News

Hardware lead times cost time and money

When you least expect it, something will break. In a highly customized production environment, broken or missing parts cost time and money—especially now with vendors continuing to have long lead times on products. At Trident, we have a large inventory of legacy DCS components ready to integrate into your control system, including hardware from our online store. Increasingly, we are working with customers to identify critical path components and build a spares list on the most needed items. “Looking at […] Read More

Trident Automation Marks 20-year anniversary

Right now, ethanol plants are fermenting on schedule, manufacturing processes are running efficiently, and new technology is being switched on with the assistance of Trident Automation. This year, the controls automation firm celebrates 20 years in business designing process controls for manufacturing environments. “We like to think of ourselves as ‘in the pipes’ type of guys,” says Jason Hurst, CEO of Trident Automation. “Our job is to regulate and control anything that flows through a pipe or requires measurement in […] 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

Siemens APACS OS Training

          We talk about it all the time — training is an investment in your plants productivity.  This is why Trident Automation is happy to announce we are offering a Siemens APACS OS course for June 6-9, 2022! Check out full information about the course below. PDF version here: APACS OS Training Flyer June 2022. Can’t make this course date? Complete our our Training Notification Request Form to be informed of our next training course date.   Read More

Product Spotlight: TermPAC

One panel that plugs into your existing or new DCS and instantly brings you efficiency. Hard to believe? Not from the innovators at Trident. Our newest hardware technology is called TermPAC© and is designed to make system installations and expansions easy, more efficient, and cost-effective. With one termination board, our system integrators can upgrade your DCS without needing to rewire. Our TermPAC© integrates with every major DCS on the market today! This innovative technology board consolidates electronics, I/O terminals, or pre-built plug […] Read More

Better control makes a difference

When your plant produces 65-million gallons of ethanol annually, even a slight improvement in the production process can mean a large profit. For United Wisconsin Grain Producers in Friesland, Wisconsin the bottom line depended on very minute details. “Given the scale of our plant, even a miniscule improvement multiplied over the daily volumes can add up to a huge increase in revenues”, said Tim Politano, Quality Assurance Manager. The issue was temperature control and Politano knew they had to achieve […] 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

Case Study: New system in and running in four hours

Louis Dreyfus Commodities operates an ethanol plant in Norfolk, Nebraska. The plant needed a new operating system, but could not afford to lose any production time. Trident worked with plant managers to design a system and process that could be installed during a scheduled 3-day outage. For 12 weeks, teams did pre-engineering work in Wisconsin with installation designed to take hours instead of days. On site, engineers removed an APACS DCS, then installed a customized cabling system to use existing […] Read More

Trident installs one of first Siemens SPHA systems

MilliporeSigma produces chemicals used in the life sciences and semiconductor industries and tasked Trident Automation with finding a solution to upgrading its control systems. The company previously relied on APACS using Windows 95 running the MycroAdvantage HMI. To implement a more modern DCS, they wanted a solution that was scalable, flexible, intuitive, required minimal downtime for installation, and reduced total cost of ownership. Before moving to the solution phase, Trident engineers first had to learn the MycroAdvantage system—an older platform […] Read More

Parts are parts? Except in an emergency!

It’s Murphy’s Law: when you least expect it, something will break. In a highly customized production environment, broken or missing parts cost time and money—and could jeopardize a customer relationship. Increasingly, we are working with customers to identify critical path components and build a spares list on the most needed items. “Looking at the issue in greater detail, reveals just how costly unplanned downtime can become,” said Jason Hurst, CEO of Trident Automation. “Besides the direct expense of having a […] Read More