Oilings the wheels of automation

Canbra foods is Canada's largest fully-integrated oilseed crushing, refining, processing and packaging company. Its major products include cooking and salad oil, margarine, shortening and a full line of proteins. With stiff competitive pressure from soy manufacturers, Canbra is constantly seeking ways to increase manufacturing efficiency and reduce costs. At the company's Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada facility, it relies heavily on automation technology to control, automate and monitor production. A project to automate the batch control process at a Canadian oil processing plant has yielded significant improvements as well as a considerable amount of money. The automated solution combines the batch control software with a Flexicon bulk handling system that conveys, loads, unloads, weighs, feeds, and processes bulk solid material.