Global Beverage Manufacturer

The Challenge: Disparate OT Systems and High Latency Across Multi-Site Operations

Vertech modernized a bag-in-box (BIB) beverage production line for a global beverage manufacturer. The client had a highly successful and widely distributed portfolio of sodas. However, their industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT) infrastructure had not kept pace with their enterprise growth.

The existing setup lacked consistent data models, and operational metrics were trapped in local plant silos. Without centralized visibility, plant-to-plant benchmarking was virtually impossible, making cross-site coordination feel like a game of poker where no one knew what cards the other plants were holding.

Furthermore, the remote access architecture was non-existent or unoptimized. Plant engineers relied on a "telephone-tag" approach to poll onsite operators during unscheduled downtime, delaying root-cause analysis and extending mean time to repair (MTTR).

The Solution: A Scalable Unified Name Space (UNS) and Modular MES Prototype

Vertech set out to solve these operational bottlenecks by designing a standardized single-site prototype built on Inductive Automation’s Ignition 8.1 and Microsoft SQL Server. Knowing the architecture would eventually need to scale across all eight facilities, the engineering team prioritized extreme modularity and an open-standard Unified Name Space (UNS) architecture.

To tackle the sheer volume of data—spanning over 42,000 industrial tags, 1,500 historized parameters, and 1,500 configured alarms per site—Vertech engineered a custom Manufacturing Execution System (MES) paired with a dynamic site PLC-to-MES ontology interface. This enabled real-time normalization of data flowing from over 170 Allen-Bradley PLCs and field devices per location.

Rather than deploying a rigid, one-size-fits-all model, Vertech engaged the client with real-world operational use cases. This iterative feedback loop allowed the team to fine-tune the system and establish an extensible framework capable of rapid multi-site rollouts without custom code rewrites.

The Impact: Centralized Real-Time KPI Visibility, Enhanced OT Security, and Rapid Deployment

Vertech delivered a comprehensive manufacturing intelligence and full line monitoring system. A custom UNS and MES were created so that other sites would have no overlap, but could easily be added by standing up the database and the equipment on location. Vertech’s architecture is also flexible enough so that in addition to BIB, it can be replicated for CSD (Carbonated Soft Drink) bottling lines.

The plant floor is secured behind thin clients for Purdue Model level 3.5 separation of enterprise IT and OT systems. Now the client has centralized access for visibility to KPIs and reporting. Data can be exported as a csv file for additional BI analysis.

Under the hood, all equipment, tags and alarms are organized in an easy-to-navigate hierarchy, allowing drill-down to a specific event on a piece of equipment in a line at a site. Because of its scalable, modular design, additional lines or sites can be added in a fraction of the time.