California Family Foods (CFF) is a leading rice mill and storage facility based in the heart of California's rice-growing region — an area of 450,000 acres in the northern part of the state. Based in Arbuckle, CFF dries and stores more than 200 million pounds of paddy rice each season. The company handles about 10 percent of California's rice crop each year.
When CFF wanted a comprehensive software package that could run processes across several departments while collecting and analyzing data, it turned to Ignition by Inductive Automation®. Ignition is an industrial application platform with numerous tools for building solutions in human-machine interface (HMI), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
System integrator Industrial Automation Group (IAG) helped CFF select and implement Ignition. IAG is based in Modesto, Calif., and has extensive experience in the food and beverage industry.
California Family Foods began using Ignition in 2016, and has been impressed with the results ever since. The company has expanded its use of Ignition throughout its facility, and will continue to do so. CFF has seen benefits in data access, business analytics, mobility, reporting, food safety, and more.
CFF has plans for expanding its use of Ignition in 2018 and 2019. "We're going through a multi-year process of upgrading all our equipment and automation systems, and Ignition is a big part of that," said Dave Volkman, engineering and safety manager for CFF. "It'll allow us to control everything from receiving through the packaging and out the shipping door — all with one system." Future plans also include integration with the company's ERP system.
By bringing the tablet to production meetings, Maldonado can see what's happening on the plant floor even though he's in a conference room. And he can show what he's seeing to others in the meetings. CFF plans to leverage tablets even more in the future.
With Ignition and other upgrades to its systems, CFF is more prepared than ever to handle massive volume with a smooth workflow throughout its facility.
Industrial Automation Group (IAG) serves the food and beverage industry. IAG has implemented complex automation solutions across North America. The company is based in Modesto, Calif., and also has locations in Sacramento, Fresno, and Visalia, Calif., and Reno, Nev. For more information, visit automationgroup.com.