Automation Services/Industrial & Agriculture
In August 2021, Brewster Cheese engaged PDC for electrical contracting on a new whey processing plant to be built adjacent to their existing cheese factory.
$9,800,000
project value
~39,000
man-hours
Total Wire/Cable
~400,000 feet
(tray cable, VFD cable, control/data, single conductor)
0
lost time
Brewster Cheese reached out to PDC Electrical Contractors in August of 2021 to start the conversation regarding the construction of a new Whey Processing Plant that was to be built to the east of the existing cheese factory.
In December 2021, we started working with PSE (Power System Engineering) to design the medium voltage feeder to the new plant, 277/480v power distribution, backup power systems, building-wide interior and exterior lighting, and HVAC systems wiring. PSE also assisted PDC with the design of the fire protection electrical system which included a 150HP fire pump and related equipment. This fire pump would be fed from the building service and backed up by a second service that fed the dry warehouse building. This smaller portion of the project included updating the warehouse service from 200a to 600a with a dedicated feeder from the metering cabinet to the fire pump controller.
PDC worked directly with Dahmes, Caloris, Complete Filtration, Keller Tech and Brewster to layout the process motor and control systems. PDC Automation played a major part in the integration of the evaporator system and the HVAC control package into the overall building process package.
In January 2022, we started ordering materials and that is about the time our industry discovered the supply chain issue that would plague this project through its completion.
PDC manned the project in April 2022 to start the site grounding and temporary power installation. As the weather warmed the building started to come out of the ground. Our first point of focus was getting the 1000' MV feeder to the location of the power transformer located on the south side of the new addition. Underground conduit rough-in for the fire pump, (2) 500kW generators, and the 4000-amp building service were next.
Once the building was up PDC focused on the interior lighting and main electric room. Cable tray and custom-made stainless steel enclosed wireway were installed on each of the four (4) floors for power and control wiring. PDC utilized stainless steel raceways throughout most of the new facility, designated as wet or process areas. All the mounting methods required in the process areas were custom-built by our welding and fabrication crews.
Throughout the project the supply chain issues not only affected PDC, but the other trades as well. With the shrinking schedule, due to the waiting game for materials and equipment, more manpower was needed to continue the construction pace with the goal of making product in early spring. Equipment delays started pushing this date out and we all began to focus on an early July start-up date.
Finding the additional manpower locally became challenging, so PDC looked to a partner with various manpower agencies to get the help we needed. PDC turned to Tradesman International, Trillium Construction, MTZ (El Paso TX), and M2 Process for manpower assistance.
The construction continued with our focus turning to the process side of the project which entailed wiring for 112 process-related motors and nearly 800 field control points. All these required being wired back to the main electric room or one of the 13 control panels spaced throughout the plant.
Once the roughly 39,000' of raceways were completed some 400,000' of tray cable, VFD cable, control and data cable, or single conductor wire had to be pulled and terminated.
I/O check-out, commissioning, and startup came next. Each motor would be 'bumped' for proper rotation, each VFD would have to be programmed for the correct motor current, and each field control device would have to be tested for operation and correct communication to the process system(s).
Product testing began in early July with longer production runs being done in August.
While all this work was happening, another crew was focusing on wiring the support systems for the process. HVAC equipment and related HVAC control wiring, two (2) 200HP air compressors, and packaging equipment rounded off this list.
With our dedicated PDC team, safety is always a high priority. Through the thoughtful planning of our field staff, PDC had almost zero lost time during the entire course of the project. Nearly 39,000 man-hours were used to complete this project.
PDC's flexibility and determination to be a team leader really showed in the end as this project was completed and brought on line with minimal issues or problems. The plant now is poised to be able to produce the product that the design intended it to do.
People Power Performance
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PDC Corporate Headquarters
1065 5th Avenue PO Box 537 Monroe, WI 53566
Hours
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