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Ethanol plant on cruise control with the assistance of Trident

Golden Grain Energy turns Iowa’s bountiful corn crop into ethanol energy and to do it, they use “cruise control” for their plant. Each year, the corn crop is converted to 120,000,000 gallons of ethanol in a state-of-the-art production facility. The staff of about 50 manages daily production thanks to an efficient and dependable DCS system with oversight by Trident Automation. Trident has been working with the plant since 2004 and Golden Grain CEO Chad Kuhlers credits Trident with facilitating the […] Read More

Control system built on trust

When your business is located near a remote bay of Lake Superior, you place a great deal of trust in your systems support team. For CertainTeed Products located in L’Anse, Upper Michigan, service and trust were key components to building a dependable automated system. John Madajewski, Project Engineer, traces his relationship with Trident Automation back to 1998—and he still has Don Jolly’s business card from that year before he started with Trident Automation. The CertainTeed plant in L’Anse produces ceiling […] Read More

Who’s in your Rolodex? Trident.

Years ago when you left a job the first thing you grabbed was your rolodex. For Dave Worzalla, the first thing he took was his vendors, and one was Trident. Currently he’s a process control engineer for International Paper in South Carolina but worked at another Wisconsin-based paper mill where he also worked with Trident. Trident fills a unique niche for Worzalla as one of the few companies that will maintain and service the legacy Siemens APACS+ system. That system […] Read More

Maintaining the backbone of manufacturing with a legacy DCS

Breaking wood down into pulp used in the paper making process involves controlling and monitoring boilers, evaporators, lime kiln and screening systems. All is done with integrated control systems that are networked through machines, PCs, and human operators.  At Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s Thilmany Mill in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, older systems are still the backbone of the plant and are in operation thanks to maintenance and attention from Trident Automation. As legacy systems mature in manufacturing environments, having access to replacement parts and experience […] Read More

Uncover and secure vulnerabilities in your system

It seems every week stories of major companies getting hacked make the news. Systems are held for ransom, production stops, and in some cases it’s a disaster to the bottom line. A leader in petroleum refining and renewable fuels needed system enhancements. To protect this essential industry, the company embarked on a project to upgrade security systems at all their ethanol plants. To meet the established corporate standards developed on a Honeywell platform in their petroleum refineries, they needed a […] Read More

Customer’s emergency Google search leads to Trident

What happens when an internet search actually brings a new customer to your door? What happens if that new customer is in an emergency? If you’re Trident Automation, you act fast and get results. Imperia Foods is a cheese manufacturer in Montfort, Wisconsin and a critical piece of equipment broke. The plant was running on a Siemens system, but when they were cleaning equipment one of their main mixers HMI broke that was used to make non-dairy cheese.  They needed […] Read More

Case Study: Big data built into control system

The Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company is charged with maintaining uniform water flow through the Wisconsin River Reservoir System for commerce and for environmental reasons. The organization hired Trident to design and implement a system that would meet their operational needs. There are 25 dams on the river, most owned by different power companies, and none had the same equipment. In addition to technology, state and federal regulatory agencies were involved in the project. Trident integrated 50 years of previous data […] Read More

Case Study: Giant ore boats get wireless controls

Key Lakes Shipping operates gigantic ore boats on the Great Lakes. The largest of these is 1,000 feet and regularly carried thousands of pounds of iron ore and other materials. Trident was asked to automate the ballast system so crew members could adjust ballast remotely from tablet PCs rather than walking up and down seven flights of stairs from hold to the pilot house. First, engineers had to automate a manual system for the barge, then enhanced it with wireless […] Read More

Case Study: Paper machine up and running in three weeks

Georgia Pacific needed a new control system on one of their most important paper machines that was damaged and out of production, but had pending orders. Damage was too extensive for repairs and the system had to be replaced. Normally a tight replacement schedule would have taken several weeks or months, but all three of Trident’s principal owners worked around the clock to design, engineer, configure and install a new, customized control system in only three weeks. Trident was on […] Read More

Case Study: Total DCS Migration in under 60 hours

In just 60 hours, Trident Automation delivered a new operating system for the largest dry-mill ethanol facility in the country. Marquis Energy was constructing a second 100+ million gallon unit and owners wanted to have both units on the same, most advanced system. The plant was operating on a Siemens APACS DCS legacy system with Wonderware HMI, but needed to modernize the plant and leverage the advanced control strategies Siemens PCS 7 offered. Over twelve weeks, Trident teams rewrote code, […] Read More