We have recently been contracted by the automation branch of Olam Cocoa for a major control upgrade for the majority of their factories. Olam is one of the largest cocoa-processing companies in the world. The commodities company which is originally from Singapore has strong ties with the Netherlands. Not only are two of their cocoa plants in North Holland’s Koog aan de Zaan and in Wormer, but the automation of factories in Singapore, Ghana and Germany also takes place from Koog aan de Zaan.

This upgrade consisted of, among others, upgrading their process automation system Sattline to the new ABB System 800xA. We helped with the conversion of the Sattline software to 800xA. The graphical user interface (HMI) was also redesigned with our the help. The upgrade was rolled out in phases over the various factories. We also provided support in upgrading the systems from ABB to the latest version of ABB System 800xA. The result of this process was, among other things, the virtual refurbishment of the complete server farm for these factories.

Alongside the conversion of Sattline to the new ABB System 800xA, it was also decided to fully automate some other parts of the factories from scratch. Olam’s butter packing line in the factory at Koog aan de Zaan was still controlled by a dated SattCon PLC. On this line, a decision was made not to convert the existing code but to fully automate the line from scratch using our most up-to-date insights. This line is now also fully controlled by the ABB System 800xA.

With the upgrade to the ABB System 800xA, a new virtual server farm and AC800M type ABB controllers, Olam Cocoa’s process automation is once again fully up to date and this automated system can therefore last for many more years to come.