Uprading the electrical control systems
By upgrading the electrical control systems on two high-speed cartoning lines, McCain Foods gained modern, reliable equipment while minimising disruption to their demanding production schedule.
The project
McCain Foods is a Canadian frozen food company and is the world’s largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, including French fries, appetizers, pizzas, and vegetables. McCain Foods operates two high-speed cartoning lines to pack their pizza product range. These lines are critical to supporting continuous production, running 24 hours a day, six days a week to meet strong consumer demand.
However, the machines were running on obsolete electrical control components, creating a growing risk of failure and costly production interruptions. Removing the existing lines and installing new equipment was not an option as this required an extended shutdown period. That’s why McCain Foods approached us in 2025 to help them find a solution.
Key requirement:
- Modernise the control systems while keeping production disruption to an absolute minimum.
We managed the project end-to-end, coordinating planning, engineering and execution collaborating with our partner Kliklok and Syntegon. We focused on an upgrade of the complete electrical control system across both cartoning lines.
Our solution included:
- Modern servo drives and VSD’s
- New PLC and HMI systems
- Updated cabling and electrical infrastructure
- Fully redesigned control software
To minimise risk, we bench-tested the new control systems extensively before installation. The upgrades were then executed during tight Christmas and Easter shutdown windows, ensuring minimal impact on the plant’s demanding production schedule. After installation, we provided technical expertise and 24/7 on-site support to ensure a smooth transition and optimal performance.
McCain Foods now operates two high-speed cartoning lines with upgraded control systems while keeping disruption to the production schedule to a minimum.
- Modern, fully supported control systems for both cartoning lines
- Significantly reduced risk of unplanned downtime
- Improved machine reliability and performance
