PROJECT DESCRIPTION

TreeHouse Foods is a consumer packaged food and beverage manufacturer with 24 manufacturing facilities across the United States and Canada focusing primarily on private label products for both retail grocery and food away-from-home customers. Having a comprehensive offering of packaging formats and flavor profiles, it also offers natural, organic and preservative free ingredients in many categories. Its strategy is to be the leading supplier of private label food and beverage products by providing the best balance of quality and cost to all customers.

B&M SCOPE OF WORK

Black & McDonald (B&M) was contracted by TreeHouse to upgrade a pasta production line in Excelsior Springs, MO. The line is A-Line and it produces small size dry pasta. The A-Line composition is mixer, extruder, shaker, pre-dryer, dryer, cooler, and storage spanning 280 ft.

In order for B&M to work on the line during regular production hours, the work area was isolated with a temporary plastic curtain for environmental isolation. Once the work area was secured and safety tape installed, B&M was able to isolate all power and energy sources, tagging and locking them off. B&M technicians then tested and verified for 0 potential before disconnecting all electrical power feeds and controls to the A-Line. Side and roof panels were removed and the equipment was elevated off the floor with various rigging equipment for better access.

Due to the high temperature the equipment reaches during production and after years of use, some of the internal cabling and control devices needed to be replaced. The cables and devices were removed, new ones installed and re-terminated. The existing shaker was removed and an upgraded energy efficient new shaker was installed. All pneumatic motion controls were removed and upgraded to electronic controls. New oil system and fans were added to the dryers consisting of motors, disconnects and control devices. PLC’s upgraded and control wiring modifications were made in the main control panel. B&M’s onsite supervision works directly with the owner for visual inspections of all work to be completed prior to power up. Once the B&M team verified that all systems were ready and other trades locks were removed, we removed our locks and powered up the line. We then worked with equipment engineers and the owner for line startup and commissioning. This process included all motors checked for rotation, mechanical movement in sync, and I/O checkout. This project had 0 deficiencies.

BENEFITS TO THE CLIENT

This type of project is not new for B&M. Our teams have completed numerous rebuilds and upgrades for this customer over the years. This project was completed on time and to the customer’s satisfaction. We continue to service this customer’s day-to-day activities.