Shell Subsidiary Takes the Smooth Path to Market Leadership

The Leader in Lubrication

In France, cooking is like a religion; precise recipes, kept secret and passed on from generation to generation, produce palatable wonders. The process of producing grease is similar; precise formulas must be followed and kept secret like grandmother’s special recipes.

From the city of Niort in central France, Christol SA has operated a grease and oil supplier since 1912. In 1994, Christol became a subsidiary of Shell Corporation. Today, Christol produces 2,500 tons of grease per year and delivers it in nearly 200 different packaging formats, from a 200kg barrel to a 0.41kg cartridge.

In 1995, Christol had 12% of the French grease market and 2% of the European grease market. Selling 2 million cartridges a year they rank first among French manufacturers. Also, to keep their market leadership, Christol has begun to diversify, producing grease for food manufacturing plants. They have also become the world leader in providing grease for wine presses.

Quality Comes First

Quality is so important to Christol that they received ISO certification 9002, in 1995. So, from a quality management point of view, each batch of grease must be closely monitored and tracked through the manufacturing process, from start to packaging. This is accomplished with a LonWorks network that controls the process from the chemical and mechanical test to the temperature reports.

LonWorks and Teamwork Produce a Successful Installation

The operators and workers in the Niort plant worked with Newron System, a LonWorks Independent Developer, to design the control network application. The knowledge and expertise of Christol’s employees was invaluable. Being part of the design team with Newron System, energized the employees and brought much excitement and commitment to the project

Hervé Grignou, Technical Director of the Niort plant, puts it all in perspective, “We hired Newron System to develop, manage, and install a LonWorks network so that we could continue on an upward technology migration path. Christol does not have a lot of electronics and networking knowledge. So, with LonWorks networks and Newron System, as an expert in this arena, we have been able to begin a successful migration to the automated factory.” Now with a simple and easy-to-use management interface, operators can watch and control the whole grease-cooking process via a PC.

Simplified Wiring and Scaleable Cost Reduction

The entire LonWorks based network is 3 hundred meters long and connects 3 floors and 2 buildings. The network includes 25 KSB-AMRI valves, two pumps, two Endress & Hauser mass meters, three temperature sensors, and five pressure sensors. All the devices were developed as standard FTT-10 based modules. These modules can be added any time or any place to extend the network.

Implementing a LonWorks network has allowed Christol to drastically reduce wiring costs. Also, the modularity of the system allowed Christol to amortize the development and installation costs over two years while not interrupting the production process and allowing them to reuse old products. “Ongoing network expansion costs are incurred for immediate needs and only immediate needs, not future or hypothetical needs,” details Mr. Grignou.

Benefits Abound

Factory operators have complete control of the process from a PC. They no longer have to roam the factory floor to verify temperatures, levels, or valve positions. They can get complete access to all information through the LonWorks network.

Preparation of the cooking formula is now automatic, which makes it more reliable and keeps the quality high. Moreover inventory and stock control is optimized with this control network. “Our company was started in 1993 to develop LonWorks solutions,” says Daniel Zotti, General Manager of Newron System. “We chose LonWorks for its simplicity, efficiency, and wide diversity of use. Our customers, both large and small, in the industrial market are greatly interested in realiability and low-cost provided by LonWorks control networks.”

The Network Controls Itself
In this plant, every subsystem is able to control itself and react to alarms coming from other subsystems. In case of failure of one or more pieces of equipement, the ongoing process stops with each subsystem in a safe position. The LonWorks network is fully implemented. Individual operators can decide to let the ongoing process continue or stop. If the supervisor goes down during the process, it can be replaced online in real-time while the network nodes continue to communicate information about the ongoing process. The same process applies if a power failure occurs.

A Profitable Investment

“With the same number of people as before, we have increased the quantity and quality of Christol products,” empasizes Mr. Grignou. “Moreover, our employees are encouraged and excited about their jobs, which makes them more motivated.” Christol plans to add LonWorks networks to all parts of the factory in the near future.

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