResultsThe implementation of the line wentsmoothly, with Rockwell Automationengineers taking less than a week to get all of the new equipment wired and theproduction line functioning at a high level.

The move to Rockwell Automationsystems paid off immediately.Implementing a single control platform

across the plant floor has provided Denimwith a number of advantages, includingreduced spare parts, more synchronizedprocesses, and lower maintenance andtraining costs. It has also improved plant-wide integration by enabling the seamlesstransfer of real-time data from the plantfloor to the front office for better decision-making and increased manufacturingflexibility. Reports from the line are pulledevery day for plant management to reviewand evaluate possible changes to increaseefficiency, look for areas that may requiretroubleshooting, and help determinecapacity for upcoming orders. Lineefficiency is up dramatically as engineershave taken advantage of the user-friendlybatch and recipe capabilities to produceconsistently high-quality denim with less waste.

Production is up by 21 percent, due in nosmall part to the significant reduction inline failures and the more readily available

customer support. Previously the lineefficiency and downtime were not up to company standards. Now the companyexperiences downtime only an hour onceor twice a month for maintenance, andlocal Rockwell Automation servicetechnicians are on-site to get the systemrunning on the rare occasion it needsimmediate attention.

“Having the Rockwell Automation systemhas made my life much easier,” saidRumsey. “The controls are more effective,the system is easier to work with, thequality is rock solid and we’re putting outmore product than ever before. It’s keepingus competitive.”

The results mentioned above are specific to DenimNorth America’s use of Rockwell Automation solutionsin conjunction with other products. Specific results mayvary for other customers.

Publication FIBVP-AP001A-EN-P – February 2008 Copyright ©2008 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in USA.

Allen-Bradley, ControlLogix, ControlNet, FactoryTalk, FLEX, Integrated Architecture, PowerFlex and VersaView are trademarks of Rockwell Automation Inc.Trademarks not belonging to Rockwell Automation are property of their respective companies.

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