Newly Weds Foods Customer Spotlight

Newly Weds Foods' Cleveland, TN facility required a computer hardware upgrade for their food production line.

"Our manufacturing facility in Cleveland, Tennessee (USA) had a solid need for new hardware. This made preventing errors difficult to impossible, due to the age of our previous hardware and OS. I started looking for a fanless computer that could ensure reliable operation with our Wonderware HMI factory systems. I wanted something smaller than the towers we were using, but with the same performance and higher reliability. OnLogic had the perfect hardware for us."

James Elliott, Maintenance Electrician at Newly Weds Foods

Challenges

• Outdated equipment and operating systems
• Vibrating environments with high temperatures
• Lack of space

Solution

• Fanless housing
• Small size
• Intel Atom Processor

Results

• System recovery time reduced by more than 60%
• Reduction of maintenance calls at night
• More efficient and sustainable operation

Who are Newly Weds Foods?

Industry Leading Food Producer

Newly Wed Foods is one of the world's largest producers of seasonings, marinades, glazing liquid, sauces, batter, breadcrumbs, binders and fillings for the food industry. The Chicago-based company serves clients in more than 80 countries and consists of 28 international manufacturing facilities and a number of R&D labs that keep up with restaurant trends and develop new flavors to satisfy changing consumer tastes. Newly Weds Foods employs more than 3,000 people, and has annual sales of more than one billion dollars.

Hardware Challenges

Compact and fanless industrial PCs

The Cleveland, Tennessee facility of Newly Weds Foods needed an upgrade to their computer hardware for their food production line. The company was using a combination of industrial touchscreens and mounted workstation PCs to operate their ingredient systems. They were experiencing frequent hardware failure and the systems were difficult to maintain due to the age of the hardware and software. To reduce production line downtime and maintenance costs, the maintenance electrician, James Elliott, sought a small and cost-effective fanless system that could withstand the demanding environmental conditions of their facilities, including extreme temperatures and 24/7 operation.

The Solution From OnLogic

The AG150 Industrial Intel Atom Fanless PC

As a solution to Newly Weds Foods' request for a compact, industrial fanless computer, OnLogic worked with James to find the ideal solution for their production line and they ended up with AG150 Industrial Intel Atom Fanless Computer. The 1.86 GHz, dual core Intel Atom N2800 Cedarview CPU offered enough computing power for their Wonderware implementation and, at only 3.3 cm tall, saved a lot of space compared to their previous systems. Consuming less than 15 watts, the AG150 also managed to cut costs while delivering reliable performance thanks to its fanless and industrial design.

"James of Newly Weds Foods had a situation that is very common with many of our industrial customers," says OnLogic's Account Manager Ana von Turkovich. "Production was starting to be negatively impacted by aging hardware and it was time to move to a more reliable, fanless solution. The AG150 gave them the power they needed in an industrial system designed specifically for the challenges of a factory environment."

Results

A Reduced Downtime and No More Sleepless Nights

"Thanks to OnLogic, I sleep much better at night," says Elliott. "I no longer get calls at 2 a.m. to come to the plant and fix system errors. The AG150s are compact, easy to set up and easy to install. When we had power outages in the past, it could take up to half an hour for the production line to get back up and running. With these new PCs, we were able to reduce that time by two-thirds, which is a huge improvement. These systems were the perfect solution for our HMIs."