Client:

Category: Process Control Room

Image 1 | JST control center: The new central control room consolidates all production processes in one space – mixing processes, tank control and quality parameters come together here in real time.

Image 2 | Group photo with guest. Back row from left: JST Consultant Rafael Paltian with Patrick Ullrich (Team Lead Automation), Sascha Meibohm (Team Leader Site Engineering) and Nico Wiegmann (Head of Production) – all Unilever – as well as in the front: Andreas Mechler (left) and Leon Felbermayr (both Unilever control room team).

Image 3 | Retrospective: Decentralised surveillance with several individual workstations. This is what the monitoring rooms at Unilever looked like before the transformation. Coordination was carried out manually; short walking distances to the production area were essential prior to the automation initiative.

Image 4 | JST visualisation technology: Today, all process data converge centrally. The DisplayWall makes relationships visible for the control room team. Disturbances are prioritised before they can affect production.

Image 5 | JST video wall: Sascha Meibohm (Team Leader Engineering) demonstrates the ease of maintenance of JST DisplayWall technology: The QuickOut system ensures fast access to individual modules - even during ongoing 24/7 operation.

Image 6 | JST alarm visualisation: A valve does not open or close properly? A pump is affected by overpressure? The red AlarmLight ensures rapid classification of critical situations for the entire team. In addition, individually configured acoustic warning messages at Unilever attract immediate attention.

Image 7 | JST large-scale video wall: Indirect lighting and corporate design elements are among the visual highlights of the DisplayWall cladding - here with the Unilever logo on the design strips with high-quality brushed aluminium finish.

Image 8 | JST audio components: Also integrated into the design of the video wall cladding: The loudspeakers next to the large displays are used for voice-supported warning messages.

Image 9 | JST ergonomics: Ergonomic furniture has gained significantly in importance with automation: Trips to the production area has become obsolete due to digitalisation. Today, control room operators manage the entire production process directly from the integrated control room environment - from order to filling.

Image 10 | JST Stratos operator desk: Visual details also matter! Here a metal strip on the rear side of the Stratos X11 control room desk, which is one of the ergonomics bestsellers for 24/7 operation in control rooms.

Image 11 | JST control room desk: Ergonomics at the touch of a button! At the Stratos control room console, operators have two options for using the continuous height adjustment: either via a gentle impulse at the height sensor or via login at the workstation, which retrieves the user’s individual configuration.

Image 12 | JST control station automation: The CommandButtons integrated into the surfaces of the control room desks provide an additional level of safety. One press of a button is sufficient and – depending on individual configuration – alarms are acknowledged, lights switched on or off, doors locked, etc.

Image 13 | JST myLogin®: For login and logout with the myLogin software, simply placing the company ID card briefly on the reader is sufficient. User profiles and rights are loaded immediately. Open access points are a thing of the past.

Image 14 | JST MouseHopping: With the KVM-over-IP technology JST MultiStreaming®, the mouse pointer can glide across the screens at the workstation and on the large display wall. The small LED above the monitor indicates to the operator on which screen the mouse is active.

Image 15 | JST Qi charging pad: Stratos control room desks always ensure full power! Charging pads integrated into the desk surfaces ensure that mobile devices always have sufficient power.

Image 16 | JST myGUI® control room platform: Intuitive user interface in the 3D design of the control room: The myGUI® on the JST CommandPad® integrated into the desk surface makes complex system structures transparent and controllable.

Image 17 | JST control room technology: The hardware components for the new central control room at Unilever were relocated to a separate technical room - for maximum reliability and structured maintenance. The photo shows the myGUI® controller, which was designed by the JST development team specifically for the myGUI® database and enables, for example, the implementation of a strategic rights and role management system.

Image 18 | Plant tour for JST Consultant Rafael Paltian (left). Team Leader Sascha Meibohm shows his guest the many metres of walking distances in the production halls that previously had to be covered for monitoring the production of shower gel & co. Today, the new control room monitors the fully automated batch processes.

Image 19 | Final quality control in the Unilever production hall. Do colour, smell and consistency match? Afterwards, the sample is tested again in the laboratory using various measurement methods according to defined specifications before the control room receives the “green light” for the final steps of filling.

BACK TO OVERVIEW

Central Control Room Enables End-to-End Automation at Unilever’s Buxtehude Plant

Shower gel, deodorant or body lotion: each of us has clear favourites. We assume that fragrance, consistency and composition are unchanging constants. When reaching for a product on the shelf, consumers expect quality – without surprises. To ensure that the same product can be reliably produced from raw materials time and again, production requires precisely timed processes based on fixed parameters and digital workflows. With state-of-the-art control room technology from JST, Unilever Germany in Buxtehude monitors the standards of its global exports.

The basis for the automation initiative at the Unilever plant is a central control room. “It is the brain of our entire production,” explains Sascha Meibohm, Team Leader Site Engineering at Unilever. The days of time-consuming phone coordination and long walking distances at the Buxtehude site are over. As a result of consistent transformation steps, all process data is now centrally consolidated.

Batch process monitored end-to-end

Valve positions, pump outputs, pressure and temperature values: everything is bundled, visualised and prioritised in the new control room. Recipes run precisely. Product changeovers follow a predefined matrix. Tanks are selected automatically. The control room monitors the entire process chain and intervenes directly in the event of deviations. Sascha Meibohm: “Ultimately, it is about realising the batch process end-to-end from the control room.”

Team assumes cross-system responsibility

The extent to which employees’ roles have changed with the new control center becomes clear when looking at their tasks: today, the control room operator manages orders, coordinates material flows, monitors process parameters and defines measures in the event of disruptions. Only a few tasks remain directly on the shop floor. Meibohm: “The control room operator is essentially responsible until the batch has left the filler.” Decentralised plant monitoring has become cross-system process responsibility. Overview replaces walking distances. Analysis replaces pure reaction.

More than 50 sources at one workstation

The technical platform for Unilever’s realignment is the control room management system with the network-based JST MultiStreaming®. The control room must keep more than 50 sources in view. Instead of switching between individual screens, the streaming solution with its dedicated SplitView function enables these sources to be flexibly combined on a single monitor and operated directly. “This allows us to display everything the control room operator currently needs on the curved monitor of a single workstation. That is an enormous added value,” says project manager Meibohm, describing one of the many benefits of MultiStreaming.

Process interdependencies are now visible

Three ergonomic Stratos X11® operator consoles, a central DisplayWall and intelligent alarm functions ensure that disruptions are not overlooked. Messages are prioritised and interrelationships made visible.

With PixelDetection®, Unilever enhances visual process monitoring with an additional layer of security. The software continuously analyses defined screen content for pixel changes and detects status changes or fault messages in real time. The digital early warning system automatically prioritises and reports critical conditions – regardless of whether the operator is actively viewing the respective screen.

Convenient handling with high security

This security concept also includes the myLogin® system, which ensures a login process within seconds using the company ID card. A single card impulse is sufficient – and the workstation adapts to the respective control room operator. myLogin® provides background security and enables smooth shift changes – without manual login and logout processes or open user sessions.

Control room as the central automation hub

Taken together, the consistent interlinking of JST components creates a control room that serves as the central control instance for automation. Modern monitoring technology is used as a highly available system for the entire production operation. Team Leader Sascha Meibohm sums up: “The technical switch we implemented with the control room was what made the organisational transition to automated processes possible in the first place.”

“The control room is the brain of our production. Here we make decisions within seconds about processes that previously required many routes and coordination steps.”

Sascha Meibohm

Team Leader Site Engineering

“What was crucial for us was that Unilever fully utilises the potential of automation – from the KVM structure to intelligent alarming. The control room is not a technical upgrade, but a genuine structural transformation.”

Rafael Paltian

Sales Consultant

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