1. Introduction
Cadbury Chocolate produces a large number of different chocolate products from their Toronto facility. The story of how Cogent was able to improve productivity at this plant helps to illustrate some of the unique features of the advanced software tools we provide. It was our job to help Cadbury boost production from their existing mixing, storage and distribution systems. Cadbury also needed a control strategy that was safe, easy to manage and had the flexibility to allow additions of new products or ingredients.
The production system is illustrated in the figure below.
In simple terms, the chocolate making process is a large-scale mixing, storage and production process that starts with the addition of raw materials to an industrial mixer. The paste that is produced by the mixers passes through a set of refiners, which discharge a fine chocolate flake.
The chocolate flake is conveyed to large heated vessels called 'conches'. Here the chocolate is heated and stirred for several hours in order to blend the ingredients thoroughly. From the conches, the now liquid chocolate is pumped through heated pipes to one or more storage tanks. There are about 65 storage tanks and each can hold around 12,000 kg of chocolate.
From the heated storage tanks, the chocolate is pumped on demand to smaller tanks located near the production lines. The piping network in the plant is immense and utilizes manifolds and ring mains to provide a route between all possible locations.
After the chocolate has been pumped to the production systems, it is enrobed, coated or molded into your favorite chocolate bar, wrapped and packaged before moving on to the warehouse facility. This article describes the computer control applications we were asked to provide in order to improve production and reduce costly errors.