This year Cutting Edge Electrical celebrates 20 years in business. While much has changed since 1996, one thing remains the same - we built this business on the promise of exceptional service and we wouldn’t be here today delivering on that promise if it wasn’t for the commitment of our staff. We’ve cultivated a dedicated crew, held to high standards and willing to sacrifice their after-hours, weekends and public holidays to ensure we’re available to our customers when it counts. That’s why it’s so important to us to invest in our team and culture, to recognise loyalty and most importantly, to look after the people who are looking after our customers. So to celebrate 20 years of hard work and dedication, this September we whisked the team away for a weekend of adventure and a little indulgence… We kicked things off on the Friday, where after weeks of guessing what activity was in store, our team pulled up to the Mitta Mitta River for a day of adrenalin-fuelled white water rafting. There were thrills and spills - literally - as we plummeted between rock formations for over 18km through the majestic Alpine National Park. Huge thanks to the crew at Rafting Australia for an experience we won’t soon forget. In a change of pace that night, we swapped white water for white wine and enjoyed a 20 Year Celebration Dinner at Wyanga Park Winery in Lakes Entrance. Great food, wine and company was topped off with a photo slideshow capturing the best of the last 20 years and a heartfelt speech from business owner Greg Cole. And naturally, no Grand Final weekend away would be complete without donning our team colours and cheering on as the Doggies defeated the Swans on Saturday. Now thoroughly refreshed and back at work, we want to extend our sincere thanks to our many customers who have helped us build this business over the last 20 years. It is always with a view to your challenges and needs that we steer and grow our business offering, so without your custom it would all be for nought. We thank you for your continued support and promise to continue delivering the high level of service you've come to expect from the team at Cutting Edge Electrical. Here's to the next 20!
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This August we received a call from Midas Electricians regarding an issue with the Omron PLC that controls the Pugmill Plant at Boral’s Montrose Plant. After our investigation found that the PLC had failed, we were faced with a timely challenge; the outdated PLC had been discontinued and spare parts were no longer available, eliminating repair as an option. Instead, the entire system had to be upgraded and the busy plant would remain out of action until this was completed. PLC upgrades are not a straightforward task; they are usually done by thoroughly investigating the way the old system works, designing the new system to match, decommissioning the old system and installing and commissioning the new system during a period of scheduled downtime. This case highlights why it is so important to keep your industrial control systems up to date using modern, supported components; not only did Boral’s unplanned upgrade mean critical mid-week downtime, but being a breakdown we did not have the opportunity to view the previous system in action, adding further difficulty to designing its replacement. With no time to waste, Cutting Edge and Midas worked together to quickly assess the previous system and determine the requirements for the new one. We then organised the correct parts to be flown down from Omron in Sydney, which were delivered to the site early the following day. Over the next day and a half, Cutting Edge and Midas physically installed the new PLC and wired in the parts, translated and converted the old PLC’s program to suit the new model and reprogrammed Citect SCADA to allow communication to the new PLC. Then came testing. The new PLC was powered up, Citect communications were tested and all Analog I/O functionality was tested, as the PLC program changes related to how the analog signals worked compared to the old system. Once all this was proven, the system was commissioned with an operator from Boral and the product created was certified in the Boral lab to ensure the system was working correctly. In total, it took 2.5 days to have the system back up and operational. While the quick turnaround and effective outcome made this job a success, the breakdown and subsequent unplanned system upgrade still cost Boral critical production time, serving as an important reminder to keep your plant control systems up to date. Scheduling upgrades during system downtimes minimises interruption to production and ensures that any future issues can be solved quickly with readily-available replacement parts and repair. Is your system compatible with modern replacement parts? If you’re unsure or you’d like to learn more about what’s involved in an upgrade, contact the team at Cutting Electrical on 03 5622 3516. |