Industrial Electrical Contractor Optimizes Inventory Management

Instrumentation and Control Systems Inc.

Instrumentation and Control Systems Inc. (ICS Electrical Services) is a Cincinnati-based electrical contractor specializing in the industrial process. They focus on process controls, power distribution, instrumentation, automation, and preventative maintenance. ISC has been expanding the limits of industrial automation since 1997.

Applications: Chemical Inventory Management

Market: Manufacturing

Challenge

ICS Electrical Services' main goals are to solve customer instrumentation and control challenges with modern and reliable technology solutions while maintaining a safe and environmentally sound field operation. Similar to many industrial automation organizations, ICS deals with clients who need fast and consistent “remote” access to the bulk liquid inventory in the tanks in their onsite tank farm. The ICS client also wanted to share the tank inventories securely with their off-site vendors. Previously, they would need to check their tank inventories multiple times a week to ensure a steady manufacturing output.

“TankScan was a completely new product to us, and making sure our clients have a consistent supply of chemicals played an important role in the automation process.” said Doug, Supervisor

Physically traveling to the tank or tank farm control room takes time, and it is often missed. Having to check the inventory multiple times a week was really not frequent enough, and adding a higher frequency check was an unnecessary cost. Key concerns are minimizing chemical management efforts and maintaining a consistent and reliable supply of chemicals for the manufacturing schedule.

Solution
In 2023, ICS Electrical Services installed the TankScan TSG 4-20mA Sensor Gateway to monitor 5 chemical tanks in Lebanon, Ohio. The remote monitoring system leverages existing wireless cellular infrastructure and a cloud software application to eliminate large startup and setup costs associated with typical SCADA systems. The installation requires connecting the gateway to an existing analog 4-20mA sensor loop, in this case, in series with the existing PLC and existing level sensor. The cloud application is set up remotely and offers unlimited users, historical trending, and email/text notifications. The tank levels are viewed from the user's cell phone or from a PC at a remote office. The system is cost-effective due to its use of existing infrastructures through internet connectivity, internet browser, email, text message, and cloud computing. The user is provided with accurate readings to devices he already owns, understands, and supports.

Results
ICS Electrical Services has seen numerous benefits from remote level monitoring including:
• Optimizing inventory management reduces labor and overhead costs
• Enhanced operational reliability of their facility with remote tank level visibility
• Automated notifications decrease environmental risk and improve confidence

“TankScan has helped our client by automatically sending out chemical orders to their vendors, which simplified their inventory management”, said Frank.

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