Platforms and vendors
- Power meters
- Water, gas and steam meters
- Modbus and EtherNet/IP
- Ignition
- SQL databases
- Power BI integration
Plant Intelligence · 08
Energy and Utilities Monitoring Alongside Production
Metromotion Controls brings electricity, water, gas, steam and compressed air metering onto the control network and reports it next to production, so utility use can be seen by line and shift and read against what the plant made.
How we approach it
Engineered for your site and support model
Utilities are one of the largest controllable costs in a food plant, and in many sites they are read monthly from the bill. The meters, boilers, compressors and refrigeration plant are usually already connected to a PLC somewhere. Metromotion Controls connects them to the same data layer as production, so energy and water can be seen by area, line and shift, and read against output. At Chobani, the plant services scope we support includes boilers, refrigeration, trade waste, power monitoring and water usage monitoring.
01
Electricity, water, gas, steam and compressed air metering on the control network
02
Sub-metering design for areas and lines
03
Utility use reported beside production by line and shift
04
Boiler, refrigeration and compressor data in SCADA
05
Alarms for abnormal use outside production
06
Energy dashboards in Ignition or Power BI
Delivery context
Relevant experience
- Chobani: plant services scope including boilers, refrigeration, trade waste, power monitoring and water usage monitoring, integrated with process and packaging into one operating environment.
- Steamtech Engineering: legacy boiler programs migrated to current platforms and verified through I/O testing for repeat OEM deployment.
- Patties Foods: closed-loop hot water temperature and cycle control for forming and cooking.
Section 01
Metering on the control network
Most sites already have more meters than they read. Main incomers, sub-boards, flow meters and gas meters often have a communications port that nobody has connected. We bring them onto the control network over Modbus, EtherNet/IP or the protocol they support, add sub-metering where an area or line cannot be separated, and store readings in the same data layer as production.
- Electricity at the incomer, main switchboards and major loads.
- Water at the incomer, CIP sets and major users, and trade waste flow.
- Gas and steam to boilers and process users.
- Compressed air flow and pressure at the compressors and main headers.
- Refrigeration and glycol plant run states and temperatures.
Section 02
Utilities next to production
A kilowatt-hour figure means little on its own. Beside production counts, the same data shows how utility use moves with output, product mix, changeovers and cleaning. With both in one data layer, usage can be reported by line and shift, and usage per unit of output can be calculated where metering separates the lines. Energy per product is what the data enables; how far it can be taken depends on how the site is metered, which we assess before promising any figure.
Section 03
Boilers, refrigeration and plant services
Plant services run in the background until they fail or the bill arrives. Boilers, refrigeration, air compressors and hot water sets all report states and values to their controllers. Bringing them into the same screens and reports as production shows run hours, cycling, load and alarms in context, and supports maintenance and replacement decisions with data rather than impressions.
Section 04
Alarms for abnormal use
Some of the most useful utility alerts are about when nothing should be using anything. Compressed air flow on a weekend with the lines stopped usually means leaks. Water flow overnight outside a CIP window means a valve or hose left open. We set alarms against expected use for the plant state, so a supervisor hears about it the same day rather than when the next bill arrives.
- Compressed air use while production is stopped, as a leak indicator.
- Water flow outside production and CIP windows.
- Unexpected load on a board or motor while its line is idle.
- Boiler and refrigeration alarms routed with the production alarms.
Section 05
Reporting and energy programs
Utility reports are delivered to the same surfaces as production reports: SCADA screens for the plant, Power BI or Ignition reports for managers, and a periodic pack for the site leader. Sites working toward an energy management program such as ISO 50001 need reliable, contextualised metering data; we build that data layer, and the management system itself stays with the site and its advisers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions
Can we see energy use per product?
Where metering separates the lines or areas that make each product, usage per unit of output can be calculated from the same data as production. We assess the metering first and tell you what the data can support before promising a figure.
Do we need new meters?
Often fewer than expected. Many existing meters have an unused communications port. We add sub-meters only where an area or line cannot otherwise be separated.
Can you find compressed air leaks?
Metering can show when air is being used with production stopped, which is the usual sign of leaks, and alarm on it. Finding and fixing the individual leaks is then a maintenance task with an ultrasonic survey.
Do you provide ISO 50001 certification?
No. We build the metering and data layer an energy management program relies on. The management system and certification stay with the site and its advisers.
Related Work
Connected services, industries and proof
Service
Plant Intelligence: factory data and OEE
OEE, reports, quality, CIP, maintenance and energy data from the team that builds and programs the lines.
Service
Production reports and dashboards
Shift, daily and weekly reports generated from line data and delivered to SCADA, Power BI or email.
Service
Reliable plant data
The right tag for each count and one meaning for each state, validated against the line and placed in context.
Project
Chobani greenfield yoghurt plant
Large capital project delivery across process automation, electrical engineering and commissioning.
Project
Steamtech legacy boiler PLC migration
Legacy boiler PLC programs migrated to CompactLogix for an OEM, verified through I/O testing and commissioned at end-customer sites.
Project
Patties Foods hot water set automation
Fit-for-purpose temperature and cycle control for a hot water set forming and cooking process.
Service
Ignition SCADA integrator Melbourne
Ignition Gold Certified System Integrator for Ignition SCADA, historian, reporting and MES functions.
Insight
Power BI for manufacturing
Getting PLC and SCADA data into Power BI cleanly: the SQL layer, context and refresh limits.
Insight
Breaking down plant data silos
The unified namespace, MQTT and Sparkplug, OPC UA, historian contextualisation and ISA-95 alignment for a single source of plant truth.
Industry
Food and beverage automation Australia
Automation, traceability, CIP, SCADA and production data for Australian food and beverage plants.
Industry
Dairy processing automation Australia
Controls for yoghurt and cheese plants, milk receival, pasteurisation, CIP and production reporting.
Related work
Related project proof
Project
Chobani
Chobani needed a controls partner to help establish its Australian manufacturing operation with new production lines and site infrastructure, and the relationship has had to keep adding and optimising lines without disturbing production already running on site. Metromotion Controls supported the initial setup and has continued to add, optimise and support production lines over the years, bringing process, packaging and site services onto common control and data interfaces so each addition extends one operating environment rather than a separate island. The scope spans plant services including boilers, refrigeration, trade waste, power monitoring and water usage monitoring, plus OEE, site data analytics and contextualised production data from lab equipment and other external sources.
Project
Steamtech Engineering
Steamtech Engineering is a boiler OEM that installs across multiple end-customer sites, and its boiler automation ran on ageing legacy PLC programs that every new installation inherited. The task was a legacy PLC migration with a goal beyond any one site: the migrated program had to become a maintainable baseline suitable for repeat deployment, not a one-off conversion. Metromotion Controls migrated the legacy code base onto current Rockwell CompactLogix and PanelView platforms, verified the migrated logic against the field through structured I/O testing, and supported commissioning from the OEM workshop through to Steamtech end-customer sites. The result is a more consistent controls baseline across new installations, which is easier for Steamtech and its customers to support.
Project
Patties Foods
Patties Foods needed reliable temperature and cycle control for a hot water set process used in forming and cooking cycles. The work had to fit a tight budget, so the scope was kept deliberately lean and every element had to earn its place. Metromotion Controls closed the loop on water temperature and held the forming and cooking cycle timing in PLC logic, so set point and dwell stayed consistent run to run. The result was a focused automation upgrade that improved temperature and cycle consistency for the line.
Related pages
Plant Intelligence
Plant Intelligence
Factory data, OEE, reports, quality, CIP, maintenance and energy from the team that builds and programs the lines.
Plant Intelligence
Production Reports & Dashboards
Shift, daily and weekly production reports generated from line data and delivered to SCADA screens, Power BI or email, with no typed entries or spreadsheet collation.
Plant Intelligence
Reliable Plant Data
Accurate, contextualised plant data built from the right tags and states, validated against the line during commissioning, so reports and dashboards can be trusted.
Service
Ignition SCADA & MES Integrator
Ignition SCADA, historian, reporting and MES functions designed, built and supported by an Ignition Gold Certified System Integrator in Melbourne.
Want utilities measured next to production?
Speak directly with an engineer about scope, timing and technical constraints.