How INS3 Helped a Leading Food Manufacturer Transform Operations with Proficy Historian and Proficy Smart Factory

Like many food and beverage manufacturers, this leading cheese producer faced a common challenge: operational data existed throughout the plant, but teams lacked an efficient way to collect, contextualize, and analyze it.

To address this challenge, the company partnered with INS3 to implement Proficy Historian, creating a scalable industrial data management platform capable of collecting high-frequency production data from PLCs and other plant-floor systems.

INS3 developed a phased approach for connecting production assets and PLCs to Proficy Historian, allowing the manufacturer to rapidly begin capturing machine, process, and operational data across its facilities.

The result was a centralized source of manufacturing data that provided engineers, operators, and leadership teams with unprecedented visibility into plant performance.

Once the company established a reliable industrial data foundation, the next challenge was turning that data into actionable insights.

Working alongside INS3, the manufacturer implemented Proficy Smart Factory MES to monitor, track, control, and document production activities in real time.

Every production process generates valuable operational data. Proficy Smart Factory MES enabled the organization to transform that data into meaningful information that operators and supervisors could use to improve daily performance.

Key operational metrics included:

To further improve visibility, INS3 designed and implemented operational dashboards that provided plant personnel with a clear view of performance metrics across the facility.

With dashboards displayed directly on production lines, operators gained immediate visibility into plant performance and could quickly identify opportunities for improvement.

Prior to implementing Proficy solutions, teams relied on approximately 90 manually generated reports each day to understand production performance.

Today, automated reporting and manufacturing analytics allow personnel to focus on solving problems rather than gathering data.

By creating a connected manufacturing data environment, the organization significantly accelerated decision-making and improved access to operational insights.

One of the most valuable outcomes of the Proficy implementation was the ability to assign financial impact to operational issues.

Analysis revealed that yield losses and product giveaway represented a larger financial opportunity than equipment downtime alone.

Armed with real-time performance dashboards displayed on production lines throughout the facility, operators can continuously monitor performance and focus improvement efforts on the issues that matter most.

Following a major upgrade to a production buffer system, the manufacturer experienced an unexpected increase in equipment faults.

Using data collected through Proficy Historian and connected PLC systems, engineers were able to identify the root cause: environmental conditions involving low humidity were affecting a digital-to-analog converter and generating faults.

The team ultimately resolved the issue by replacing the drives.

Without access to historical machine data, troubleshooting would have involved significant guesswork and prolonged downtime.

Instead, engineers used real-time and historical production data to rapidly isolate and resolve the problem.

The manufacturer continues to expand its digital transformation journey by integrating ERP and manufacturing systems to improve data consistency and operational efficiency.

Through ERP integration, production information such as batch numbers, work orders, and product specifications can be automatically synchronized, reducing manual data entry and improving accuracy.

The company is also advancing toward a Unified Namespace architecture that will support:

This modern manufacturing architecture provides a foundation for long-term digital transformation and continuous improvement.

Through INS3's phased implementation of Proficy Historian and Proficy Smart Factory MES, the manufacturer has created a scalable manufacturing data platform that continues to deliver measurable business value.

Business Outcomes

Rather than pursuing a large-scale transformation all at once, the manufacturer achieved success through incremental investments that generated measurable returns at every stage.

Industrial Network Systems (INS3) is a leading industrial automation and digital transformation provider specializing in manufacturing software, operational technology, industrial networking, and systems integration. As a Velotic Platinum Partner, INS3 helps manufacturers implement and optimize Proficy software solutions to improve operational performance, quality, visibility, and business growth.

INS3 by the Numbers

30+ Years of Manufacturing Experience

2,300+ Successful Projects Delivered

800+ Manufacturing Customers Served

Whether implementing MES software, industrial historians, ERP integrations, or modern data architectures, INS3 provides the expertise, roadmap, and support manufacturers need to accelerate operational excellence and digital transformation.

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