A large-scale egg production facility supplying a high-end supermarket chain required comprehensive automation to manage nearly one million laying chickens across multiple production buildings. The operation needed integrated environmental controls, automated egg collection and processing, waste management, and networked monitoring systems to ensure optimal animal welfare, food safety, and production efficiency. The client required a fully automated solution where eggs would never be handled manually from collection through final packaging, maintaining strict quality standards expected by their premium retail customer.
The Details
Industry
Robotics & Industrial Automation
CAPABILITIES APPLIED
The project presented complex automation and integration challenges across multiple interconnected facility systems requiring coordinated control and monitoring:
Scale and Complexity of Multi-Building Operations: The facility comprised a dozen laying and brooder houses, a feed mill, extensive conveyor networks spanning multiple structures, a central processing building, and an automated composting system, which all require seamless integration into a unified control architecture.
Environmental Control Requirements: Maintaining optimal chicken health and egg production demanded precise, real-time control of fresh air circulation, water quality and distribution, feed delivery systems, sanitation protocols, lighting schedules, and temperature regulation across all production buildings simultaneously.
Comprehensive Monitoring and Alarm Management: Each laying house required more than 180 automated alarm points to monitor critical environmental and operational parameters, necessitating a robust alarming system that could provide immediate notification of any condition threatening animal welfare or production continuity.
Automated Egg Handling and Processing Integration: The system needed to convey eggs automatically from multiple laying houses to the central processing facility, where each egg would undergo washing, sanitizing, weighing, and ultrasonic scanning for internal defects before automated sorting and packaging—all without manual contact.
Legacy System Modernization: The existing control infrastructure required upgrading to modern programmable logic controllers and networking architecture while minimizing disruption to ongoing production operations and capital expenditure.
Networked Communication Across Distributed Systems: Integrating controls for boilers, fans, lights, conveyors, processing equipment, and environmental systems across multiple buildings demanded a reliable, multi-protocol network architecture supporting real-time data exchange and remote monitoring.
Re:Build delivered a fully integrated, automated egg production and processing system that achieved complete hands-free operation from laying house to packaged product.
The solution implemented a modern control architecture built on Modicon Quantum and Momentum programmable logic controllers programmed with ProWorx 32 software and Telemecanique control components. The distributed control system provided coordinated automation across all facility subsystems including laying houses, brooder houses, feed mill operations, conveyor networks, processing equipment, waste composting systems, and environmental controls.
Environmental management systems automatically regulated fresh air ventilation, water delivery and quality, feed distribution, sanitation cycles, lighting programs, and temperature control across all production buildings to maintain optimal conditions for chicken health and egg production. Each laying house incorporated more than 180 automated alarm points monitoring critical parameters with immediate notification capabilities for abnormal conditions.
The automated egg collection system conveyed eggs from individual laying houses through an extensive conveyor network to the central processing facility without manual handling. In processing, each egg passed through automated washing, sanitizing, weighing, and ultrasonic scanning stations that detected internal defects. Automated sorting and distribution systems then directed eggs to bulk racks for foodservice customers or retail cartons for consumer packaging based on size, weight, and quality parameters.
Network integration utilized multiple communication protocols including Modbus, Modbus Plus, Ethernet, and wireless Ethernet to connect distributed control systems across the facility. A web-enabled human-machine interface (HMI) provided centralized monitoring, control access, and data visualization for operators and management.
The modernization approach strategically leveraged existing input/output wiring infrastructure while upgrading to new processor technology, significantly reducing project costs and implementation timeline compared to complete system replacement. The faster, more capable processors enhanced system responsiveness, data handling capacity, and future expandability.
The fully automated system eliminated manual egg handling throughout the entire production workflow, meeting the client’s food safety and quality objectives. The integrated control platform established a foundation for continuous improvement initiatives, enabling ongoing optimization of production efficiency, animal welfare, and operational performance.
