Synergistic Solutions, Inc

Our Expertise
Home
What We Provide
Our Expertise
About Us
Our Services
Dixon Plant Closing and Other News
Clients and Projects List
Tell Us What You Think
Vintage Control Photos
Used Hardware
How to Reach Us

Our expertise is not a function of the time spent in this industry. It is a function of the results achieved. It is a function of commitment, of dedication, of training and retraining and it is a function of making mistakes and correcting those mistakes, and sometimes correcting the mistakes of others. In the thirty years we have been designing and installing process control systems for the cement industry, we have had the opportunity (and occasionally the misfortune) to investigate and apply many technologies by diverse manufacturers.  Not all of those technologies were totally appropriate; some did not live up to expectations of reliability and serviceability. Others were very successful and became industry standards. We were early proponents and adapters of Programmable Logic Controllers, Microprocessor based Process Controllers, PCs and Workstations for cement plant process controls. These are now the standards in virtually all cement plants. 

So our expertise is as much a result of our successes as of our “failures”.  How do we define a failure? Our failures are “performance shortfalls”. They are an inability to reach a desired result in either the specified time or within the specified budget. Our failures are converted to qualified successes because we always keep our agreements.

We have integrity in our work. We learn and we have applied our experiences to correct any performance shortfalls.  For example, as an early adapter of certain control technologies, it was not always possible to obtain long term experience unless a product was installed. HMI technology was and continues to be difficult to evaluate. Our greatest problems have been not with the process controls per se, but with the Human Machine Interfaces.  In one case, we provided a specific HMI as part of a process control upgrade. We were unable to make it as reliable as necessary and after exhausting all attempts we did finally make it perform to expectations by completely replacing all hardware and software. This was done at no expense to the customer, and production was never impacted because all control functions resided in the PLCs and Process Controllers. The technology ultimately installed has been proven to be very reliable and is now applied in this particular plant on all pyro-processing units and ancillary process systems. The customer, after a number of years of experience, tells us this could very well be the most reliable piece of control equipment in the plant.

HOW DID WE GET OUR EXPERTISE?

We have installed process control systems in many cement plants. Our experiential background includes fossil fuel and electrical power systems and boilers, petrochemicals, steel as well as lime and cement. We have worked on and travelled to projects as far afield as Saudi Arabia.

Each process control system was an expression of our methodologies. Each is the culmination of every project which preceded it. Each incorporates improvements in the application of technology over its predecessors. Each project was viewed as an opportunity to improve past performance, to achieve our goal for cement plant process control.

Most projects were planned and systematic process control upgrades. Some involved the entire plant over a period of years. Some were replacements for failed technologies or process control “orphans”, where the controls manufacturer was no longer available. Some were other supplier’s systems, which were undergoing severe installation problems. The most difficult of these projects require the correction of failed technologies. In those cases, expectations have not been realized, budgets have been expended, timelines exhausted and everyone is frustrated.

In one extreme situation the system had been installed and only partially programmed. The PLC was at its memory limits with only one half of the programming completed. The engineer and contractors were on the site but the project was at an impasse.  Tempers were short. Legal broadsides were underway, the plant was hostage to the situation and the operation of four kilns was in jeopardy. The situation was evaluated by management and we were asked to solve the impasse. Initially one and eventually two SSI engineers went to the site and it was clear that to complete this project by the deadline would require the cooperation and alignment of all forces involved in this project. SSI drafted a plan in which the problem was defined as technical challenges to be overcome and tasks to be completed with no one at fault. Under very tight deadlines we re-engineered and rewrote the entire PLC program, managed the installation and test of the process controls and met the original startup date. The plant started without the purchase of any additional hardware, and all controls specifications were met or exceeded.  Differences between parties were resolved without legal recourse and in fact the contractors involved actually realized a significant portion of their completion bonus.