Chemicals

A.P. Nonweiler

1007Oshkosh United States of America

Chemical Storage Tank Inventory Monitoring

Oshkosh,

United States of America

A.P. Nonweiler, a paint production company that produces custom-formulated coatings and paints, stores their raw materials in several high-capacity tank farms spread across the plant. To stay ahead of dwindling inventory and ensure timely replenishment, the company exclusively employed a local level monitoring system for 24 individual chemical storage tanks. This system consisted of 24 level transmitters (including several SITRANS LR250 transmitters from Siemens) installed on the tanks and connected to a Honeywell data recorder via a local Ethernet network.
The plant manager would read tank level measurement data directly from the recorder or from the operations PC. As consumption quantities tend to fluctuate, A.P. Nonweiler was required to check tank fill levels locally at the plant on a daily basis. The monitoring system provided no option for remote access, which made it impossible to view critical information while away from the office or to receive automated notifications when tank levels were low.

Realizing it was time to upgrade their level monitoring technology, A.P. Nonweiler contacted their local Siemens representative, Lesman Instrument Company, for new solutions. Lesman worked with the Engineered Instrument Solutions (EIS) team, and recommended the Siemens SITRANS store IQ web-based cloud application.The SITRANS store IQ app is an intelligent level monitoring solution that would effectively address the plant’s tank monitoring challenges in several ways.
The store IQ app:

connects to any manufacturer’s instrumentation, uploads multiple measurements to the Siemens MindSphere cloud platform, and allows users to monitor their process data from any location in real time
is accessible via a secure web browser and optimized for both desktop and mobile devices; and
provides user-friendly overviews, KPI dashboarding and alarms via voice, email or SMS notifications.

Once connected, it reads level data for the 24 tanks from the recorder and sends the data securely to the store IQ app.

We are very happy using SITRANS store IQ. We can easily track our chemical storage tank levels, which keeps our operations running smoothly.

Doug De Witt, Plant Manager, A.P. Nonweiler

Lesman and the EIS team were able to provide a simple and cost-effective Internet of Things (IoT) hardware solution to A.P. Nonweiler. The device integrates with the company’s existing data recorder using a single connection and standardized industry protocols –requiring no need to modify or replace what was already installed.
Immediately, the plant manager gained real-time access to all process data from the tanks – allowing him to monitor tank status and receive alarm notifications regardless of his current location. He used the app to create threshold alarms for each tank and assigned notifications to key personnel within the organization. As a result, it quickly became possible for A.P. Nonweiler to determine when to order raw materials based on current plant production demands without having to be physically on-site.
Since installation, the store IQ app and associated hardware have been operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no unexpected issues or failures. The IoT-based level monitoring solution has helped the company achieve previously unattainable levels of inventory transparency and flexibility, providing a quick return on investment. As a result, the company has reduced unplanned production down-time, increased operational efficiency and ensured they meet or beat all delivery deadlines.

Completion 2024

Boosting Sustainability and Resource Efficiency in the Water Sector

Completion 2021

Digital level monitoring

Release Year 2021

SITRANS store IQ Foundry Furnace Monitoring

ID: 28541