Ada Valley Meats has been a trusted name in meat processing for decades, known for its commitment to quality and consistency. To manage growing operations, the team required an automation system that could unify control and ensure precision across their complex cooking and chilling processes.
The Challenge
Ada Valley’s team faced the operational demands of a growing food processor:
- Managing precise, multi-stage cook schedules across three separate ovens required a centralized and reliable control system.
- Integrating three distinct chiller units for post-cook cooling needed consolidated IO control and monitoring.
- Real-time data exchange with the local SQL server was necessary to trigger batch processes and ensure product traceability.
Balancing tradition with modern, high-precision automation standards was becoming increasingly difficult.
The Solution
Craft Automation partnered with Ada Valley to deliver a comprehensive Oven Process Automation system. The project focused on unifying control and data integration:
- Oven Process Automation: A single PLC (with a spare recommended) and a centralized touchscreen control all three ovens. The system can store up to 60 recipes, allowing for highly flexible stage and product cook schedules based on time, temperature, or a combination, including an integrated shower stage.
- Precision Control: Oven control incorporates RTD inputs for accurate oven and probe temperatures, On/OFF valve operation for shower, door seal, and steam blocking (120VAC), and proportional control of the steam valve (Modutrol, 24VAC, 4-20mA). A panel-mounted pushbutton is included for manual “Door Inflate.”
- Chiller Control: IO functionality controls and maintains three chillers, offering manual On/Off touchscreen control with automatic temperature regulation, and auxiliary blower operation inputs tied to alarms.
- Server Communication: The system is set up to communicate via Modbus TCP to the local SQL server, receiving registers for Batch Code, Recipe Data, Cook Cycle Number, Stage Temp, and Stage Time to initiate a recipe sequence.
The Outcome
The results provided Ada Valley with a unified, high-precision cooking environment:
- Operators gained centralized control over all ovens and chillers from a single, intuitive interface.
- Consistent batch quality was guaranteed through automated, multi-stage recipe execution.
- Product safety and compliance were supported by real-time temperature monitoring and traceable recipe starts.
Ada Valley successfully merged its tradition of quality with modern, scalable automation technology.
The Experience
Ada Valley’s team described working with Craft Automation as respectful and effective. What stood out was Craft’s ability to modernize without disrupting established workflows. The automation felt like a natural extension of their process, and the support was hands-on and responsive.
