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CASE STUDY

Montana Manufacturing Extension Center

Mobile Automation Demo Unit — Bringing Industrial Automation to Montana Manufacturers

The Challenge

Montana’s manufacturing sector is rich with opportunity, but many producers across the state have limited exposure to modern industrial automation technologies. For smaller and mid-sized manufacturers — often working with tight margins and lean teams — the concept of automation can feel abstract, expensive, or out of reach.

The Montana Manufacturing Extension Center (MMEC), part of the Montana State University system, recognized this gap. Their mission is to strengthen Montana manufacturing by connecting businesses with resources, technical expertise, and practical knowledge. To support that mission, MMEC engaged Logic Control Systems to design and build a portable, interactive automation demonstration unit that could travel the state and give manufacturers a hands-on look at what modern process control and data collection actually looks like — in real life, not just on paper.

The ask was straightforward but meaningful: build something compact enough to load into a truck, durable enough to travel Montana's roads, and technically rich enough to credibly represent what automation can do for a real production environment.

The Solution

Logic Control Systems designed and built a self-contained mobile automation demonstration unit mounted on a portable cart. The system was engineered to showcase two of the most common and impactful automation scenarios found in manufacturing: batch processing and continuous process control.

System Layout

The physical unit consists of two tanks connected by plumbing and hoses, a variable frequency drive (VFD)-controlled pump, sensors, and a control cabinet — all mounted on a mobile cart:

• A clear Fill Tank (upper position) provides full visibility of fluid movement and level changes — letting observers see the process in real time.
• A Reservoir / Supply Tank (lower position) acts as the fluid source, continuously feeding the system.
• A VFD-controlled pump transfers fluid from the reservoir to the fill tank, with speed modulated by the PLC based on process conditions.
• A proportional ball valve on the drain line controls the discharge from the fill tank back to the reservoir, enabling both batch and continuous modes.
• A load cell measures the weight of fluid in the clear tank, providing the primary process variable for the PID control loop.
• Banner Engineering sensors provide level detection signals to the PLC for low-level shutoff and cycle management.
• An HMI touchscreen and PLC are housed in the control panel, giving operators full visibility and control of the system.

Control Architecture

The system is built around a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) running an Ignition-based HMI and SCADA platform — the same architecture used in real industrial facilities. The PLC monitors sensor inputs in real time, executes the control logic, drives the pump via the VFD, and commands the proportional valve.

Logic Control Systems developed two distinct operating modes to demonstrate different automation strategies:

Operation 1 — Batch Mode

Batch mode demonstrates a common fill-to-setpoint process. The sequence runs as follows:

• The proportional ball valve begins in the closed position and the reservoir is filled.
• The operator sets a target volume in the clear tank (e.g., 3 gallons) via the HMI.
• The pump starts and transfers fluid to the fill tank. The load cell and/or flow meter continuously report fill progress to the PLC.
• As the setpoint is approached, the PLC reduces pump speed, then shuts off cleanly when the target is reached — preventing overfill and demonstrating precision control.
• The ball valve opens and drains the clear tank until the Banner level sensor detects the low-level condition.
• The ball valve closes and the cycle repeats automatically.

Throughout the cycle, the Ignition SCADA captures and displays gallons produced, number of completed runs, time per run, and time between runs — exactly the kind of production metrics manufacturers track on a real line.

Operation 2 — Continuous Mode

Continuous mode demonstrates real-time feedback control, where the system actively maintains a target fill level rather than filling and draining in discrete cycles.

• The proportional ball valve is partially opened (or cycled on and off) to allow a controlled, continuous drain from the fill tank.
• With the reservoir full, the pump starts and the PLC uses load cell data to maintain a steady target level in the clear tank.
• The PLC modulates pump speed dynamically to compensate for the drain rate, maintaining the setpoint despite the continuously changing conditions.
• The Ignition SCADA displays gallons produced and system variability — demonstrating how automation improves consistency compared to manual operation.

This mode is particularly relevant for manufacturers running continuous processes such as chemical dosing, ingredient addition, or fluid blending — where maintaining a consistent process variable is critical to product quality.

Ignition HMI & Data Collection

Logic Control Systems firmly believes that no real automation project is complete without a capable HMI and meaningful data collection. The MMEC demo unit was built with that principle at its core.

The Ignition platform provides the HMI interface operators interact with at the demo unit, giving them real-time visibility into tank levels, pump status, valve position, and process values. But beyond the live display, Ignition's historian and reporting tools capture production data across every run — enabling the kind of trend analysis, OEE tracking, and process improvement insights that give manufacturers a real competitive advantage.

For manufacturers attending MMEC demonstrations, seeing the data populate in real time — cycle counts, run times, volume accuracy, variability between runs — often becomes the most compelling part of the experience. It transforms automation from a concept into a concrete tool for operational improvement.

What Manufacturers Experience

When MMEC brings the Logic Control Systems demo unit to a manufacturer's facility or event, attendees don't just hear about automation — they see it working. They can interact with the HMI, change the setpoint, watch the pump modulate, and observe how quickly the system corrects and stabilizes. They can switch between batch and continuous mode and see how the control strategy changes in response.

This hands-on experience is designed to answer the questions Montana manufacturers most commonly ask:

• Can a system like this work in my facility?
• How would it handle variability in my process?
• What does the data actually look like, and how would I use it?
• What does it take to implement and support something like this?

By grounding the conversation in a real, running system rather than slides or proposals, MMEC and Logic Control Systems give manufacturers the context they need to evaluate automation with confidence.

Ignition by Inductive Automation

Logic Control Systems is a certified Ignition integrator. The Ignition platform was selected for the MMEC demo because it represents the industry standard for SCADA and HMI in modern manufacturing — scalable from a single machine to an entire plant floor, with powerful built-in historian and reporting tools.

Technology at a Glance

Results & Impact

The MMEC mobile demo unit gives Montana manufacturers direct, tactile experience with industrial automation technology that is otherwise difficult to access without significant capital investment or facility visits to other plants. Key outcomes of the program include:

• Increased awareness of practical automation options among small and mid-sized Montana manufacturers.
• Demonstrated that precision batch and continuous control is achievable at any scale — not just in large facilities.
• Provided manufacturers with concrete data collection examples, making the business case for automation more tangible.
• Supported MMEC’s broader mission of strengthening Montana manufacturing competitiveness through hands-on technical education.
• Created an ongoing resource that MMEC can deploy across the state at trade events, facility visits, and educational programs.

About Logic Control Systems

Logic Control Systems is a Texas-based industrial automation company specializing in process control, PLC programming, SCADA and HMI development, electrical panel fabrication, commissioning, site startup, and remote automation maintenance. We serve manufacturers across the United States in industries including milling, food processing, chemical, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, fabrication, and water/wastewater treatment.

UL Certified • Ignition Certified Integrator • ISNetworld Member • Fortinet Partner