Int this article highlighting industrial process automation, Huffman Engineering explores how a decommissioned system can be revitalized for re-use.

Dormant since 2013, a seal-coating system at a pharma manufacturing company returned to use in production through intelligent automation upgrades, proving sustainability, cost-efficiency and digital transformation can coexist in manufacturing.

Key Automation Highlights

48% of North American manufacturers plan to update or integrate legacy systems, embracing circular servicing models that prioritize repair, reconditioning and hardware upgrades over complete replacement.

The recertified system now performs equally to newer equipment, producing 500,000 tablets per hour while meeting strict pharmaceutical qualification and validation standards. 

Manufacturers are shifting away from expensive complete overhauls and adopting circular automation approaches that reuse existing equipment while upgrading critical components like cybersecurity and control systems. 

The ability to bring something back to life might seem outlandish, but it now happens regularly in automation as interest in equipment recertification reignites with the rise of intelligent automation. Daunted by the high up-front cost of completely overhauling existing machinery, manufacturers are increasingly looking at re-use, recycling and the circular economy when it comes to automated equipment. 

According to an ABB Motion survey, more than 3,000 industrial decision-makers said they are shifting towards circular servicing models that prioritize repair, reconditioning, preventative maintenance and hardware upgrades. This embrace of a circular hardware/software philosophy not only cuts costs and increases uptime, it also aligns sustainability initiatives and positions organizations as being more forward-thinking and resilient. 

And a recent survey conducted by B2B International, commissioned by Aptean and targeting manufacturing leaders across North America, showed that 48% of respondents indicated plans to update or integrate their legacy systems. These plans involved incorporating dormant or existing legacy equipment into their automation renewal strategies. 

Huffman Engineering‘s own Mechanical Engineer, Nathan Bilyeu explains how dusting off aging equipment to revitalize it benefits the client from a capital expenditure and a production standpoint. Read the entire article from Automation World here: Manufacturer Revives De-Commissioned System to Advance Production