Dinnissen optimizes, together with Yellax
25 August 2021
Machine builder Dinnissen Process Technology, located in Sevenum aimed to make its design processes more efficient. The integration between mechanical engineering (WTB) and Electrical Engineering (WSCAD) also needed to be improved, providing a great opportunity for Dinnissen to start cooperating with Yellax. Operational director Wouter Kuijpers and Stan Wilmer, Manager Electrical and IBN, look back on the process.
It has been 3 to 4 years since Yellax and Dinnissen started talking about their aspiration to optimize processes and integrate activities. Wouter: ‘After this interesting talk, I literally sat down next to all the engineers and asked them to highlight which data they had to enter manually. For example, we found out that in our way of working, time and quality were an issue due to unnecessary administrative work. With Typical Manager, repetitive tasks could be reduced to a minimum: the real copy paste work is eliminated and routine tasks are automated. An important part of this is the automatic generation of electrical schematics to WSCAD via the Project wizard module.’
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About Dinnissen
Dinnissen was established in 1948. The machine builder specializes in processing solids for, among other things, feed, pet food, food and chemicals. Wouter: ‘What makes us unique? We do as much as possible in-house engineering and manufacturing, so that customers can really rely on us. In addition, we always want to improve and we are constantly looking for ways to make the process more efficient, for ourselves and for the customer.’
“We are not CTO, but we are CTO. You can think of it as automated Engineering to Order.”
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Working om an optimal process
‘The speed of Smart Industry is often overestimated, but you should not underestimate how you can do things more efficiently yourself,’ Wouter continues. “Fortunately, we did not encounter much difficulty to get our employees on board. We have been encouraging them for 15 years to work more efficiently and to improve processes. We emphasize that software helps to work smart instead of work hard. Something that we also underlined with the implementation of Typical Manager. Everyone within our company recognizes that making the company and the processes better is part of our culture. We are always working to be better tomorrow than today. To make the company, the people and the processes better and to make the best use of time. This perspective certainly contributed to the successful implementation.”
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Resultats P&ID
At Dinnissen, the P&ID is the starting point. “The P&ID has been made intelligent. This means that data fields are recorded behind the P&ID objects. An Excel list with data is exported from the P&ID, which serves as input for Typical Manager. This first automation step already offers many advantages. For example, Typical Manager checks for errors such as duplicate tag codes and whether the articles behind the tag codes are correct. The flow is of great importance,’ Stan explains. ‘In Typical Manager, objects and functions are recorded, including the configurations, attributes and relationships. We generate documents, PLC/HMI software and electrical schematics in a structured way.”
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Typical Manager and WSCAD
Dinnissen has been using WSCAD’s software for at least 15 years with great contentment. Stan: ‘We currently have three hardware engineers. Although we were very satisfied with the functionalities and possibilities of WSCAD, we were still wondering where efficiency could be achieved. The link between Typical Manager and WSCAD had never been realized before, which was a great novelty. For this, Typical Manager uses the WSCAD Project Wizard Add-On, which allows diagrams to be generated using macros (predefined pieces of electrical engineering diagrams with variables). These macros are automatically placed by Typical Manager, based on the registered configuration. The data and IO format are completed from the database. With this link between Typical Manager and WSCAD, Dinnissen achieves a time saving of around 25 to 30%. Additionally, the quality is guaranteed.’
Want to learn more about the integration between Typical Manager and WSCAD? Check out the integration page.
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The inefficient work has been phased out
Besides generating electrical schematics, Dinnissen also generates Siemens and Rockwell software with Typical Manager. ‘The PLC programs are based on the ISA-88 standard. The most remarkable result within the company is that administrative actions have been reduced to a minimum after the implementation of Typical Manager. In short: the inefficient work has been phased out, Stan explains. ‘For example, an intern recently placed a new machine in Typical Manager, whereby the software is now built in two days, instead of the ten days we needed before. We have invested time to build this machine in Typical Manager into a generatable whole. Yet, we will definitely have this time earned back very soon”.
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Benefits and learning points
In addition to saving time, Wouter mentions the reuse of predefined and tested modules as a major advantage. There is less chance of errors. Furthermore, we have managed to achieve synchronization between WTB and Electrical Engineering. The implementation also resulted in more consultation and mutual understanding among our teams. In addition to the daily stand-ups with the teams, we organized a stakeholder consultation every three weeks, with the stakeholders involved in the process. Yet, there were also lessons to be learned. With his past in a different industry, Wouter is sometimes amazed at how things are conducted in such an “old-fashioned” way in the manufacturing industry. “Every individual within this industry does everything themselves and everyone manages their own stock, without being aware of those of their competitors. If you would just look outside your own distribution channels, you can realize a much better and faster distribution chain.’ Wouter emphasizes that they continue to improve in the future. ‘For example, by involving the mechanical discipline even earlier with our Typical Manager extensions of new machines. This is the start of the design process, beginning with the P&ID, so when the data in the P&IDs and the further design are coordinated at an earlier stage, the process works even better!’
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Dinnissen generates a great amount of documentation with Typical Manager. Such as an equipment list, an instrument list, IQ documents (Installation Qualification), OQ documents (Operational Qualification) and PQ documents (Performance Qualification). The cooperation between Dinnissen and Yellax is going very well and we highly appreciate this. We are really looking forward to the future!