Case study · Packaging-line retrofit
Packaging-line retrofit — a controls-rebuild case study.
A form-fill-seal line, controls stack aging past the OEM support window, recipes drifting between SKUs and inspection running standalone outside the line PLC. The retrofit that moves PLC, HMI, and vision onto a current vendor stack — same mechanical footprint, current platforms underneath, delivered under one crew, one schedule, one PO.
Kraytek reverse-engineered the original controls stack and the mechanical scope side by side, re-platformed onto a current vendor stack, and ran the audit → retrofit → commission arc on the customer's floor. The line stays under your operation's control at every handoff — no foreign ownership of the documentation, no separate commissioning contractor.
Packaging-vertical controls retrofit · delivered under one crew, one schedule, one PO.
Context
Why the line needed a controls retrofit.
The OEM support window narrows, the spares lead times stretch, and the recipe edits start eating operator hours the spec sheet never budgeted. The inspection runs standalone outside the line PLC — reject data never reaches the HMI. The throughput ceiling lands on a station that isn't the one the symptom names. The line keeps running until the next changeover returns a number the floor can't defend.
Before
- PLC platform aging past the OEM support window — spares lead times stretch past the next scheduled production run
- HMI recipes drifted between SKUs — changeover eats operator hours the spec sheet never budgeted
- Inline inspection running standalone — reject data outside the line PLC, no lot traceability surfaced in the HMI
- Throughput ceiling pinned on the wrong station — the bottleneck lives upstream of where the symptom appears
- Operator-interface language that has drifted away from what the maintenance crew can read
Engagement
What the controls retrofit covered.
Kraytek reverse-engineered the original controls stack and the mechanical scope side by side, re-platformed onto a current vendor stack, and shipped the rebuilt machine under one crew, one schedule, one PO. The boundary between controls and commissioning integration went down on day one — every step answerable to the same engineer.
Scope
- Line-controls retrofit
- HMI recipe management
- Vision-inspection tie-in
Delivered
- Audit — on-site walkdown of the line: controls stack, I/O count, fault history, and the operator's day-to-day pain. Output: a ranked problem list engineering reads to write the first scope.
- Retrofit — PLC, drive, HMI, and instrumentation replaced under one crew, one schedule, one PO. Mechanical footprint preserved; operator-interface language preserved.
- Commission — re-validation against 21 CFR Part 11 / OSHA where applicable. Documentation + spare-parts plan so the next decade of service stays in-house.
Outcome
Line back at spec, documented for the next decade.
The line came back into service on the same mechanical footprint, with recipes re-keyed to current HMI/SCADA conventions, vision tied into the same PLC the operators already read, and a spare-parts plan handed over at close. The asset your operation runs on stays in service another decade — with the validation artefacts the regulated verticals need to re-introduce it into production.
After
Recipe stores re-keyed to current HMI/SCADA conventions, with version history and change control so the next SKU swap is two clicks instead of an outage. Inline vision integrated into the line PLC — reject logic, lot tracking, and rejection-cause analytics surfaced into the same HMI the operators already read.
Re-validation against 21 CFR Part 11 / OSHA where applicable, with documentation and a spare-parts plan so the next decade of service stays in-house. The paperwork your own team can hand to an auditor without us on the phone.
Start the conversation
Have a packaging line that needs a controls retrofit?
Send the asset name, the controls stack, and the symptom. Engineering reads every submission — no sales triage, no script.
For quick logistics (a capex number, a sample SOW, a vendor shortlist), the form is the fastest path — every question fields an answer.
Mention "Packaging-line retrofit" in the asset line so we route the conversation to the engineer who closed the case above.