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The PLC for the roasting automation, deserves to start at what scale?

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Programmable Logic Controller in the context of roasting is basically an automation system that can run automatic command sequence: adjust gas, airflow, alarm, even trigger cooling, based on incoming sensor conditions.

The question is not whether the technology works or not, it's been proven in the food industry and manufacturing. The practical question: for the Roastery where did the PLC start making sense?

5 kg scale with one experienced operator, the PLC may be overkill. But for 60 kg batch with a strict consistency target and multiple shift operators, the PLC could be the only way to hold quality.

Has anyone implemented the PLC on their setup? What's the investment and what's the most challenging in the initial setup?

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i used to work in a place that installed the PLC for 30 kg operations. The initial setup took weeks because it had to tune all the threshold and sequence. But after the road, the skill floor operators can be far removed. All that matters is that they know how to load the profile and handle emergency.

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The PLC is most valuable. It's not the fully automated one, but the assist at the critical point: automatically reduce the gas at the approaching first crack based on ROR target, automatic trigger cooling at end temperature. Human remains in loop but guarded.

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any idea how much custom PLC costs for roasting? I don't mean buy a new machine that's been built in, but retrofit the PLC to an existing machine. I have an old drum machine that wants to upgrade control.

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if retrofit, ballpark can be 15-50 million depending on complexity. The PLC components themselves are not expensive, the expensive are integration, programming, and commiting. Need someone who understands both roasting and industrial automation, and that's rare.

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one thing that's often forgotten about the PLC: maintenance and updating. The PLC program is software too. If there's any process changes or upgrade machines, it needs a reprogram. If the vendor doesn't give you access to the source code, you're locked.

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from the quality management side: the PLC connected to the historian data is golden for traceability. Every batch has an automatic log of sensors, it can be a batch record. If there's any complaint of the buyer, you have the full data.

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i'm interested but concern same single point of failure. What about the PLC crash in the middle of roasting? The manual overrides have to stay there and the operator has to practice regularly to handle that condition. Not something you can ignore.

The PLC for the roasting automation, deserves to start at what scale?

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