CASE STUDY
Döhler South Africa SCADA & Batch Project
Scope of Work
- INTEG designed and implemented a full-scale SCADA and Batch solution for Döhler South Africa’s new greenfield production facility, built on the Ignition platform.
- The project included a ISA-88 compliant batching system, architecture design, operator interfaces, and full integration of plant-wide control.
- The solution was developed to support a high-capacity blending and processing environment while enabling long-term scalability and operational efficiency.
Industry
Food and Beverage
Location
Cape Town, South Africa
Project Type
Batching system
The Project Background
When Döhler South Africa began planning a new production facility in Paarl, the company faced a common challenge experienced by rapidly growing manufacturers: their existing production capacity was no longer sufficient to meet future demand. Instead of expanding incrementally, Döhler chose to invest in a new greenfield facility designed for long-term scalability and operational efficiency.
INTEG System Integrators partnered with Döhler to design and implement a modern industrial automation solution capable of supporting the new plant’s blending and secondary transformation operations. The project required a sophisticated Batching platform that could manage complex production processes while remaining intuitive.
Using the Ignition industrial automation platform, INTEG developed a comprehensive system combining Siemens PLC, Ignition SCADA and Sepasoft Batch software. The resulting solution integrates advanced batching functionality, plant-wide visibility, and data traceability into a single cohesive platform.
The Challenge
Döhler faced increasing production demands and system limitations that required a more scalable, integrated solution to support complex operations and future growth.
Döhler's Key Challenges Included:
- Existing production capacity was no longer sufficient to support growing demand
- Limited system integration made it difficult to manage complex batching processes efficiently
- Lack of unified visibility across operations reduced the ability to monitor and optimise performance
- Difficulty scaling existing systems to support long-term expansion plans
- Need for a more structured and standardised approach to batching, traceability, and process control
INTEG's Solution Implementation
To support Döhler’s expansion and operational requirements, INTEG implemented a fully integrated Batching and SCADA solution designed for scalability, control, and real-time visibility.
Key Features Included:
Design and implement a large-scale Ignition-based SCADA System.
Develop an ISA-88 compliant batching system using Sepasoft’s Batch Procedure Module.
Implement advanced plant navigation, interlocking systems, and automated ID generation.
Build a scalable hub-and-spoke software architecture supporting over 1.2 million tags across two gateways.
Integrate historical data, trending tools, and reporting to provide full traceability and operational insight.
“INTEG delivered a solution that gives us full visibility across our plant. The system is intuitive for our operators, highly flexible, and built to support our growth well into the future.”
Dirk Brand, Head of Engineering,
Döhler South Africa
“INTEG delivered a solution that gives us full visibility across our plant. The system is intuitive for our operators, highly flexible, and built to support our growth well into the future.”
Dirk Brand, Head of Engineering,
Döhler South Africa
The Full Project Breakdown
Greenfield Development
Greenfield projects offer both opportunity and complexity. With no existing infrastructure to constrain system design, INTEG was able to develop the automation architecture from the ground up, applying best practices and industry standards throughout the project.
However, as with most large-scale industrial projects, requirements evolved during development and commissioning. The flexibility of the Ignition platform enabled INTEG to adapt quickly, allowing new functionality to be implemented rapidly as operational needs became clearer.
This flexibility proved critical to delivering a system capable of managing a facility of this scale and complexity.
System Architecture
The final system architecture was designed to support the significant operational demands of the plant.
The platform includes:
- Approximately 1.2 million system tags
- Around 200 production routes
- More than 2,000 phases
- Over 400 equipment modules controlling 1,800 control modules
To manage this scale, INTEG implemented a hub-and-spoke software architecture, distributing the workload across two Ignition gateways while maintaining seamless communication across the system.
The primary gateway hosts the user interface and system coordination functions, while a secondary gateway operates as a processing node supporting additional tags and plant functionality.
This architecture allows the system to maintain high performance while supporting future plant expansion.
ISA-88 Compliant Batching
The Batch system forms the core of the Döhler facility’s operations. To ensure consistent production standards and traceability, INTEG developed the Batch solution according to ISA-88 batching guidelines, widely used within the food and beverage industry.
Using Sepasoft’s Batch Procedure Module integrated with Ignition, INTEG created a system that manages the full lifecycle of production batches. Each production order is divided into multiple sequential batches that move through the plant’s processing stages.
To ensure accurate process control, INTEG implemented an automated ID generation system, assigning unique identifiers to every component within the plant. This enables precise control over equipment usage, ensuring that assets cannot be used simultaneously across conflicting processes.
The system also integrates quality control and Clean-In-Place (CIP) processes, preventing new batches from starting until all required cleaning and quality verification procedures have been completed.
Operator Navigation and System Usability
One of the key design priorities was ensuring that operators could navigate the system easily despite its complexity.
INTEG developed an intuitive breadcrumb navigation system, allowing operators to reach any part of the plant interface within three clicks. This structured navigation allows users to quickly locate equipment, processes, and alarms within the system.
Alarm management was also integrated directly into this navigation structure. Operators can identify issues from a central interface and immediately navigate to the affected equipment or process area.
Search functionality further improves usability by allowing operators to locate equipment using ISA-95 naming conventions or control module identifiers.
High-Performance HMI Design
We implemented a high-performance HMI to support decentralised plant operations and improve situational awareness.
A grayscale interface reduces visual clutter, using colour only for critical alarms and events. Layered views allow operators to move from high-level overviews to detailed process screens, adapting the interface to their operational needs.
Data Traceability and Operational Insight
INTEG delivered comprehensive data logging and trending capabilities to support traceability and performance analytics.
Operators can access historical data directly from equipment interfaces, enabling faster root-cause analysis, improved decision-making, and better overall process optimisation.
Designing for a Diverse Workforce
To address linguistic diversity, we incorporated clear visual symbols across the system interface.
This improved usability and reduced the learning curve, allowing operators to quickly understand equipment and processes regardless of language background.
Conclusion
The collaboration between INTEG and Döhler South Africa resulted in a highly scalable automation platform capable of supporting the company’s long-term production growth.
The new facility now operates with a fully integrated Batching system that provides:
- End-to-end production traceability
- Advanced batching control
- Improved operational visibility
- Scalable architecture for future expansion
With Ignition and Sepasoft platforms at its core, the system provides a flexible foundation that can evolve as Döhler’s operational needs continue to grow.